India, March 23 -- For both his goals in the League Cup final at Wembley on Sunday, Nico O'Reilly was being marked by players shorter and smaller than him. Martin Zubimendi is 12 centimetres shorter and could do little when O'Reilly swooped in front of the Arsenal midfielder to put Manchester City in front. Neither could Bukayo Saka, who is 1.78m in his socks, a full 15cm shorter than O'Reilly. Size matters.

What also does is O'Reilly's ability to time his attacking runs into the box. It is not a skill that is usually part of a left back's repertoire but under Pep Guardiola, players have been known to add strings to their bow. O'Reilly is the latest in the list that is long and varied. It includes John Stones moving into midfield, Philip...