Portugal’s Matheus Nunes not clever enough for midfield – Guardiola | OneFootball

Man Utd 0-0 Man City

Champions Manchester City and local rivals Manchester United played out a fairly drab goalless draw at Old Trafford on Sunday, but City boss Pep Guardiola was more entertaining during his post-match duties.

Speaking about City and Portugal midfielder Matheus Nunes, who featured at right-back, Guardiola dismissed the idea of the former Sporting man playing in his favoured midfield role, stating that Nunes is not “clever” enough in the position.

There were five Portuguese on the field in Sunday’s contest between Guardiola’s side and Rúben Amorim’s United, which drew criticism for being a relatively uninspiring and lifeless edition of the fixture. Diogo Dalot and captain Bruno Fernandes started for hosts United, while Guardiola selected Rúben Dias and Bernardo Silva alongside right-back Nunes in his line-up.

Whilst City dominated possession, United’s low block succeeded in frustrating their opponents and Amorim’s side arguably looked a more dangerous threat to the stalemate. However, it was Guardiola’s post-match words which drew most attention from a Portuguese perspective, with the Spaniard taking a harsh swipe at Nunes.

Asked by a journalist if he needed more offensive aggression from Nunes in his right-back role, Guardiola was back-handed in his praise of the Portuguese. “He (Nunes) can become a good right-back for his physicality,” Guardiola said. “I think he’s not a player to play in midfield because he’s not clever enough, in the composure. He has incredible skills and he’s learning a lot.

“The big mistake of full-backs is when you have the cross to the far post where you are, they are always sleeping. He defended really well two or three crosses, like when Bruno put it to the far post for Dorgu. He has the attention and the physicality to do it. So he can play in that position and help us a lot. When you start the season if you said ‘Matheus will play right-back’ you would ask what I’m talking about. But it is what it is. The back four today was excellent. Rúben was incredible. So we build from that.”

From the opposition dugout, Amorim was asked what it would take for United to close the gap on the top teams in the Premier League. “I’m not naïve, I’m not crazy – I can see the moment we’re in,” Amorim said. “I can look to the opponents and understand there’s a big gap.

“But as a leader I cannot say that we are going to take a lot of time. You have to show some hurry, You have to feel that urgency to do something better because you don’t have a lot of time in a club like ours. So we are in a rush, that is clear.”

With United languishing in 13th place, Amorim is acutely aware that the Red Devils’ season rests on success in the Europa League. Their quarter-final tie with Paulo Fonseca’s Lyon begins with a trip to France on Thursday evening. Lyon prepared for the visit of Amorim’s side by overcoming Lille 2-1 at home on Saturday evening.