Braga coach Carvalhal discusses progress of Man City fullback Couto | OneFootball

SC Braga coach Carlos Carvalhal is full of praise for Brazilian fullback Yan Couto.

Couto is on-loan at Braga from Manchester City this season.

Carvalhal told the Manchester Evening News: “He is better offensively than defensively, and we are trying to improve the defensive part of his game, and in the transitions also.

“He is doing better. When he arrived, we changed him regularly as he was adapting to the team but recently he has been playing all the time. We are happy with him, but we think he can do better.

“On the offensive side, he is a very good player. He can make the difference in our attacking dynamic, but he has to improve to be a player at the Manchester City level.

“Pep Guardiola likes good players, and Yan has a good relationship with the ball.

“I told him that to play for City he has to be very good in the offensive organisation, and he is good. But he must also be good at defensive organisation, and he must improve that.

“He is good at offensive transition, but also needs to improve defensive transition to play at that level. This is the challenge, defensive organisation and defensive transition - he needs to be stronger at these to play at the best level.

“If you ask me if he can do that in the future, I think so, but he needs more time in my opinion - or if, by the end of the season he has improved by that 30 per cent, we have a complete player."