This current Manchester City side is one of the best teams ever seen in the Premier League – and Nedum Onuoha has shared something about it that doesn’t really get spoken about that often.
Pep Guardiola has built a truly outstanding team, which is packed with world-class talent.
It is a joy for City fans to be able to watch the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden and Erling Haaland to name but a few, and there is no denying some of the finest talents in the world play their football at the Etihad Stadium.
When people think of City, they tend to think about the pretty football under Pep.
City always have more of the ball than their opponents, and play some lovely intricate stuff to break defences down.
But in the eyes of Onuoha, there is an underrated quality about this team that doesn’t get spoken about much…
Nedum Onuoha tells Ruben Dias he loves Manchester City’s fight and ability to physically dominate
Manchester City released their latest podcast episode recently, which featured centre-back Ruben Dias.
Dias talked about many things, including how he actually found it tough to leave Lisbon for Manchester, and how highly he rates Rodri.
At one point, there is some talk about City as a team and former defender Nedum Onuoha mentioned something to Dias that he really admires aside from the pretty football.
He said: “One of the big reasons I believe they do win is because they have the fight. It’s not just a team that plays nice football. They can physically dominate you, they can outplay you, they will compete, they will match whatever you want to give them.
“When you’re seeing the likes of Ruben talking about Rodri… he’s a fantastic footballer, but teams don’t want to play against you guys. It’s because of the total package – that doesn’t get spoken about enough. From an inside (perspective) that’s what matters the most.”
Spot on from Onuoha
It is difficult to argue against this point from Onuoha about the current Manchester City team.
City fans have been treated to some exceptional football since Guardiola arrived at the club, but for all the lovely technical play, there has also been a real steel about the team.
One of the main principles for Guardiola is having his players win the ball back as quickly as possible.
The manager is huge on competing and as Onuoha says, City have the capacity to dominate with their physicality.
Pep has assembled a team of warriors, with the likes of Dias, Erling Haaland, Rodri, John Stones, Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish, Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake, Kyle Walker and Josko Gvardiol all strong, physical and aggressive players.
They can all fight, as much as they can dazzle technically.
