Hello and welcome back to another week of your very own soccermanager blog! How’s it going lads? How was the weekend? And, most importantly, how have your various gameworlds been treating you? I’ll tell you a bit about mines (since I’m only in one gameworld currently). I am in 4th place with 5 games to go in league (😭), we won our first cup this season (The World Championship Shield🤸♂️ I LOVE winning trophies!!!), as well as a Quarter Final 2nd Leg taking place tonight, where we have a 3 goal lead and should be cruising into our 6th semi final I’m a row in the SMFA Cup 😎
If it’s one thing that football has taught me is how easy it is to forget how good a player is if he is either injured or out of the spotlight. No player has gone through that connumdrum more than Portugese international and TOPPPP baller, João Cancelo. Watching him play live must be a dream as this guy is one of the best technical manipulators of the ball I have seen for quite some time. His football IQ is exceptional, and he is always looking to get onto the attack wherever he plays, whether in the DM(RL), M(RL), or AM(RL) positions (even though he cannot play the latter positions within SMW).
PLAYER BIO
Although 29, João still possesses the pace and explosiveness as a 23 year old, and the things that he can muster up with that magical right foot is practically unheard of from a player within his position. He may not be the most physically gifted player, but he surely makes up for it via his brilliant footballing brain
BEST ATTRIBUTES WITHIN SM23
As you can see, when it comes to attack minded Wingbacks there isn’t one that compares to João in my opinion with his ability to take on his opposition through his ‘Dribbling’, making decisive off the ball runs, as well as being a good passer of the ball. The one area within his attributes that is an absolute shock to me is his ‘Flair’. I cannot believe how low it is. Cancelo is one of the most skillful players in football at the moment who has no fear of taking on his opposition (especially when in the attacking third). This has to be an error, as there is no way his flair should be anything under ’75’
BEST ROLES
João Cancelo is one of those players who are masters of thier role and position, so there is absolutely no reason to play him anywhere but in your outside positions as a ‘Wingback’. He is so masterful that playing him on the left hand side will not deter his performance as has been on display whenever he plays there for Manchester City.Whenever he is asked to play within a back 3 formation, Cancelo absolutely thrives knowing that he has more attacking responsibilities, and the fact that there is extra protection for him defensively, you will truly get the upmost best from him no matter if you choose to play him off the right or left (if you have the right teammates around him, that is )João is the only World Class ‘Wingback’ that can play even further up the pitch alongside other attackers within your team and never look out touch. In my opinion, he is one of the best players for an emergency use if you are short on wide players and need someone to fill in as your AM(R) or AM (L), but bare in mind that he is a Wingback so the role that he will play in these attack minded position would be that of a ‘,Wide Midifeilder’who will provide the width, attack his Fullback at times, and also provide an attacking outlet on the flanks.
HOW TO BEST USE HIM
With everything that I mentioned above, Cancelo is still a defender at the end of the day, so his ultimate position and role that will get the best out of him will be as your DM(R) with his preferred ‘Wingback role’
WHO ARE THE BEST TEAMATES?
The best players to have around João will be ones who are capable of covering for him whenever he gets on the attack since he should be considered an extra attacker who happens to play at Fullback. The D(C) nearest to him can either be a ‘Stopper’ or ‘General Defender’, while you will need a DM,M(C) who displays high levels of defensive responsibilities.It’s the same scenario for when playing Cancelo within a back 3 formation as you will need the nearest D(C) next to him to be a good convering defender(A.K.A his ‘Positioning’attribute), while there will be a need for a ‘Playmaker’ in the centre of the park who can pull the strings and feed João with as many balls as he possibly can.If you choose to play Cancelo in a more attacking position, it is important to have a defensive minded ‘Fullback’ or ‘General Defender’ playing behind him in order to provide an extra layer of protection. Remember that João is very attack minded so this set up should not be considered ‘too defensive’. You will also neef a ‘Playmaker’within the M(C) positions since João is a player who thrives on getting fed the ball from creatively inclined teammates
The fact that many have literally forgotten how brilliant this man was for Manchester City just goes to show you how fickle we fans tend to be (as well as the fact that Manchester City actually never missed him, which is down to the brilliance of Guardiola than anything else). But make no mistake, João Cancelo is still one of the VERY best players in the world and not just only as a Fullback either since he can compete with the likes of Hazard or Frenkie De Jong for technical prowess. No matter where his next destination is, Cancelo will be a productive player based on what we’ve already seen from him over the past few years no matter what.
And with that, we’ve come to the end of our look at the best defensive world class players within SMW. I hope you are still motivated and hungry for more since we will be heading onto the area of the pitch that has everything from goal scorers, assist makers, to possession destroyers and marathon runners… Get ready to check out dem ballaz within the middle of the pitch! 🇩🇪 🇧🇷 🇭🇷 🇪🇸 🇵🇹 🇧🇪
The Soccermanager Experience 