Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2015/16 season. Nasri, though, is perhaps the one City player who has been overrated. The FIFA 16 database that ranks players is largely accurate. In seasons gone by, it was perhaps easier for him to get another chance to show his downturn in form was a blip. He lost his place in the side, and with Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne arriving in the summer, his first-team chances suffered further. His half-time substitution at the Camp Nou during City's last-16 game with Barcelona in March was pretty much the last we saw of the Frenchman. Pellegrini's arrival saw a happier Nasri, and in City's league- and cup-winning 2013/14 season, Nasri was superb and once again a significant part of the first XI.ĭefending titles appears to be problematic for Nasri, though, as his form dipped again in a title-defence season. He felt a player with his game-changing abilities should be influencing matches far more than he was. In 2012/13, with City defending their fist title in 44 years, Mancini grew frustrated with Nasri. But when he’s bad, which happens too often, he can be a liability. When he’s good, there are few better attacking midfielders in the league. However, under both Roberto Mancini and Pellegrini, he has too often found himself on the periphery of the first XI due to periods of poor form. His touch is sublime, he possesses great vision and he keeps the ball brilliantly through a combination of strength, determination and skill. There are very few in the City side who can compete with him in terms of ability. Nasri has a tendency to drift in and out of matches and, indeed, in and out of seasons, with his commitment sometimes undermining his obvious quality. Inconsistency is his downfall, something that isn’t captured on the game. Technically, Nasri is a wonderful player, and his FIFA statistics, quite rightly, show that. It is perhaps a lack of nuance in the FIFA 16 database which sees Nasri rank more favourably than two players who are higher up Manuel Pellegrini’s pecking order. Reality, of course, would suggest this isn’t the case. His overall score of 83 means he is considered a better player than Raheem Sterling and Fernandinho. Samir Nasri, though, is perhaps slightly overrated on the new game.
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