Guardiola: Nunes and O’Reilly have been open-minded to new roles | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has praised Matheus Nunes and Nico O’Reilly’s attitude towards playing full-back.

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The pair, who had previously spent much of their careers in midfield, have shone on either side of the back four so far this season.

Both players have become integral to Guardiola’s plans in recent months and the boss says that’s just as much about their positivity as their ability.

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Asked about them in Friday’s press conference, Guardiola highlighted how they came to play in those positions.

“The system needed it,” he said.

“In the training sessions, we realise they have special attributes to play that position and convince them but mainly they have to convince themselves they can do it.

“Some players are not open minded, they say they don’t want to play different roles. When you play regularly, people get confidence and they can do it. For example, Nico Gonzalez is playing much better game by game by game because he’s playing a lot of games.

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“Matheus and Nico O’Reilly are good examples. Sometimes they prove it there. Zinchenko or Delph playing left-back. When I see them, I know midfield players can go in those small spaces.

“Matheus may struggle a little there, but his physicality is much higher than Aleks or Fabian.

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“We don’t have many full backs, Rico is exceptional in the middle. It’s mainly the players about being open, if they start to say they can’t do it it’s not good.”

Saturday’s Premier League trip to Newcastle could see Erling Haaland break yet another record.

If the Norwegian scores at St James’ Park, he’ll be the quickest to 100 Premier League goals, surpassing former Newcastle hero Alan Shearer at the ground at which he’s adored.

Shearer is the Premier League’s all-time top scorer with 260 strikes in 441 appearances between 1992 and 2006.

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Pep says he’s keen for our No.9 to reach triple figures as quick as possible and further his credentials as one of the greatest forwards in the league’s history.

“It would be good. It means he’s scored goals,” said Guardiola.

“Alan Shearer has been so far the greatest scorer so far in this league and whatever happens with Erling, Shearer will be top.

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“The quality to score goals in big teams but not the ones who won the Premier League. I respect the trajectory of players who scored for a long time, always hats off.

“I admire them because that means the resilience to be there every season. You have to do it for a lot of seasons, be incredibly focused, professional and love the game. For Erling to be close to Shearer is good for him and good for both of them.

“You don’t have to be a mathematician to realise that if he stays for a long time and continues at this average, he will be close to Harry Kane and Shearer but I don’t know what happens in the future.”

Newcastle v city app coverage

Our official Man City app allows you to follow all of the action in one place.

Minute-by-minute text updates will begin in our Matchday Centre two hours before kick-off, while our Matchday Live show will begin at around 16:15 (UK).

Steve Howey and Rob Lee will join Natalie Pike as the former players offer their expert insight before, during and after the action.

During the game you can also listen to live audio commentary from Alistair Mann and Michael Brown, while our text commentary continues.

Make sure to have push notifications turned on, so you can be alerted to key moments in the action, including goals, red cards and the team news.

A quick-hit 2-minute highlights package will be available from 21:15 (UK) while you can sign-in to watch a free 8-minute edit from midnight.

Meanwhile on CITY+, from midnight there’ll be our popular full-match replay as well as our new extended highlights reel showing the best 20 minutes of action from the game.