Pep's left back with same old problem

CANCELO'S LOSS OF FORM GIVES CITY FAMILIAR CONCERN

- DANIEL MURPHY

THAT pesky left-back spot. For the duration of Pep Guardiola's time at the club it has been a persistent problem.

Be it injuries or signings not being good enough, despite all their millions City have struggled to sort the position out as effectively as they have at right-back with Kyle Walker holding down the spot for the last five years. Over the seasons we've seen Fabian Delph, Danilo, Aymeric Laporte, Nathan Ake, Angelino, Aleks Zinchenko, Sergio Gomez and Joao Cancelo take up the role.

Though naturally a right-back, Cancelo thrived in the position since swapping sides, so much so that he is probably classified as a left-back now. Yet now even he has hit a dire run of form and once again Guardiola is back to playing makeshift left-backs.

Cancelo, as well as Walker, have both struggled to hit any sort of form since club football's resumption after the World Cup. In Cancelo's case that probably stretches back to before the tournament and during it, in which he lost his place in the Portugal team to Diogo Dalot and only got a reprieve when the Manchester United man got injured.