11 | Jeremy Doku - 2023/24

[Craig]

You have mentioned a couple of times that it was ‘barely down to Doku’. It was today. Not just him to be fair but defensively he was woeful.
It’s not a witchhunt, he’s a young lad, he’ll get better. But don’t defend the indefensible. He was poor. Pep pulled him. We looked better without him. We move on.
Plenty of times we have looked better with him but today wasn’t one of those days.

It wasn’t though the whole lot of them apart from maybe 3 of the defenders were miles off it. We weren’t much better after half time until the 2nd goal. That only came because they’d grown in confidence that much they pushed on earlier than most teams would against us at 1-0 down and left space for Haaland. He lost the ball 2/3 times in dangerous areas but name someone who didn’t? He was getting it in those positions because we were that sloppy we were unable to get him the ball higher up the pitch. The couple of times we did he did alright. Not really sure how much better he could be defensively when we continuously lost the ball and they kept breaking at pace.

 

[Craig]

Always seem to perform better when he is a sub …. Think he would be best used this way until he shows more consistency ….

Forgetting that in his 2 previous starts he’d been very good and motm in one of them. Hard for any winger when the midfield can’t string 3 passes together and the fullback behind his plays terribly

 

[Gabriel]

28 games played on the left and 8 played on the right. Looks less comfortable on the right because the ball is too often played to his left-foot, and the time it takes him to transfer it to his right can allow the defender to close the space. He also needs to accept that when playing on the right he doesn't have to attack every time. Recycling it can be just as an effective ploy.

 

[JTBlue1999]

Not the best performance from Doku today but 21-year-old wingers are rarely consistent. Need him to work harder tracking back and keep working on the end product and I could see him becoming unplayable.

Easy to forget he's making the jump from Rennes to playing in toughest league in the world and playing for the best club in the world. Just needs time to refine his game.

Also not a fan of putting him on the RW. Doku is clearly much more comfortable on the LW, problem is that's where Grealish plays.

 

[skillman]

Didn’t think he was terrible and was the obvious choice to take off given Pep was chasing control - Grealish gives you more of that and we weren’t exactly threatening.

So best to kill them with passing and it worked.

 

[JewelZee]

It wasn’t though the whole lot of them apart from maybe 3 of the defenders were miles off it. We weren’t much better after half time until the 2nd goal. That only came because they’d grown in confidence that much they pushed on earlier than most teams would against us at 1-0 down and left space for Haaland. He lost the ball 2/3 times in dangerous areas but name someone who didn’t? He was getting it in those positions because we were that sloppy we were unable to get him the ball higher up the pitch. The couple of times we did he did alright. Not really sure how much better he could be defensively when we continuously lost the ball and they kept breaking at pace.

He was committing totally unnecessary fouls in dangerous areas. I was begging for Pep to take him off at halftime. I really like Doku, but today I liked him off the pitch. Not a crime, just not his day,,,

 

[mancityscot]

Didn’t think he was terrible and was the obvious choice to take off given Pep was chasing control - Grealish gives you more of that and we weren’t exactly threatening.

So best to kill them with passing and it worked.

I really like him but yesterday was not his day. Gave away some silly fouls, lost the ball and didnt contribute anything going forward. Just an off performance.

 

[St.Pauli support]

With Phil being fit Doku would have been on the bench like in most away games.

Pep prefers him at home when opponents sit deeper and don't have their vocal support. And yes, Doku AND Walker was a suicide right side.

The experiment has been terminated at half time.

 

[shevtheblue]

It wasn’t though the whole lot of them apart from maybe 3 of the defenders were miles off it. We weren’t much better after half time until the 2nd goal. That only came because they’d grown in confidence that much they pushed on earlier than most teams would against us at 1-0 down and left space for Haaland. He lost the ball 2/3 times in dangerous areas but name someone who didn’t? He was getting it in those positions because we were that sloppy we were unable to get him the ball higher up the pitch. The couple of times we did he did alright. Not really sure how much better he could be defensively when we continuously lost the ball and they kept breaking at pace.

We do need to bare in mind he's very young and will make mistakes, everyone was at it yesterday, but the one thing that's unacceptable and the reason he came off was lack of workrate. You lose the ball, you leg it back, you see a break on and someone else has lost it, you leg it back. The few times he did do it he was late rushing back and then rash in the challenge. Grealish learnt that the hard way and now he's one of the best at it. Off the ball work to Pep in our system is more important that on the ball, but workrate is the minimum and IMO its the reason he came off. But it's also something thats easy to learn, and he will pick it up next time he gets a start.

At the moment i think coming off the bench suits him better, he is best against tired legs and tired minds so when he comes on its a shock to the system.

 

[alexmcity]

We didn't really improve in the first 15-20 minutes of the 2nd half. The introduction of Kovacic didn't change things instantly. Actually, we managed to get worse and invited waves of attacks with misplaced passes all over the pitch. Only after Forest got a bit tired could we hit our normal levels of pass completion. This was possibly our worst performance after Villa away. Great that we managed to survive.

 

[Gorbachev]

my issue with him is at a stage normally where I would say like 2-3 years at a weaker top league club could benefit him than move to a top club but he actually had that period at Rennes and still is very raw. when to hold onto the ball, when to try his tricks, his whole off the ball game, stamina issues, bit strange given he spent 2.5 years in Ligue 1 already. would he be 2 years younger and got him straight from Anderlecht I would understand more his weaknesses.

City is a big and demanding jump for him.

anyway he has a lot to improve and I am sure he learnt a lot already since August, but long way to go if he wants to be a regular starter in this City team. for now I would send him on last 25 mins as fresh winger vs a tired defence. will watch him in Euros how he plays under different manager/system.

I said pretty much the same a couple of months back.

I think he should have gone to a West Ham next before we properly looked at him, but his scouting reports must have been so overwhelmingly positive and pointed to him going on a significant upwards trajectory that we had to move.

It's the only reason as to why we would have signed a prospect from Rennes in France to replace Mahrez and his unbelievable 25-30 goals and assists a season.

I still hold that we should have gone for someone with CL experience and ready to go to replace Mahrez and prospects should primarily be from the academy i.e. Bobb and Palmer.

I think we have to trust the club on this one.

 

[Txiki Txiki Bang Bang]

I said pretty much the same a couple of months back.

I think he should have gone to a West Ham next before we properly looked at him, but his scouting reports must have been so overwhelmingly positive and pointed to him going on a significant upwards trajectory that we had to move.

It's the only reason as to why we would have signed a prospect from Rennes in France to replace Mahrez and his unbelievable 25-30 goals and assists a season.

I still hold that we should have gone for someone with CL experience and ready to go to replace Mahrez and prospects should primarily be from the academy i.e. Bobb and Palmer.

I think we have to trust the club on this one.

Palmer wanted to leave. We are so close to retaining the title. I think our business has been great this season, could be better but Txiki got it right

 

[Gorbachev]

Palmer wanted to leave. We are so close to retaining the title. I think our business has been great this season, could be better but Txiki got it right

just used him as an example as to why we should use academy players as prospects and projects rather than signings.

I beg to differ on the transfer business.

Nunes will never be a City player, a panic buy.

Doku still has the jury out.

Only Gvardiol and Kova were good additions.

Also Txiki got it badly wrong with Gundogan. He wanted a new contract. He admitted to it last September, but we left it too late.

 

[St.Pauli support]

We didn't really improve in the first 15-20 minutes of the 2nd half. The introduction of Kovacic didn't change things instantly. Actually, we managed to get worse and invited waves of attacks with misplaced passes all over the pitch. Only after Forest got a bit tired could we hit our normal levels of pass completion. This was possibly our worst performance after Villa away. Great that we managed to survive.

Right, Pep said we were only back in control when Bernie came inside for the "extra pass". Walker took the right wing, Akanji RB, as Forest's legs got weaker.

 

[Blue warrior]

I said previously he’s much better coming off the bench running at tired legs/minds.

 

[Love_Each_Day]

I'm not sure how much he can improve his weaknesses to the level we need. He lacks stamina and running power to ever be useful defensively even leaving aside his lack of appetite for it. Always referred to as pacy but he's really not. Great acceleration but his actual sprint is more of a fast waddle and he starts flagging after 3 or 4 strides, Aina showed him what pace really looks like. He could probably get more reliable on the ball but he'll never be a Grealish or Bernardo type who make a good decision and keep the ball 9 times out of ten.

With all that he needs to be producing in the final third but only looked the ticket against a hapless Bornemouth and Villa's reserves at home. Could say his season is promising if he was 18 and not almost 22 just a few months younger than Saka. Just seems a fish out of water in this side similar to F Torres and Mendy after his two year injury layoff.

 

[Txiki Txiki Bang Bang]

just used him as an example as to why we should use academy players as prospects and projects rather than signings.

I beg to differ on the transfer business.

Nunes will never be a City player, a panic buy.

Doku still has the jury out.

Only Gvardiol and Kova were good additions.

Also Txiki got it badly wrong with Gundogan. He wanted a new contract. He admitted to it last September, but we left it too late.

I would argue that Doku has proven himself useful more than Kova.

 

[Belgian Flash]

I'm not sure how much he can improve his weaknesses to the level we need. He lacks stamina and running power to ever be useful defensively even leaving aside his lack of appetite for it. Always referred to as pacy but he's really not. Great acceleration but his actual sprint is more of a fast waddle and he starts flagging after 3 or 4 strides, Aina showed him what pace really looks like. He could probably get more reliable on the ball but he'll never be a Grealish or Bernardo type who make a good decision and keep the ball 9 times out of ten.

With all that he needs to be producing in the final third but only looked the ticket against a hapless Bornemouth and Villa's reserves at home. Could say his season is promising if he was 18 and not almost 22 just a few months younger than Saka. Just seems a fish out of water in this side similar to F Torres and Mendy after his two year injury layoff.

Haha every time Doku doesn't have a worldclass game there is this post here. The only thing that is correct here is about the stamina and lack of appetite for defense. The rest is bull, he has been generally a great signing. It was not a great game for anyone yesterday.

 

[RayCTID]

Better off as an impact sub rather than a starting player. Especially in tight games

 

[David White]

The very definition of an impact player for me. He has real talent with the ball at his feet and has played very well in spells this season, albeit with little to no end product.

I wonder if he has the football brain to play in this side to be honest. He can't track back and I question his positional ability too. He gives away cheap fouls and is a bit reckless out of possession if indeed he does work back.

I think there's a player in there, but maybe another one that isn't quite suited to our system. He'll definitely be here next season so time will tell.