Two years ago, Kanselu was sitting on the bench, and now KDB more vividly personifies Pep's philosophy and the successes of City (36 wins in 2021)

Continuation of the holiday series Sports .ru about new people – players, coaches, clubs, managers and media people who broke out in 2021 or relaunched their careers, rethought themselves, created new products, trends or whole phenomena. The new episode is about Man City defender, who has turned from a substitute into a symbol of success for Pep Guardiola’s team.

2021 ended for João Canselo with bruises and abrasions on the face – four robbers climbed into the Portuguese’s house and, extinguishing the resistance, took away jewelry and other valuable things. Despite the shock for João and his family (the children of Canselo were at that moment at home), the defender played with Arsenal in a couple of days. Emirates also remembered the incident: after the match, one of the hosts asked the Portuguese, which robbery of the week was more serious (a hint of controversial referee decisions that helped defeat City).

Except for this crazy evening, this past year has been a total delight for Kanselu. From a ghost player who approached the first lockdown with a desire to leave City (a total of 8 matches in the base out of a possible 28 in the Premier League), João became a leading player who changed both himself and the team at the same time. Below is an explanation of how.

It took Cansel almost a year to understand Pep, had to get used to an unusual role and change the mentality

Explanation of João’s mental transformation (about the game – just below) – from Pep Guardiola:

“The most incredible thing about João’s progress is that he literally became a different person. It took us some time to understand each other, so that he understood my requirements, and I – his wishes. Since we got out of the lockdown, he has been behaving perfectly. ”

According to The Athletic, after moving from Juventus (remember, for 65 million euros in the summer of 2019), the Portuguese kept as much apart as possible. After exiting the lockdown, I finally began to integrate into the team. This coincided with a mini-evolution in play style and self-acceptance in a new role. Again, a short summary from Pep:

“At first he was confused by our demands. He was expecting something we couldn’t offer him, but he’s a good guy with incredible physique. The day after the official game, he is ready to run back 90 minutes, which is very important for us, given the schedule. Now he helps us do what we do best. ”

Sources of The Athletic journalist Sam Lee reported: Originally, Kancelu expected to be used as a classic right-back that actively connects forward and creates width in the attack. Kyle Walker’s iron health (due to injuries, he missed only three weeks in three years of João at City) and Pep’s love for false fullbacks painted a different reality: not the right, but rather the left flank, not jerking to the front, but shifting to midfield. not a guaranteed place in the base, but competition with Zinchenko and Mendy.

Kanselu got used to this role for several months (sometimes alternating it with the classic connections that the non-working left made it difficult). The peak was in early 2021. Then, after tactical rearrangements of Pep City gave a streak of 15 victories in the Premier League , which made it possible to catapult from a place in the middle of the table (yes, there was such a thing) to a confident first.

According to Ilkay Gundogan, it was Kansel’s form that gave an impulse: “Then he began to enter the center of the field more often, thanks to this we got there a numerical advantage and could play too much. João has good control of the ball and keeps it in his possession, at the right moment leaves it and finds a pass from his partners. It didn’t surprise me that he was doing this role so well. In addition, he has excellent speed, so he can quickly return to the flank and begin to defend it. ”

It is no coincidence that Gundogan makes Cansela stand out. Ilkay more than others won from the transformation of the team and specifically Joao. Firstly, the wingers created the width in the attack from the middle of the season – thanks to this, gaps appeared in the opponent’s defense. Secondly, the presence of Kanselu in the center of the field untied Ilkay’s hands – you can not stay in the midfield (the usual functionality of the German), but join the attack and expose these zones.

Reflecting Kanselu’s progress in this role – fresh comparisons to Philip Lam. Even more valuable, the comparisons came from Pep – the man who not only coached Lam at Bayern, but also made him a false fullback:

” Right now, João is playing like Philip Lahm at my Bayern Munich. Lam was the best player to move from defensive flank to pivot. I would not have thought that I would see a fullback who first moves to the center of midfield, and then attacks from there. João also has this quality. His natural position is right edge, but he can play on both flanks and pass with either foot.

Another quality that I like about him is the love of football. He can play it all day. Top players relate to football in the same way they did when they were children. That’s why when you get players like Canselo, Marez or Foden, a diamond appears in your hands. There is nothing more important in their life than football. ”

Love for football and physical data allowed Kancel to interpret Pep’s problem in a special way. João expanded the functions of a false fullback, performing essentially two roles at the same time. The main one is playing the ball, the bonus one is direct or indirect aggravations from the depths.

The uniqueness of the Portuguese is precisely in the combination of these functions within one position. Canselu is the only player in the Premier League to make it into the top 10 both in total assists (center-backs and defenders are usually in the lead) and in passes to the opponent’s penalty area (here, as a rule, attacking players have the lead). If we expand the boundaries to the top 15, then João’s company will only be Jordan Henderson, a player who can either qualify as a defensive player or an eight (respectively, correct the numbers either for the first indicator or for the second).

It is logical to parse both Kanselu functions separately.

Success as a false fullback is the result not only of João’s technique, but also of his work with Pep’s assistant Juanma Lillo. At home, the Spaniard is considered a specialist in the 4-2-3-1 scheme (sometimes even called her father). City also tried to master it (immediately after the arrival of Lillo in the summer of 2020), but against the backdrop of a crazy schedule, Guardiola abandoned experiments and rolled back to basic (albeit improved) settings.

Nevertheless, Lillo’s knowledge of the game in two defensive midfielders (Canselo often becomes the second) clearly came in handy. Illustration – João’s clever decisions in the first stage of attacks.

Screenshots taken in Instat Scout

To help with the advancement, Kanselu jumps out from behind James Ward-Prause and offers an option to pass:

Danny Ings expects a simple pass from Canselo to Kyle Walker and is already in standing position to intercept, but João plays thinner and passes to Rodri. He will deploy the attack forward:

Gundogan will be at the final stage (got the right to attack thanks to the displacement of Kanselu ):

A similar episode from the match against Everton.

Everything is the same – Rodri is closed for transmission again (he is personally controlled by Gylfi Sigurdsson):

To help, Kanselu drops back sharply, breaking away from Alex Iwobi, and takes the ball:

Sigurdsson is pulled out at Canselo, but instead of passing back to the defenders (again ignoring the simpler solution) the Portuguese thinly cuts on now already free Rodri – between two rivals:

Success as a hidden regista – almost KDB -universality of Kanselu. João can cut gears of completely different types from one position. At the same time, using different parts of the foot: the inner one – for casts behind the back or canopies, the outer one – for cutting gears, lifting – for diagonal gears to the opposite flank.

Canselu performs them both from the right half-flank and from the left. For clarity, we have chosen one (left) zone – to make the variety of programs look even more convincing.

An example of a through pass – from a match against PSG. Kanselu leads Gabi Jesus to the slaughter position:

Behind the back example – from the game with Everton. It can be seen that even partners are asking to play easier (Foden and Walker want the ball at their feet, Gundogan even points to a free Kyle). Instead, Canselu shoots outside at Sterling:

Classic canopy example Kanselu – from the match with Borussia Gladbakh. Addressee – Bernardo Silva:

Diagonal gear example – from games with West Ham. Here Riyadh Marez is already receiving:

The result of this versatility – a sudden discovery of new qualities in partners. Bernardo becomes a frequent recipient of canopies. Thanks to João’s precision and twist, his short stature is not an obstacle to lethal strikes at all (Silva hits an average of 10.7 meters – the closest in City). Gundogan added not only in connections at the second pace, but also in running behind the defenders – in order, among other things, to react to the Portuguese’s well-timed throws (last season he became City’s top scorer). It seems that somewhere in this place there must be a meme from the series “that everyone sees that sees Kancela.”

João’s physical qualities rarely show up in a new role, but sometimes he helps with opponents who try to turn off the usual City combinations through personal custody. As a rule, the attacking player plays according to João, who, due to the jerks of the Portuguese, has to sink too low. Some react, but belatedly (no defensive instincts), some hope for the help of defenders who are busy with other things. Canselu takes advantage of this.

Kanselu’s personal transformation is best summed up by external impressions. The most striking assessment is from Jack Grealish, who did not find the starting difficulties of Kancela and only met him in the summer:

“You know who surprised me the most ? Joao! His technique is crazy! When we play with one or two touches, he is simply the best. Can shoot from both feet – from anywhere. I can’t even describe how good he is. One of the best I’ve played with, that’s for sure. Yes, and very noisy, very funny. He’s extremely good this season. ”

The boundaries of Jack’s experience are definitely worth pushing – Kancela shone all last year, during which City managed to update the Premier League record for wins (36) and goals (113). The Portuguese launched another powerful Guardiola project, receiving almost the most important (and certainly the most ambitious) mission.

Other “New People”:

It seems that Declan Rice is the future England captain and already one of the best defenders of the world. He’s also a great guy

17-year-old Gavi is the most Barça’s fresh hope for a rebirth. In his youth, he scored 100 goals per season and eclipsed Fati

Atalanta have already changed football. Her copies are lit in several leagues

Photo : REUTERS / Lee Smith, Ian Walton; Gettyimages.ru / Shaun Botterill, Catherine Ivill, Alex Grimm / Bongarts