11 | Jeremy Doku - 2023/24

Status
Not open for further replies.
Exciting player - but we play better when we conserve energy and wear the opposition down, probing intelligent football - the fine line between caution and being over adventurous and stretched. Haaland is our luxury - a productive one and one doing a lot more than when he arrived - granted. Not sure we can accommodate two though, without sacrificing other areas - as we saw yesterday.
 
Alan Harper's Tash said:
It’s because we had less control of a game than I can recall for years.

The biggest hole was the lack of Kovacic/Lewis in midfield, but you can see Grealish’s worth in these types of game. Just because he didn’t for a while wasn’t totally his fault, just like it wasn’t totally Doku’s fault today.

Had Alvarez not started, Doku might have won us the game. we’ll never know.
Click to expand...

Away from home with the pace & athleticism Chelsea have in attack, I feared starting Doku ahead of Grealish for this kind of game would expose us & unfortunately it looked like the case even though I'm sure it ended up being a cracker for the neutral.

I'm sure Pep knew this was the risk but he likes to challenge things & decided to go on the front foot yesterday in comparison to the Arsenal game a few weeks ago. I reckon he may double back down to using Grealish for these sort of games, especially away from home. Doku still needs time to learn all things City & at home he definitely feeds off the crowd which isn't quite the same away from home.

A large part of us winning the treble last season was Grealish's 'un-sexy' possession football where his defensive contribution was vital too. Yesterday's game harked back to our basketball games in the past against the Scousers. I doubt Pep is comfortable with this!
 
hammersmithlad said:
Away from home with the pace & athleticism Chelsea have in attack, I feared starting Doku ahead of Grealish for this kind of game would expose us & unfortunately it looked like the case even though I'm sure it ended up being a cracker for the neutral.

I'm sure Pep knew this was the risk but he likes to challenge things & decided to go on the front foot yesterday in comparison to the Arsenal game a few weeks ago. I reckon he may double back down to using Grealish for these sort of games, especially away from home. Doku still needs time to learn all things City & at home he definitely feeds off the crowd which isn't quite the same away from home.

A large part of us winning the treble last season was Grealish's 'un-sexy' possession football where his defensive contribution was vital too. Yesterday's game harked back to our basketball games in the past against the Scousers. I doubt Pep is comfortable with this!
Click to expand...
Alvarez playing as a high 8 was probably more of the reason for the lack of control, but Jack would have been more conservative with the ball and slowed the tempo.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and Doku gains valuable experience. It will do him and us in good stead in the future,
 
Alan Harper's Tash said:
Alvarez playing as a high 8 was probably more of the reason for the lack of control, but Jack would have been more conservative with the ball and slowed the tempo.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and Doku gains valuable experience. It will do him and us in good stead in the future,
Click to expand...

I have every confidence Doku will take yesterday's game as a learning experience, as he comes across as a studious individual who is constantly seeking self-improvement in his game.

Mentally, seems quite the opposite to Palmer, who I was gutted to see leave the club but relies too much on his natural talent as commented within his interviews about pens. I reckon the club were privately frustrated in Palmer not doing the extra work or effort to step up to the next level with us & see a different mindset with Doku.
 
GaudinoMotors said:
Exciting player - but we play better when we conserve energy and wear the opposition down, probing intelligent football - the fine line between caution and being over adventurous and stretched. Haaland is our luxury - a productive one and one doing a lot more than when he arrived - granted. Not sure we can accommodate two though, without sacrificing other areas - as we saw yesterday.
Click to expand...
Don’t think he’s a luxury at all. He has a gift that very few players have. The luxury is playing 2 forwards particularly without Stones. The problems we had yesterday were not caused by Doku. Case in point being we had no more control when Jack came on. Pushing Bernado up so high without Stones also left Rodri with even less support. Against utd Bernado got to push up on the left and support Grealish and it worked a treat probably for two main reasons. One we had Stones playing brilliantly with Rodri and that shower have inferior players to Chelsea.
 
Last edited:
hammersmithlad said:
I have every confidence Doku will take yesterday's game as a learning experience, as he comes across as a studious individual who is constantly seeking self-improvement in his game.

Mentally, seems quite the opposite to Palmer, who I was gutted to see leave the club but relies too much on his natural talent as commented within his interviews about pens. I reckon the club were privately frustrated in Palmer not doing the extra work or effort to step up to the next level with us & see a different mindset with Doku.
Click to expand...
Good shout about Palmer. He’ll always have to rely on natural ability as there doesn’t seem much between the ears.

Gazza did alright on that though.
 
Craig said:
Don’t think he’s a luxury at all. He has a gift that very few players have. The luxury is playing 2 forwards particularly without Stones. The problems we had yesterday were not caused by Doku. Case in point being we had no more control when Jack came on. Pushing Bernado up so high without Stones also left Rodri with even less support. Against utd Bernado go to push up on the left and support Grealish and it worked a treat probably for two main reasons. One we had Stones playing brilliantly with Rodri and that shower have inferior players to Chelsea.
Click to expand...
I've heard this - but, but, but we were winning when Grealish came on. You don't just push a button and gain control - reset to a default RM first half setting during a match. The match was on a knife edge throughout - "partly" due to the selection of Doku - it was a risk - a calculated one - but a risk nonetheless.
I concede your point about the absence of Stones.
 
Exciting player, could turn out to be a huge player for us but he still has an awful lot to learn, which is expected.
 
GaudinoMotors said:
I've heard this - but, but, but we were winning when Grealish came on. You don't just push a button and gain control - reset to a default RM first half setting during a match. The match was on a knife edge throughout - "partly" due to the selection of Doku - it was a risk - a calculated one - but a risk nonetheless.
I concede your point about the absence of Stones.
Click to expand...
Yeah, i’m not getting into the tit for tat of each time one comes on and does something they should’ve started over the other etc. I just think the way we were set up wasn’t really gonna give us control no matter who played on the left. For me we’re far too open against decent teams without Stones if we’re gonna play Alvarez off Haaland. Maybe even with Stones against the very best of sides.
 
wasn't the game for Doku yesterday, he will be a fantastic player for use in the future but wrong place wrong time yesterday.
 
Belgian Flash said:
What is actually amazing is how City is managing Doku's fitness, I don't think he has enjoyed a period this long where he hasn't had at least a small niggle in the last three years or so. With the way he plays and how explosive his injury risk is always high so props to the City staff (and hopefully I haven't jinxed him lol)
Click to expand...
Wise words.
 
iTyler said:
They couldn't be more different. But ultimately I think it was a mistake to sell Palmer, which was the main point I was making. Doku had a poor game but it's to be expected.
Click to expand...
Any winger can expect a poor game against James.
Probably the best right back in the world.
James is the reason we didn't beat Chelsea in the champions league final few years back.Our main attacker was Sterling, cutting in from the left wing.James marshalled our winger that night.
And ,as I predicted..gave Doku little space to manoeuvre on Sunday.
 
lonestay said:
wasn't the game for Doku yesterday, he will be a fantastic player for use in the future but wrong place wrong time yesterday.
Click to expand...
Was it not the game for half our team then because few of them were anywhere near their best? He makes beating defenders look easy but for once he wasn’t skinning his man constantly.
 
BlueMoonie said:
What should have happened is swapping wings with foden as soon as cucurella got booked
Click to expand...
I thought the same. I actually wished Pep would try him on the other her side to run at Cucurella before he hooked Doku.

People are reading too much into his ineffectual display against a top two/three right back in Europe. I wouldn’t mind seeing him against Liverpool but we must put e Pugh bodies in the middle else we may get skinned.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top