Manchester City fullback Gael Clichy admits the extra scrutiny from the media last season was an eye opener.

Despite a successful first season, Clichy, part of the France squad preparing to take on England on Monday, revealed he's still coming to terms with the level of scrutiny at the Etihad Stadium.

"The difficult thing for a full-back is that you have to be able to do everything well," said Clichy.

"If you have a great match defensively but don't attack enough, you get criticised. If it's the other way around you also get criticised, unlike in other more specialist positions. It goes to show the importance of full-backs in modern football.

"We tend to focus only on the most visible contributions, like assists and goals. These days a player can have a mediocre game but if he scores the winning goal in injury time, people's comments about him will change completely."