Yeah i watched it, I didn't say he tried taking a man on I said he gave a loose ball away and they scored within 3 touches.
The West Ham player had acres to run into after Doku initially had a loose touch that lost possession. Getting bogged down with the three touches narrative isn’t that important when the point doesn’t change, there were other opportunities to prevent the goal in the end and it was sloppy from a couple of perspectives.You didnt say that but what you did suggest was that we will concede more goals from having more direct wingers and cited the west ham goal as proof when the west ham goal had nothing to do with having a more direct winger and came from a bad touch followed by shit defending.
I'm still not convinced you did watch it because they didnt score within 3 touches either, not even close. the ball was in their half, we had 6 defenders behind the ball to their 3 attackers and half a pitch to defend, that shouldn't be a dangerous position to be in if we defend properly.
That is not how Pep thinks. He expects everybody to run for the team as much as necessary.My two cents on the whole tracking back-pace vs acceleration discussion: if a player has as much offensive contribution as Doku already has for City, then its a bit of an ungrateful task to expect him to constantly sprint the whole pitch and prevent opponents' attack. He is not a wingback, he is a wing forward. He should occassionally help out sure, but you don't see Madrid asking Vinicius to cover what is a vast amount of space in their own half, because you would just fatigue him too much to be effective in attack. When your effectiveness comes from physically very demanding constant sprints and physical duels, it can deplete your energy levels very quickly.
Of course, you can say well Doku should just work on his conditioning. He obviously should, as do everybody. But at some point you can't improve much more there unless you sacrifice something else, either weight or style of play. You don't want either with Doku imo. His explosive power comes for a huge part from his muscle mass; the kid's frame has grown a lot in the last two years constantly rehabbing from injuries. You can already see how crucial his strength is for his game the way he shields the ball. I know the tracking back is how City play and this is one of the biggest challenges he will have to overcome, learning to defend properly (the other being movement without the ball on attack; he needs to run between the channels occasionally and not just wait for the ball in his feet every time). But learning to defend properly means more in the head than the legs, so decision making and better understanding of space between him and his teammates.
TL DR, Doku has great pace as well, although not elite Mbappe/Walker type of pace. But because of his constant explosive actions on offense, he is too knackered to track back by sprinting long distances. This is not solvable by more conditioning training but by covering him more instead of expecting him to cover, and teaching him to figure out when he should track back and when he shouldn't. "Always" is just not gonna work unless you lose major offensive output from him.
I disagree on this one. Doku should absolutely be tracking back when the ball is near his zone. He creates a lot of chances, is dynamic, but if he doesn't take care of his zone, it's definitely not worth it. We had so much success because of our ability to nullify the opponent by having great cohesion as soon as we lose the ball. One of the reasons Pep put Sané on the bench was his below-average work rate. If Mahrez can do it, it shouldn't be a problem for Doku.My two cents on the whole tracking back-pace vs acceleration discussion: if a player has as much offensive contribution as Doku already has for City, then its a bit of an ungrateful task to expect him to constantly sprint the whole pitch and prevent opponents' attack. He is not a wingback, he is a wing forward. He should occassionally help out sure, but you don't see Madrid asking Vinicius to cover what is a vast amount of space in their own half, because you would just fatigue him too much to be effective in attack. When your effectiveness comes from physically very demanding constant sprints and physical duels, it can deplete your energy levels very quickly.
You can tell what training with pep after his debut he has made improvements visible from the way he played in the last two game. Very promising signs!The West Ham player had acres to run into after Doku initially had a loose touch that lost possession. Getting bogged down with the three touches narrative isn’t that important when the point doesn’t change, there were other opportunities to prevent the goal in the end and it was sloppy from a couple of perspectives.
I suggested that losing the ball in those types of areas could cost us on the counter attack but I’m not overly concerned because the more he plays for us, the more he trains the better he will become.
He looks a cracker who will only improve. I’ve already moved onto the next game.
I think both of you bring up good points but I agree more with you. As controversial as it may be it's why I'd much rather draw a team like Madrid in CL than an English side as they really don't work hard enough to match up with us. If not for that fluke comeback a couple of years ago they're record versus us would be embarrassing considering their history in CL.That is not how Pep thinks. He expects everybody to run for the team as much as necessary.
Vinicius Jnr not tracking back is a weakness in Real Madrid’s team.
Mbappe and Messi never tracking back meant PSG never won the CL.
If Doku doesn’t want to do his tracking back, he won’t play much for Pep. It is a prerequisite.
Doku squares up his defender.
Me: