Clinton Morrison can’t believe Pep Guardiola is still playing £53m star at Man City

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Pundit Clinton Morrison cannot believe Pep Guardiola keeps playing one player for Manchester City following their defeat to Brighton on Sunday.

The Manchester club were beaten 2-1 by the Seagulls at the Amex Stadium courtesy of a late Brajan Gruda goal, which has made two defeats in three for the Citizens.

The international break could not come at a better time for Guardiola’s team, as the demons of last season will now start to creep in again.

Gary Lineker thinks Man City do not have the superstars they once had in their squad, while Morrison has put the defeat down to something more specific, with the pundit believing Guardiola keeps repeating a fixable mistake.

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Matheus Nunes is not a right-back

Amid Man City’s struggles last season, Matheus Nunes starred at right-back for Guardiola, which is one of the reasons why the Premier League giants did not sign a new player for the role this summer.

Gary Neville knew Brighton had a chance of beating Man City when he saw the £53m star’s name on the teamsheet before kick-off, and the Sky Sports pundit was right, as the 27-year-old struggled at the Amex.

While speaking about City’s defeat to Brighton, Morrison admitted that he cannot believe Guardiola is still playing Nunes at right-back and that the legendary coach still doesn’t know what his best team is.

“I’ve said it many times at right-back. For me, Nunes is not a right-back,” Morrison said on the Premier League Review with Rick Edwards.

“Pep keeps playing him there. He made mistakes last season. I know the handball, I’m not criticising him for the handball, but I’m talking about the way he defends and stuff like that.

“They leave themselves so open, you’ve got to have natural full-backs that have the pace because they’re so exposed in there. So it’s a big struggle. And I just don’t think he knows his best team at the moment.”

Not signing a right-back this summer already looks like a big error from Man City, and it may cost them the Premier League.

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Matheus Nunes struggled against Brighton

Nunes struggled against Brighton on Sunday afternoon, and the Seagulls have provided every team with a blueprint to beat Man City when the Portuguese star is starting in the right-back role.

The 27-year-old ended the game against Brighton with 0 goal contributions, 0 chances created, 42/48 passes completed, 1/1 successful dribbles, 2 passes into the final third, 0/2 long balls, 1 block, 4 clearances, 1 interception, 5 recoveries, and was never dribbled past.

Nunes did very well to help out his team last season by moving into a role that is unnatural to him, but for Guardiola to enter the 2025/26 campaign with this as an option was naive of the Spaniard.

It remains to be seen how things play out for the coming months, but it would not be a surprise for Man City fans if their club dips into the market to sign a right full-back in January after how the first half of the season plays out.