Last night Zinchenko had the most touches of the ball of anyone on the pitch. He made the most tackles and won the most headers of any City player. He's really, really important to how we play.
People are prone to underestimating the things he does well and overemphasizing his weaker attributes. We are very unlikely to find anyone to play left back who looks after the ball better than he does. His touch is great, his confidence in taking a pass under heavy pressure and recycling possession is better than most midfielders in the league. His timing in the tackle is much improved and he wins a ridiculous amount of headers for his size.
He isn't particularly quick, and he doesn't really create chances. That isn't the role he plays in the team. We don't get our fullbacks into crossing positions because we play with wide forwards and frankly there really isn't anyone for them to cross to anyway.
The interior fullback creating an overload in central midfield has been a key component of our game this and previous seasons. If we were to sign a more conventional left back, we would have to change how we play fairly drastically again. Not to say that we couldn't adapt and eventually improve with that kind of player, but it won't be a simple matter of slotting a pacy, traditional left back in there and everything else staying the same.
