Oleksandr Zinchenko - 2019/20 Performances

[Fast Forward To The Past]

I wish people would stop assessing Zin's performances according to a pre-conceived notion of what a "proper" fullback is supposed to look like.
Instead look at the total impact he has on the game and what he brings to the table.
He might have a few shortcomings but he also brings a few things that most "classical" fullbacks don't have in their locker. Including the top ones.
The main thing he is a master at is interceptions high up the pitch and cutting out passing lanes high up the pitch.
It's staggering that this doesn't get more attention considering how many goals and chances we created on the back of the resulting turnover of play.
And there is many more thing that he does exceptionaly well.
Like I said he isn't perfect. Diagonals over the top are still an issue but together with Laporte he kept that left flank very secure last season.
Even against top opposition.
He had a bad first half against arguably the best player he will face this season and without his buddy Laporte in the first competitive game of the season.
And that's all that happened. If he was perceived as a classical left-back nobody would read anything more into it.

 

[MCFC ISRAEL]

I have to admit I never thought he is City-level. He's a nice player, yes, a good passer , but no more than that. He pinches himself in front of the mirror every day to see if he is dreaming. I'm trying to understand why people are convinced he's good as our LB. His defensive game is awful, Salah humiliated him yesterday and so will any top level player. So maybe for facing half of the premier League team he would be ok,so what? Ok defence is not his best side and I think everyone here will agree with me. So let's move to attacking abilities. He's not close to Mendy's level, he doesn't help the attack too much, I don't remember many crosses or kicks by him . He is not a rare athlete - not so high,he has no exceptional pace ,he is not strong and muscular. He just a nice player and also looks a nice guy but there is no way that he is our left back first choice

 

[mcfc482]

Don't think any LBs can handle Salah well especially with his strength. Will probably be Zinchenkos toughest battle this year. Full backs just need to stop getting caught under long balls and that will be part of the problem sorted.

 

[Delphinho]

I have to admit I never thought he is City-level. He's a nice player, yes, a good passer , but no more than that. He pinches himself in front of the mirror every day to see if he is dreaming. I'm trying to understand why people are convinced he's good as our LB. His defensive game is awful, Salah humiliated him yesterday and so will any top level player. So maybe for facing half of the premier League team he would be ok,so what? Ok defence is not his best side and I think everyone here will agree with me. So let's move to attacking abilities. He's not close to Mendy's level, he doesn't help the attack too much, I don't remember many crosses or kicks by him . He is not a rare athlete - not so high,he has no exceptional pace ,he is not strong and muscular. He just a nice player and also looks a nice guy but there is no way that he is our left back first choice

Zaba was never tall, quick or particularly strong either. Pep likes inverted full backs and Zinchenko is the perfect player for that role. Don’t forget that he’s just 22 and will only improve. If you compare the current version of him to the one who played against Wolves in the cup 2 years ago, you would have thought it was a different guy. He has improved so much under Pep, and will only keep on improving. His defending is getting better and better, and to be fair there are no fullbacks in the world who wouldn’t have been beaten by Salah a couple times. I fully agree that he isn’t as good as Mendy (in form) offensively, but who is? Zinchenko is surely one of the most underappreciated and underrated players we’ve had the last decade. FANTASTIC mentality as well. He’s just the perfect example of what kind of humans we want in our club. Hard working, doesn’t complain when he doesn’t play, learns from his mistakes and always has a smile on his face. I fucking love him

 

[kaz7]

I have to admit I never thought he is City-level. He's a nice player, yes, a good passer , but no more than that. He pinches himself in front of the mirror every day to see if he is dreaming. I'm trying to understand why people are convinced he's good as our LB. His defensive game is awful, Salah humiliated him yesterday and so will any top level player. So maybe for facing half of the premier League team he would be ok,so what? Ok defence is not his best side and I think everyone here will agree with me. So let's move to attacking abilities. He's not close to Mendy's level, he doesn't help the attack too much, I don't remember many crosses or kicks by him . He is not a rare athlete - not so high,he has no exceptional pace ,he is not strong and muscular. He just a nice player and also looks a nice guy but there is no way that he is our left back first choice

Who do you think shared lb with delph for our trophy laden last 2 yrs? it's pre-season after all,he has had to learn the position from scratch,comparing him to a player that never plays seems silly to me,we have no idea if benny is still the same after 2 seasons out,he has earned the shirt fair and square

 

[Deleted member 81382]

He's never going to be a world class LB but he'll do a job there if we need him to. Hopefully the LB situation will be much better this season and he can be used in other positions and maybe he'll find one that fits him perfectly.

A good utility player is incredibly rare, but Zinchenko could be one, so I won't be writing him off any time soon. He also seems to have a nice rapport with the fans and really appreciates the club for giving him his chance, so definitely worth holding onto with people like Vinny, Silva, Fernandinho, Aguero gone/leaving in the next 2 years.

You've pretty much summed up how I feel about it.

The way he has managed to fill the void left by Mendy's injuries has been invaluable. The fact that we enjoy so much possession coupled with the the way we defend as a team has meant that he's rarely left one on one which could expose his shortcomings defensively and it's allowed him to showcase his very clear technical ability on the ball which is a requirement if you want to play for Pep.

Having said that, I don't think it's outlandish to suggest he's the weak link defensively because it's not his natural game. So while we can get away with it most weeks in the league, playing him against the best teams in the Europe is not ideal because he will be targeted and it might cost us.

While the leftback spot is undoubtedly Zinchenko's at the moment, I think the ideal scenario is similar to what you've said - Mendy strings a run of games together, shows the form we know he's capable and finally puts his injury woes behind him.

In that event, Pep has the potentially world class attacking wing back he wanted two years ago complimented by a more technical player who has proven he's good enough to play in this team, ready to step in either for tactical reasons or in the event of an injury who can also play in midfield.

Of course, all of this relies on Mendy staying fit but if he does then left-back goes from arguably our weakest area in the squad to being on a level with every other position.

 

[ADegenerate]

He's never going to be a world class LB but he'll do a job there if we need him to. Hopefully the LB situation will be much better this season and he can be used in other positions and maybe he'll find one that fits him perfectly.

A good utility player is incredibly rare, but Zinchenko could be one, so I won't be writing him off any time soon. He also seems to have a nice rapport with the fans and really appreciates the club for giving him his chance, so definitely worth holding onto with people like Vinny, Silva, Fernandinho, Aguero gone/leaving in the next 2 years.

Love this post. There’s so much meta value in regards to what Dom points out here. Throughout the years it’s been a big piece of the pie to our sustained success. We’re going to need to replace that.

 

[ADegenerate]

You've pretty much summed up how I feel about it.

The way he has managed to fill the void left by Mendy's injuries has been invaluable. The fact that we enjoy so much possession coupled with the the way we defend as a team has meant that he's rarely left one on one which could expose his shortcomings defensively and it's allowed him to showcase his very clear technical ability on the ball which is a requirement if you want to play for Pep.

Having said that, I don't think it's outlandish to suggest he's the weak link defensively because it's not his natural game. So while we can get away with it most weeks in the league, playing him against the best teams in the Europe is not ideal because he will be targeted and it might cost us.

While the leftback spot is undoubtedly Zinchenko's at the moment, I think the ideal scenario is similar to what you've said - Mendy strings a run of games together, shows the form we know he's capable and finally puts his injury woes behind him.

In that event, Pep has the potentially world class attacking wing back he wanted two years ago complimented by a more technical player who has proven he's good enough to play in this team, ready to step in either for tactical reasons or in the event of an injury who can also play in midfield.

Of course, all of this relies on Mendy staying fit but if he does then left-back goes from arguably our weakest area in the squad to being on a level with every other position.

We’ve got so many options now. We’ve had to rely completely on our wingers to provide all of our width. With Mendy and Cancelo we’ve now got that aspect dominated completely if Pep chooses to let them go forward. I suspect the inverted full backs have been more out of necessity rather than our first option and we’ve obviously figured out how to win that way, yet now we have arguably the two best in the world if we want to play in another way....

Mendy racked up 5 assists (?) in the first month and a half and now we’ve got that option on the other side.

Pep was adamant that we will be better and scarily enough I believe that even if Sane goes.

 

[EL APACHE TEVEZ]

Thought he was superb today,he’s getting better and better well done Zinch.

 

[bluealf]

That tackle in the box today, not bad for a can't defend left back.