25 | Manuel Akanji - 2022/23 Performances

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Thoroughly enjoyed watching him this season. At the end of last season, especially after the collapse in Madrid, I thought we were missing 3 key ingredients: a goal scorer, defensive legs in the middle of the park, and genuine aggression in the back line. For me, he's the most aggressive of the central defenders, albeit not as demonstrative as Dias, and his solidity has allowed Rodri and Stones to think more about driving us forward. We'll need the 'Matterhorn' against Internazionale.
 
decmancity said:
Interesting. I see it the complete opposite way. For a big lad he doesn't seem to use his strength a lot, in particular in the air he is really quite poor sometimes.
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I don’t think any of our defenders are particularly strong in the air, as was evidenced by the carnage in our box when we visited Goodison recently. Ake is arguably the best defensive header.However, I think Akanji has incredible upper body strength and isn’t frightened to mix it when needed. In our recent game against Fulham, for example, he came inside a bit more and picked up Vinicius who had been causing Dias problems.

It will be interesting to see which players are used in Istanbul, as Dzeko and Lukaku are still a physical handful.
 
decmancity said:
Interesting. I see it the complete opposite way. For a big lad he doesn't seem to use his strength a lot, in particular in the air he is really quite poor sometimes.
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I think “aggressive” as in defending on the front foot. He’s happier getting really tight on opponents and trying to step in front and nick the ball, and he’s quicker to dive into a challenge than the other central defenders, for better or worse
 
FromPollockToSilva said:
I think “aggressive” as in defending on the front foot. He’s happier getting really tight on opponents and trying to step in front and nick the ball, and he’s quicker to dive into a challenge than the other central defenders, for better or worse
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Love the guy but wish he'd done that against Rashford at OT though.
 
Made the Opta statistical team of the season with some impressive numbers: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/65740006

Akanji is exceptional on the ball, completing 93.3% of his passes, which is the best pass accuracy of any of the 262 players who have attempted at least 500 this season. Between his first (17 September) and final appearances (21 May) this season, only Lewis Dunk and team-mate Rodri completed more passes than Akanji (1,886), while only Dunk had more ball carries than he did (601), with Akanji ranking third for ball carry distance (6,263m) and second for ball carry progression (3,531m) in that time.
 
Love the fact that this guy has done so well. Every Premier League team could have afforded his transfer fee so great scouting on City's part to get such a bargain - more like this please
 
jamesha said:
Love the fact that this guy has done so well. Every Premier League team could have afforded his transfer fee so great scouting on City's part to get such a bargain - more like this please
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Considering his education it wasn’t a gamble in any stretch of the imagination; he’s merely been fine tuned by a coach who needs no more adulation for his ability to polish rough diamonds….

Pep seems to have been showered with what I’d surmise we knew 12 months in him being here, that we’re watching greatness in real time and will probably be in the mix as the best ever when done…. And he’s Man City manager lol, I mean what the fuck, blessed isn’t the word!
 
Outstanding. Didn't allow anyone to run around him. Fernandez tried to beat him on a few occasions and had nothing
 
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