Ake has unexpectedly stepped up and has been a revelation at LB. Ake's contribution towards offense is - well, quite frankly, shit (Zinchenko is better) - whereas Ake is far, far better defensively than Zinczenko.
IMO we still need a quality LB/RB to challenge for spots. Cancelo is our best; Walker contributes on defense; Ake is good on defense too; Zinchenko tries but is IMO far behind the quality of the previous 3.
Respectfully, this is nonsense. He is a superb footballer and a more consistent performer than Cancelo. It’s easy to forget Cancelo was dropped for the CL final because Zinchenko was outperforming him.
The reason people don’t bend over backwards to over rate Zinchenko (don’t necessarily mean you here btw) is because they would have to fully concentrate on the match for 90 mins to appreciate his impact. Gundogan had the same issue for 3-4 seasons. It wasn’t until he started scoring goals that people started to fully appreciate him.
1 part of the issue is our other 2 full backs have very obvious qualities and do things that are far more eye catching. A Cancelo assist with the outside of his boot or Walker powering past someone on the overlap just looks obviously impressive. Whereas someone maintaining possession under a heavy press or someone progressing the ball into the next phase of play doesn’t make the highlights or even make up people lift their heads up from their phones while they are tweeting when they are watching on tv.
Just contrast how Cancelo’s assist for KDB’s goal against Chelsea was covered. Zinchenko plays those kind of passes frequently - see the Away games at Chelsea, Liverpool, Dortmund and PSG last season. He is excellent at turning safe possession into an attacking move by playing the decisive ball through the lines and into the next phase. The first two goals we scored at Stamford Bridge last season were both from moves started by Zinchenko doing this. But it isn’t flashy so doesn’t get spotted.
Another part is the fact that he isn’t a natural left back so this means that whenever he makes a mistake, it’s ‘because he isn’t a left back’. It’s like he almost has to be perfect just to escape criticism. He has far less brain farts than Walker and Cancelo.
Cancelo losing concentration and giving the ball away on the halfway line is a fairly frequent occurrence but nobody seems to care. Likewise when a goal against is crafted down his side of the pitch. He gets a free pass because his positives are so obvious to see. Same goes for Walker. He gave away 4 pens last season (luckily one was over turned for offside). If that was Zinchenko, it would be held up as evidence to show he isn’t a left back.
The other thing people need to consider is that inverted left backs are extraordinarily rare. We are not going to play with an overlapping left back with Pep in charge. Or if we do, Cancelo is not going to play on the right. It leaves us susceptible to the counter and we don’t have the legs in midfield to cover the spaces left behind by both full backs going forward.
He is perfect for our tactical set up and as a squad player, he is exceptional. The idea that we can do better is so odd to me. If he is good enough to turn an away leg of a CL semi final and bench arguably the best left back in the world for a CL final, what honestly makes you think we can do better? Our fans attitude towards him staggers me.
