11 | Jeremy Doku - 2023/24

[Akira]

He's still only 21. He will get better.

 

[Txiki Txiki Bang Bang]

He's still only 21. He will get better.

An attacking fullback would help pull some players away from him. Right now its very easy to neutralize his threat, simply put 2 players sitting deep in that role but if we had a fullback bombing down behind Doku then he would be more productive

 

[Josh_D]

This isn’t the worst player thread on BM but I hope the lad never gets to see it.

 

[bluethai]

Just hope he can learn to understand the overall game around him better, making the right decisions at the right time, like when to make a quick pass, hold up the ball, or go solo down the wing by himself.

 

[Belgian Flash]

Pep's tactic is to control the ball in a certain area to attract the defense of the opposite team. Spaces will be created in other areas, and the most threatening player will be arranged in that space to complete the last attack. Doku's role is to control the ball and attract enough defensive players. If he can make a breakthrough, that's great, but if not, it doesn't matter, because his role is to attract defense, and the core of the attack is on the other side, that is, Foden.

This might be something that we all fail to realize, that what we perceive as Doku's failure is actually by design.

 

[Craig]

This might be something that we all fail to realize, that what we perceive as Doku's failure is actually by design.

Do you think it would be worth giving him a run on the right once Grealish is fit. It’s not like from the left he’s managing to get many shots off. Surely him keep trying to cross from the byline would be easier for him on his strong foot in terms of quality.

 

[bellsouth]

Do you think it would be worth giving him a run on the right once Grealish is fit. It’s not like from the left he’s managing to get many shots off. Surely him keep trying to cross from the byline would be easier for him on his strong foot in terms of quality.

Would love to see that at least for some part of a game if not from the start. He would get more crosses in, and because it would be faster than the current slow build up, there would be less defenders back in the box. This would give Haaland much better opportunities.

 

[Belgian Flash]

Do you think it would be worth giving him a run on the right once Grealish is fit. It’s not like from the left he’s managing to get many shots off. Surely him keep trying to cross from the byline would be easier for him on his strong foot in terms of quality.

I have said before this definitely a dilemma which also has bigger implications about his development:

The kid is a phenom. He just creates so much havoc. Of course it doesnt come off in terms of percentage but hes a volume chance creator. In absolute numbers his chance creation is bigger than anyone else. People look at his mistakes but dont notice how the team relies on him to make something happen. The play gravitates towards him whenever hes out there.

I do think however he might be better on the right side. Pep sees him as a natural cutting winger but hes getting a bit one dimensional on the left. He doesnt have a strong shot and is not as ambidextrous yet to hit accurate crosses with his left foot. On the right wing he would have to be more creative and his crosses would be better. He was a monster on the right at Rennes.

I think Pep plays him on the left because he sees him as a project and wants to improve Doku's shooting and turn him into a scorer. But Doku is not a Mbappe/Leao type of inside forward, hes a winger who will always be better at assisting than scoring. Being on the left doesn't improve his decision making because he is doubled more easily due to the obvious choices he has, and he has too much time between receiving the ball and making that choice. He sizes up opponents for too long, overthinks and then very often he has to restart because all the options are taken away. On the right he would play more instinctive and reactive which is his game. So its basically a decision by Pep whether he wants to turn Doku into a different player (more of a forward) by developing his shooting, or to fine tune his strength which is creation, which would be better to do from the right wing because his decision making would get better there.

I would love to see Doku on the right and Grealish left. The problem is this means two of KDB, Bernie and Foden on the bench and it just doesn't sit right.

 

[youngbob]

Think he'll come good next season. Everyone gets that first year to understand what's being asked of them. Then they click and never look back. We've seen it dozens of times under Pep, no reason why it won't happen for Doku. He's doing alright this year, for what it's worth. I felt a bit sorry for him on Saturday - it felt like the ground turned against him for the first time. Every time he picked the ball up there was muttering and complaining before he'd even done anything.

But those who were signing Grealish's death warrant earlier in the season after Doku scored a couple of goals have made fools of themselves. They really were desperate to dispose of the most creative forward in the Champions League last year for some shiny new toy, proving that they just don't like Grealish despite all the evidence that he makes us a stronger team - the strongest team on the planet, for that matter. Maybe those people will be thinking twice before willing Grealish to fail.

 

[alexmcity]

Think he'll come good next season.

This season, he will win us games and points in the run in.

 

[Craig]

I have said before this definitely a dilemma which also has bigger implications about his development:





I would love to see Doku on the right and Grealish left. The problem is this means two of KDB, Bernie and Foden on the bench and it just doesn't sit right.

It doesn’t it means one of them as Alvarez needs benching unless Haaland is out. Bernie was sub Saturday anyway without Grealish

 

[Pelegrinni]

Those piling on Doku should bear in mind that his fans would do the same to Grealish if he has a bad game.
Both are our players and both need our support when they have a bad game.
This trend of criticizing a player will have a negative outcome for both player and team.

 

[Phil1]

Those piling on Doku should bear in mind that his fans would do the same to Grealish if he has a bad game.
Both are our players and both need our support when they have a bad game.
This trend of criticizing a player will have a negative outcome for both player and team.

I presume you’ve looked at the Grealish thread?
Makes this one look like sunshine, rainbows, glitter and fucking unicorns.
There will always be players who the wrong’uns target.

 

[Kamaro011]

I presume you’ve looked at the Grealish thread?
Makes this one look like sunshine, rainbows, glitter and fucking unicorns.
There will always be players who the wrong’uns target.

The early Grealish thread it's really tough to read with many embarassing and shameful post have been written regarding him on that thread.

Even if he not getting played, he still get slagged off FFS and recently it seems it hasn't gotten any better. He really one of those player who become a punching bag for some people around there.

 

[Phil1]

The early Grealish thread it's really tough to read with many embarassing and shameful post have been written regarding him on that thread.

Even if he not getting played, he still get slagged off FFS and recently it seems it hasn't gotten any better. He really one of those player who become a punching bag for some people around there.

The main instigator watches games through the medium of a potato though so take away his nonsense and it’d be about 20 pages less.

 

[KennyG]

He’s West Ham level. We will get our money back if it doesn’t work out.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

He’s West Ham level. We will get our money back if it doesn’t work out.

Whoaaa - brave!

 

[Craig]

He’s West Ham level. We will get our money back if it doesn’t work out.

Bit early for comments like that. Few improvements and he could go to another level

 

[SebastianBlue]

I honestly thought he was one of our better players against Chelsea. Certainly no worse than Foden and nowhere near as frustrating as Alvarez or Haaland.

Some of the comments in here and elsewhere seem to lack perspective (or just experience), especially when it comes to young players in their first year learning their role in Pep’s system.

 

[Txiki Txiki Bang Bang]

I honestly thought he was one of our better players against Chelsea. Certainly no worse than Foden and nowhere near as frustrating as Alvarez or Haaland.

Some of the comments in here and elsewhere seem to lack perspective (or just experience), especially when it comes to young players in their first year learning their role in Pep’s system.

Or maybe some blues just want to see him fail