11 | Jeremy Doku - 2023/24

[OB1]

I think it shows that he is judged with a lot of bias by his detractors.

There’s a lot of bias. Kev made 8 unsuccessful crosses tonight before he assisted Phil.

 

[nellyonthewing]

We did not lose control when Grealish went off. Just as in the Everton game and the Brentford game we open very very strongly but opponents then drop deeper into 2 banks of 4. We then pass it around without breaking them down and they jump on any loose pass.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

I thought he did more good things than bad tonight.

 

[FJRMCFC]

Well I think there is actually and it showed tonight, Jack is a key player in our system.

We dominated the 2nd half just as well as we did the 1st, even with Doku’s directness.

This post is not disputing Jack’s place as a key player either

 

[city warrior]

Well I think there is actually and it showed tonight, Jack is a key player in our system.

key player. He has barely played in the last two months where we have dominated and win pretty much every game. Jack is important, but key player, give me a break..

Anyway, we dominated the 2nd half just as much as when Jack was in the field. Those 10 min in the FH didn't have anything to do with Jack not being there, but with Ederson mistake from nowhere.

 

[jollylescott]

Doku played a sensible mature game today. Retained possession well, created an excellent chance for Phil and cut inside and had a decent shot from range.

Spot on. Nice to hear some common sense.

 

[ninjamonkey]

Not ready for the top level yet.

Look at the control lost when Grealish went off.

Without Grealish we will hugely struggle in the big games.

This is a really odd take. We undoubtedly lost momentum when Grealish got injured, he was contributing to that and was playing well but it wasn't his absence that made us lose it, or doku's introduction, that's just a mental thought process.

We lost momentum because through grealish's injury and then foden getting a whack straight after, we were stop start for 10 minutes. We were in complete control for the entire second half and grealish wasn't on the pitch, how are you explaining that?

 

[RayCTID]

A good tactical game although at times his touch did let him down.

 

[Middedon]

I think a lot of people seem to minimize the importance of experience and longevity when commenting on players and thus Doku (and all the new players) are viewed as sub par skill wise. Even if Grealish and Doku had the exact same skill set, Grealish will likely be preferred because of his experience and longevity with the team. Of course that gives him a head up, and of course that means Doku might take a while to settle when he comes on. Especially when we’ve got Stone and KDB back - who he hasn’t played with a ton. But that doesn’t mean Doku is crap.I thought Doku played well and were lucky to have a sub that can come on without a huge drop in quality.

 

[ojeme]

The narrative that we can’t “control” games with Doku is starting to stink of confirmation bias. Not to diminish what Jack brings to the team, but the shouts that we lost something when he came off are nonsensical. Naturally we lost momentum due to the sub/injury but we regained control, Ederson makes a daft mistake and then we went back to dominating the game albeit a few shaky moments that should be expected.

It’s impossible to control games away in Europe for 90 mins regardless of who’s in the XI. Grealish helps, but there’s not some vast difference when he’s out and Doku is in.

Funny isn’t it - the forming of narratives. Can you recall the last time even from last season when we controlled possession totally the whole first half?

Copenhagen as shitty as they are were bound to fight at some point which they did. Doku kept things simple and did little wrong and even though he is not on Grealish’s level in terms of keeping the ball I know the loss of momentum wasn’t down to him.