Paul Merson believes Joao Cancelo “changed the face of football” at Manchester City by mastering the inverted full-back position.
Rico Lewis also pinpointed the City loanee’s versatility that allows him to ably play on both sides as one of the factors that makes him such a top player.
Until Cancelo left on loan to Bayern Munich earlier last year, he was universally viewed as one of, if not the best full-back in the world due to his ability to play at an elite level on both flanks.
Paul Merson says Joao Cancelo “changed the face of football” at Manchester City
In Germany, the Portuguese international struggled for playing time but since heading to Barcelona on loan from City, he has managed to put his name back into those conversations amongst the best of the best.
However, it would be fair to claim that the former Juventus technician was at his peak at Manchester City.
Now, Paul Merson has claimed that Joao Cancelo revolutionised the game with his mastery of the inverted full-back role.
“Two years ago, Joao Cancelo at Manchester City changed the face of football. He was playing as a full-back and coming into midfield. He was getting forward and scoring goals. No one knew how to pick him up. He was absolutely amazing”, he told Sky Sports.
The credit should go to Pep Guardiola instead of Joao Cancelo
While Joao Cancelo was virtually unplayable as an inverted full-back, in our view, Paul Merson should give the credit to Pep Guardiola for how much his use of the role in his teams has influenced other managers to follow suit.
At Bayern Munich in particular, the likes of Philipp Lahm and David Alaba would often tuck into midfield and opposition sides across Europe seemed dumbfounded.
The likes Jurgen Klopp, with his use of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez, Erik ten Hag with how he has deployed Diogo Dalot and Luke Shaw as well as Mikel Arteta with how he has utilised Oleksandr Zinchenko and Ben White have all taken inspiration from the tactical ploy.
As a result, if anyone has “changed the face of football” due to the inverted full-back position, it is Guardiola and not Cancelo.
