"Don't let anyone dim your shine," wrote Joao Cancelo on Instagram in Portuguese after he was an unused substitute for the third successive game on Friday night.
In another post, showing him in the Etihad tunnel he wrote: "Armoured mind and smile on the face," which suggests Cancelo feels he is deep in the middle of a battle at Manchester City at present.
In the 11 games since his clumsy red card against Fulham, Cancelo has started just four, played in six, and completed 90 minutes only twice. He's only started once at right-back in that time and just twice on the left, with Nathan Ake and Rico Lewis emerging as more reliable options on either side. At the World Cup, he also lost his place for Portugal to Manchester United's Diogo Dalot. It's not been the best three months for a player City previously thought was undroppable.
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Pep Guardiola says City cannot play well without Ake at the moment, and praised his recent performances after he scored the only goal in Friday's win over Arsenal. On the other side, Guardiola has heaped the praise on Lewis, and when the Arsenal tactics nullified the 18-year-old, the manager turned to Kyle Walker instead.
There appears to be a way back for Walker after a similar axe from the first team, but Cancelo's path appears blocked by an in-form Ake and even Aymeric Laporte - who started on the left against Wolves. For Guardiola to keep Ake in the starting XI, even in the FA Cup which would have been an ideal opportunity to reintegrate the Portuguese, shows that he won't get back in the team through sentiment.
Equally, for Cancelo to hint that he feels under siege, and that recent events are 'dimming his shine', is a useful reminder that leaving a player out can have deeper knock-on effects than simply replacing an under-performing player with someone in better form.
Of all the players to sympathise with Cancelo, however, the most understanding may be the man who is keeping him on the bench so effectively - Ake.
In his first two seasons at City, Ake has had to feed off scraps for first-team minutes, as more trusted players have been picked ahead of him. Ake isn't the first or last to need time to adapt to Guardiola's system, or get his eventual break in a slightly unnatural position. His form this season has been brilliant, though, and he's thoroughly deserving of Guaridola's first-choice left-back spot at present.
Praising Ake after his match-winning performance vs Arsenal, Guardiola said: "What a season he's playing. He controlled one of the toughest opponents in the Premier League - Saka is having an incredible moment. He's really good in duels in the box, set pieces, defending the far post, extra bonus. An exceptional lovely guy, last season when he wasn't playing, never complains once, always was really good."
So if Cancelo wants to leapfrog Ake again, he could take a leaf from the Dutchman's book. Don't complain, perform well in training, and take his chance when - or if - it comes.
If Cancelo can rediscover his 'shine' again, and his form, then he will be needed as City look to win the Premier League and add two other trophies to their collection. How he does that is up to him.
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