European Team of the Season: DC - Nicolas Otamendi (Manchester City)

Featuring alongside Federico Fazio at the heart of the defence in WhoScored.com’s European team of the season is compatriot Nicolas Otamendi. The Manchester City man earned a rating of 7.49 this past campaign with his proactive approach helping to earn such a figure. 

While Otamendi has his doubters, the Argentine was a strong performer when called upon by head coach Pep Guardiola. While often considered something of a no nonsense defender, the centre-back abided to the possession-based demands of his Spanish boss.

Indeed, only Dejan Lovren (69) averaged more passes per game than Otamendi (64.9) of all defenders in the Premier League this season, while a success rate of 88.2% ranked among the top 15 players in the league. For a team that looks to start attacks from the back, the Argentina international was more than capable of playing the ball out wide or into midfield in a bid to help move City forward. 

Otamendi also ranked highly for tackles per game (2.3), while only Curtis Davies (3.5) averaged more interceptions per game than the 29-year-old (2.7) in England’s top tier this term, reinforcing WhoScored strengths of ‘tackling’ and ‘ball interception’. His approach to defending may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it is certainly effective as City shipped considerably fewer goals per game with Otamendi starting this season (0.97) than without him (1.22).

This knack of stepping forward to intercept the danger allowed for City to quickly transition from defence to attack and while this style presents its risks, Otamendi is experienced enough to know when to break rank to cut out any impending attack, which ultimately suits a Guardiola-managed side. 

City may not have secured any silverware this season, but there’s now a solid foundation to build upon. Last week’s capture of Bernardo Silva was a strong statement of intent by the club and while more work needs to be done to improve the squad, Otamendi is likely to be part of the rebuilding process at the Etihad Stadium. He may not be flavour of the month in defence, but the centre-back is a consistent performer for Guardiola and City and has looked solid when partnered with Vincent Kompany.