11 | Jeremy Doku - 2023/24

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United were always going to sit deep and counter, didn't think it would be a game for him and surprised he started. we couldn't isolate him and his marker with them being camped in so deep. Actually think the game next week at anfield would suit him more than today as they'll be space for him but don't expect him to start that either. Could be a great impact sub though.

Has to be said, you have to be a massive twat to be trying to dig anybody out after a derby win.
 
As pointed out by many already Doku is quite slow when talking about absolute speed in straight line. That means his 1v1 with a high defense line will be caught up before he reaches the final third. He has been show how he fail to dribble through in low block tight defense line due to slow thinking and bad passing choices (most of time like a gamble as the last resort than organized attacking. I’m sure in what situation he can be useful.
He’s unbelievable in creating space and time with his dribbling/shimmies.

At the moment, he doesn‘t know what to do with that space.

If he learns what to do, then he’ll be a huge asset.

If he doesn’t, he’s another Traore/St Maximim.
 
Think starting him is a huge mistake for this confidence now. Bringing him on for last 20 minutes he can be quite effective. He’s great at beating a player to the line but then rarely finds anyone with a cross. Only move that looks threatening is when he cuts in early to the box and gets a shot off. I think he’s behind Jack (when fit), Alvarez, Bobb and Nunes to start. Only seems to play on left, so quite limited.
 
He looks devoid of confidence at the minute.

Highly talented, highly frustrating but I’m starting to feel a bit sorry for him.

Presumably if Jack was fit Pep would take him out of the firing line. Maybe Nunes or Bernie next weekend.
 



Again its crazy how much hate this kid gets. I challenge anyone to pick apart this video action by action and say what should he have done differently. He has become timid because thats what Pep asks from him - don't risk losing possession. But he was no worse than KDB, Haaland or Bernardo Silva by the hour mark.

I have previously called him a special talent, a star in the making, etc., so I hope my comment is seen as in good faith. I still think he can live up to it, but it largely depends on whether he has that fire in him to develop his game. Anyway, the link doesn't work for me, but I presume it's his highlights/one of those every-touch videos (although these are often not accurate/lack context). Instead, I will refer to my observations/some stats and try to justify why he is criticised right now/for a while now.

To begin with, not doing anything wrong is not enough to justify a starting place in this City side. Not in the position he is playing in. Whereas Nathan Ake fits the description of someone who usually doesn't do anything wrong (his main job as a defender) and is rightly praised for it, Jeremy occasionally gets dispossessed in positions that often lead to counter-attacks and cost us goals in the past. Even if he doesn't do anything wrong in a particular game, then it's still not enough. For example, Sergio Gomez hasn't done anything wrong this season per se, yet he doesn't get a sniff and hasn't played in a long time. He is great technically, provides dangerous crosses, and doesn't get dispossessed much. In a way, he is more of a City-type player than Jeremy, but he probably lacks this one thing he excels at. Of course, I am not claiming Gomez is better than Jeremy. Jeremy has some very special talents, which is exactly why Pep keeps on giving him chances. What I am trying to say is that what makes or made (earlier in the season) Jeremy special is what he can provide in terms of a direct, attacking threat. Therefore, can he use his acceleration and dribble past his opponents as the biggest dribbler in Europe, and thus create chances for himself or others? If he can't, then he suddenly has very little use to this City team since he is a little one-dimensional as it stands.

Now, let's compare him to the other players. For example, you mentioned Bernardo, KDB, and Haaland. Firstly, Haaland is the exception in this City team and is the only player allowed to contribute not much other than holding up the ball and creating space for others with his big, physical presence. However, he is judged by his goals. That's his special skill. If his goals were to stop, he would be criticised, and it happened before (1st half of the game yesterday, even). Nevertheless, because he scores ridiculous amounts of goals, he justifies his place in the City team even if it seems like he is not doing much else. That brings me to KDB. Again, Kevin is special for his creativity. Consequently, he is mostly judged based on chances created for others and assists. He does that incredibly well, even if he doesn't assist in a particular match. For example, he had 6 key passes yesterday, 12 crosses, 4/4 successful long balls, and 1/1 successful through ball. Therefore, whereas he might have been below his usual best in the world at what he does standard, he still did his job well and created a lot of potential chances. Finally, Bernardo. For starters, his work rate is insanely high, so he contributes much more defensively than Jeremy. For example, 4 interceptions to Jeremy's 0, although Bernardo does so much more than that. On the other hand, he still had 7 key passes and 8 crosses to Jeremy's 1 key pass and 2 crosses. Bernardo had more successful long/through balls as well. Therefore, Bernardo did his job incredibly well as well. Created chances and read the game well defensively. Of course, I understand Jeremy got subbed, but both Kevin and Bernardo had better stats before Jeremy was subbed, and both proved for years that they are game-changers.

To summarise, everyone in the City team has a job and is judged based on it. Players like Haaland, Bernardo, or KDB are recognised, established world-class players, who are always capable of some magic. They have worked for that status by displaying consistently high standards for years (even in the case of Haaland). For Jeremy, he has to prove himself, so not doing anything wrong is not enough for him because recently he doesn't do what he is good at. We didn't bring him to City for his ball-retention skills. He has been playing ahead of a treble-winning Jack Grealish, who had a magnificent season last season, and Oscar Bobb, who has been previously called a Future Ballon d'Or winner by City officials. Yesterday, he also played ahead of Julian Alvarez, a World Cup winner, who scores and creates for fun since day 1 at City, or Kovacic, if you twist the tactic, so a guy who has won several CL titles, and proved himself internationally, so is generally incredible at what he does for years. The bar is set incredibly high. If you are not world-class, it's not enough to start.

That's what I make of it anyway.
 
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Did anyone see him when we equalised?

Watch it back. He might be a Utd fan. Ha.
Zero emotion and just stands there.

Hopefully as time goes on and he feels more invested in the club he might start playing better.
Take a look at some footage of Colin Bell when we scored, at times you'd think someone had just shot his dog. It's just different personalities.
 
I totally get why City fans are becoming frustrated with him but we need to be aware that there is a wider view developing amongst other fans that Doku is ineffective and there are some piss taking memes doing the rounds.

Doku is probably playing far more than it was planned for him to do so because of Jack's injury and, as a new player, he needs support rather than moaning. He has some amazing skills in beating players and now needs to add to those.

People compare him to Palmer who is looking good for Chelsea but remember that he seemed pretty ineffective when he played for City.

This may sound like a rabid happy clappers take on things but there is definitely a player in Doku and if we support him we may see something extraordinary.
 
I have previously called him a special talent, a star in the making, etc., so I hope my comment is seen as in good faith. I still think he can live up to it, but it largely depends on whether he has that fire in him to develop his game. Anyway, the link doesn't work for me, but I presume it's his highlights/one of those every-touch videos (although these are often not accurate/lack context). Instead, I will refer to my observations/some stats and try to justify why he is criticised right now/for a while now.

To begin with, not doing anything wrong is not enough to justify a starting place in this City side. Not in the position he is playing in. Whereas Nathan Ake fits the description of someone who usually doesn't do anything wrong (his main job as a defender) and is rightly praised for it, Jeremy occasionally gets dispossessed in positions that often lead to counter-attacks and cost us goals in the past. Even if he doesn't do anything wrong in a particular game, then it's still not enough. For example, Sergio Gomez hasn't done anything wrong this season per se, yet he doesn't get a sniff and hasn't played in a long time. He is great technically, provides dangerous crosses, and doesn't get dispossessed much. In a way, he is more of a City-type player than Jeremy, but he probably lacks this one thing he excels at. Of course, I am not claiming Gomez is better than Jeremy. Jeremy has some very special talents, which is exactly why Pep keeps on giving him chances. What I am trying to say is that what makes or made (earlier in the season) Jeremy special is what he can provide in terms of a direct, attacking threat. Therefore, can he use his acceleration and dribble past his opponents as the biggest dribbler in Europe, and thus create chances for himself or others? If he can't, then he suddenly has very little use to this City team since he is a little one-dimensional as it stands.

Now, let's compare him to the other players. For example, you mentioned Bernardo, KDB, and Haaland. Firstly, Haaland is the exception in this City team and is the only player allowed to contribute not much other than holding up the ball and creating space for others with his big, physical presence. However, he is judged by his goals. That's his special skill. If his goals were to stop, he would be criticised, and it happened before (1st half of the game yesterday, even). Nevertheless, because he scores ridiculous amounts of goals, he justifies his place in the City team even if it seems like he is not doing much else. That brings me to KDB. Again, Kevin is special for his creativity. Consequently, he is mostly judged based on chances created for others and assists. He does that incredibly well, even if he doesn't assist in a particular match. For example, he had 6 key passes yesterday, 12 crosses, 4/4 successful long balls, and 1/1 successful through ball. Therefore, whereas he might have been below his usual best in the world at what he does standard, he still did his job well and created a lot of potential chances. Finally, Bernardo. For starters, his work rate is insanely high, so he contributes much more defensively than Jeremy. For example, 4 interceptions to Jeremy's 0, although Bernardo does so much more than that. On the other hand, he still had 7 key passes and 8 crosses to Jeremy's 1 key pass and 2 crosses. Bernardo had more successful long/through balls as well. Therefore, Bernardo did his job incredibly well as well. Created chances and read the game well defensively. Of course, I understand Jeremy got subbed, but both Kevin and Bernardo had better stats before Jeremy was subbed, and both proved for years that they are game-changers.

To summarise, everyone in the City team has a job and is judged based on it. Players like Haaland, Bernardo, or KDB are recognised, established world-class players, who are always capable of some magic. They have worked for that status by displaying consistently high standards for years (even in the case of Haaland). For Jeremy, he has to prove himself, so not doing anything wrong is not enough for him because recently he doesn't do what he is good at. We didn't bring him to City for his ball-retention skills. He has been playing ahead of a treble-winning Jack Grealish, who had a magnificent season last season, and Oscar Bobb, who has been previously called a Future Ballon d'Or winner by City officials. Yesterday, he also played ahead of Julian Alvarez, a World Cup winner, who scores and creates for fun since day 1 at City, or Kovacic, if you twist the tactic, so a guy who has won several CL titles, and proved himself internationally, so is generally incredible at what he does for years. The bar is set incredibly high. If you are not world-class, it's not enough to start.

That's what I make of it anyway.
This thesis is just too long.

It's football not some diplomatic treaty.
 
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