Well you're right, he is actually quick which is something you only notice after a while. I think it is because his speed is very consistent over the whole game. He does a lot of running and at a very high constant pace. Not in small explosive bursts. Sometimes he just seems like he is everywhere on the pitch. I can't immediately think of any player to compare it to. Maybe Gerrard in his day.
Ball retention: I think the best answer to this, is that from what I have seen of him so far, its just not his style. Once he gets on the ball hes only thinking forward. So I don't know weather its a weakness of his. He has a pretty great first touch (here is a clip that demonstrates it from back in his days in Belgium: I just wanted to put that in as I don't think many people have seen it ;))
Physically speaking though his ball retention isn't great. He isn't the type of player that uses his body to shield the ball a lot. But he is still very young and I am interested to see how he will evolve at City.
His movement of the ball is brilliant imo. One of his great strengths, as seen in the Bayern game. Hes the kind of player that thinks two steps ahead. Perhaps only thing I feel he can improve is his movement inside the box a bit more. Be a bit more dynamic in front of goal for the tap in. He tends to linger outside waiting for the ball to drop and smash it, which is also fine I guess, but it seems Yaya got that covered at City.
Defensive contribution: I guess that is his main working point. Although I have to say watching him, this never occured to me as causing any real problems or issue for the team, like it can be the case with Hazard for example. I haven't really seen him in a defensive mindset, he's always looking for the opportunity and catching teams on the break. And can be quite clever at dispossessing the opponent. He also does a very good job at putting pressure on the opposition defense when not in possesion. Again, it's his running that gives him the edge in this compartment, he can be relentless at times. I really don't think he can be seen as a liability in terms of defense, but probably an area which he needs to improve in in order to become world class level.
I definitely believe he can play the nr 8 role, in fact thats where I would prefer to see him play. He played a couple of games for Belgium in a central midfield triangle (with the likes of Witsel and Dembele) and I felt he was tremendous, really brought the whole team to another level, brought a lot more tempo and threat to our game. However this was only a couple of games and he plays most of his games on the right now, but he always gets a very free role and tents to drift around. At his time at Werder Bremen he also played a lot of games in central midfield and I believe even as a DM almost at times. So I definitely believe he is capable of filling that role and feel this is what he will eventually evolve into, the only question that remains for me is how he deals with the intensity and physicality of the PL especially in that type of position.
