#6 | Nathan Aké - 2021/22 Performances

[jamesha]

City had chronic injuries to CB when Ake was transferred. He is a backup squad player. If you expect anything more then you will be disappointed.

In my opinion backup players should not cost £40M. For that outlay I would expect someone that can seriously put pressure on established players for a starting place.

I know that when Ake was bought Stones was still to have his renaissance and Ruben was not on the books which implies that Ake was bought as a potential first choice.

Our academy should be providing backup players. I think Tosin showed enough for Fulham last season to prove he could have been a viable backup option but Pep and co. obviously did not agree. Our EDS does seem to produce some CBs with potential - Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Callum Doyle being two examples. We need to find pathways to get these types of guy to get into our squad if they kick-on.

It is frustrating that the one academy player that Pep did seem to trust left for Barcelona - wonder if he regrets that now?

 

[Mr HJ]

In my opinion backup players should not cost £40M. For that outlay I would expect someone that can seriously put pressure on established players for a starting place.

I know that when Ake was bought Stones was still to have his renaissance and Ruben was not on the books which implies that Ake was bought as a potential first choice.

Our academy should be providing backup players. I think Tosin showed enough for Fulham last season to prove he could have been a viable backup option but Pep and co. obviously did not agree. Our EDS does seem to produce some CBs with potential - Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Callum Doyle being two examples. We need to find pathways to get these types of guy to get into our squad if they kick-on.

It is frustrating that the one academy player that Pep did seem to trust left for Barcelona - wonder if he regrets that now?

Yep, the situation with the centre backs changed dramatically after we had paid for Ake. Not one fan would have predicted just how good Ruben and John would be - I really hope that is the same this year.

Ake is one of those players when you see him from afar he looks quite composed on the ball and often throws his body in the way to make last ditch tackles - but if you look deeper he was a big part of a defence that was really bad. I thought he would be the typical Dutch player - classy with an amazing passing range but so far I have not seen any of that. Yesterday the worst thing was the amount of headers and clearances he made that went straight to Spurs. Maybe his confidence is shot but as you say for 40m you expect a player with more qualities. I agree with you we should have looked to have our 4th centre back being an Academy player. Garcia wanted to go home so even if Pep told him he was first choice he would have gone, he was not the answer anyway.

Ake reminds me a little of when we had Richard Dunne - he would do anything to get in the way of anything but often when he brought the ball out from the back it was a tad slow and his passing was not the best. Don't get me wrong I loved the Dunny Monster but at that time we were a team that had to fight off relegation most seasons. Dunne at least had a presence whereas Ake does not have that - I hope I'm wrong but he may well follow the same path as Mendy and Manga.

 

[Airbags Optional]

I see Ake is no one for the boo boys.. For me Ruben caused that goal yesterday by totally putting Ederson off when he got his feet in a tangle.

 

[CWMCFC]

I'll continue to give him the benefit of the doubt because it feels like he's never been given a crack in our strongest line up - he's seemingly always had to deal with having Mendy or Garcia alongside him, rather than a full strength back line.

The fundamental issue it comes down to with Ake though - and one we haven't seemed to learn from following signings like Cancelo - is that we didn't need to spend £40m on someone that is a back up player. I don't think the role he is playing is anything more than some £15m signing from Ligue 1 or the Bundesliga could have offered us - or even just utilising our own pool of immense talent from the academy (heaven forbid).

Yes, there was an element of necessity given the situation with Stones and Vinny leaving, but I don't think long term he was ever going to be a starting CB with Laporte and Dias in the picture, which begs the question why we felt it so necessary to spend so much on a defender whose club had just been relegated to the championship.

I've repeated myself on this opinion several times in the past, but I feel the club really need to move away from this idea that we need 22 players all costing £30/40/50/60m.

We need more focus on the core starting 11 and a few quality substitutes, rather than packing our bench with extremely expensive players that aren't up to the grade. I'd much prefer to see us go for that £15m gamble in a lesser league and put the £25m difference towards signing the targets that genuinely makes our team better - instead of us trying to haggle over £10m and miss out like he have done many a time in the past.

 

[FromPollockToSilva]

I'll continue to give him the benefit of the doubt because it feels like he's never been given a crack in our strongest line up - he's seemingly always had to deal with having Mendy or Garcia alongside him, rather than a full strength back line.

The fundamental issue it comes down to with Ake though - and one we haven't seemed to learn from following signings like Cancelo - is that we didn't need to spend £40m on someone that is a back up player. I don't think the role he is playing is anything more than some £15m signing from Ligue 1 or the Bundesliga could have offered us - or even just utilising our own pool of immense talent from the academy (heaven forbid).

Yes, there was an element of necessity given the situation with Stones and Vinny leaving, but I don't think long term he was ever going to be a starting CB with Laporte and Dias in the picture, which begs the question why we felt it so necessary to spend so much on a defender whose club had just been relegated to the championship.

I've repeated myself on this opinion several times in the past, but I feel the club really need to move away from this idea that we need 22 players all costing £30/40/50/60m.

We need more focus on the core starting 11 and a few quality substitutes, rather than packing our bench with extremely expensive players that aren't up to the grade. I'd much prefer to see us go for that £15m gamble in a lesser league and put the £25m difference towards signing the targets that genuinely makes our team better - instead of us trying to haggle over £10m and miss out like he have done many a time in the past.

Homegrown premium, left-footed central defender premium, buying from another Premier League club premium, Man City premium = £40M.

 

[Craig]

I see Ake is no one for the boo boys.. For me Ruben caused that goal yesterday by totally putting Ederson off when he got his feet in a tangle.

Wouldn’t say Dias caused it but could probably say it was a reason why Ederson didn’t save it. The amount of blocks Dias makes though you can hardly blame him for trying his best to block that. Can definitely blame Ake for not going and stopping Son in the first place though. He was shit scared as he knew he didn’t have the pace to match Son. So get to him and stop him before he turned with the ball. No problem to foul him and regroup instead he just let him keep going.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

Wouldn’t say Dias caused it but could probably say it was a reason why Ederson didn’t save it. The amount of blocks Dias makes though you can hardly blame him for trying his best to block that. Can definitely blame Ake for not going and stopping Son in the first place though. He was shit scared as he knew he didn’t have the pace to match Son. So get to him and stop him before he turned with the ball. No problem to foul him and regroup instead he just let him keep going.

He and Mendy were to blame for me. Mendy’s positioning when he finally got back was laughable. Why didn’t he just go and help Ake?

 

[mccity]

You know maybe the fact that so many people are blaming so many different players for the goal should be a hint to the fact that these things are often a collective effort.

It's very rarely just one person's fault, and that's ok.

 

[bobbyowenquiff]

Got no issue with Ake's ability as a defender. He reads the ball well in the air, is generally good enough in the tackle. For the goal yesterday he was left completely isolated by Mendy and there was nothing that could have been done to stop Son once it got that far. But boy oh boy, I didn't realise he'd be this bad on the ball. Who on earth were they watching? He doesn't give the ball away much but he's so slow to shift the ball on, and when he does it's always to Mendy or Dias. There's no attempt to break lines (like Laporte and Stones do), it's all very uncertain and short. It slows us down so much as a team.

I have really been surprised by his lack of pace (is that the injury) and his slow reaction times defending or attacking. We miss many opportunities to break because Ake is slow moving the ball. Perhaps it's a confidence thing. Stones is a key player for us in getting the ball forward quickly.

 

[mosssideblue]

I think a run of games is needed for us to see the best of him. Unfortunately, he is unlikely to get them if the others stay fit and in form