BufordUSABlue
Well-Known Member
Cracking & very informative post Flash.New member here. I made a profile specifically to post in this thread, because I see there are a lot of misconceptions about Doku, which is strange because he's not someone obscure having played for Belgium since 2020. So I wanted to address them now and hopefully I stick around following his life at City if you accept Real Madrid fans. So warning, this is going to be a long post, reflective of how long I watched him, haha.
Let me start by saying I followed him very closely since that game against Italy in the Euro, when I was absolutely awed by the fact that an 18 year old practically destroyed the champion synonymous with defending. He instantly became my favorite player at that very moment (and Im a millenial watching football since the 90s so I'm not easily impressed). A couple of years later, I am certain that this guy will be one of the best players in the Premiership and in the world in his prime. If you guys get him for 50-60 million as speculated, it will look like peanuts in a couple of years and will be the best deal of the summer.
I say this because I haven't seen anyone as naturally gifted for this game for a long time. There are a lot of players who are fast and can dribble, Adama Traore has been mentioned quite a few times here for example. But the comparison is wrong because Doku is different. He's got an incredibly fluid style to his movements that to me are reminiscent of Ronaldinho. His touch and technique are absolutely flawless, usually even for skilled players being this comfortable and elegant dancer on the ball is developed much later. Take Vinicius for example, he's effective but his moves are a tad mechanical. Doku's gliding with the ball, its like he was born with it.
The fact that his touch and technique are so crisp given the agression and directness he plays with is just crazy. His close control is Messi level honestly. His reaction time when carrying the ball forward is unparalleled. And this is actually what separates him from the Traores and St Maximins. He has fantastic reading of the game, where his opponents are, how do they move and how he can exploit it in every split second. His timing and anticipation is off the charts. He sees the pitch, has got fantastic coordination in it.
His agility obviously facilitates this to a great deal. Again, its hard to compare his sudden bursts and change of directions with anyone but Messi. Thats why I think he will be one of the best in the future. He will not reach overall Messi level obviously, and thats because he will never be as good a passer and scorer as him. I will get to that in a bit. But in terms of understanding the game and creating space, hes as good as a footballer can be.
His agility is probably the best in the world already. People here say he's fast, but his longer distance pace while very very good in terms of top speed, is not at the highest level. But the first 5-10 meters - he is the best in the world. Hes also extremely strong and balanced. You can't push Doku off the ball except with a foul. He will always stay on his feet. He knows how to position his body perfectly to protect the ball, complementing his ball control, agility and acceleration. This is a major component of his game because its about press resistance.
Now all this boils down to a single thing: creating space and chances. His creates LOADS of chances every game and the statistics show that. His Rennes teammates are not on his level but playing for City will unleash his game. He mostly creates the chances by crossing but also in the buildup of the game. He is a great crosser of the ball, but you need forwards with good positioning in the box and finishing to use this to the maximum. His vision and passing is not elite, but its still excellent for a winger and probably better than anyone in his category. Hes a better passer than Hazard for example. But he will not be a through ball type of creator too much; he can do it when he finds himself in that position, but that doesn't happen too often as its simply not how he sees his game.
The problem with Doku, and I suppose why he isn't more of a household name at this point, is his scoring. He's just not a volume scorer and never will be. Again thats not his game. He was asked in an interview whether he would like to have one goal or two assists and he said the latter without hesitation. He has good shooting placement given his extraordinary technique, but he lacks power in his shots.
This is the smaller problem with his goalscoring though. The bigger one is that he doesn't get into goalscoring chances as often as possible, and that is partly because he chooses to pass and combine until the ball is walked into the net, and partly because he lacks in the off ball movement department. This for me is the biggest deficiency in his game. Doku is so good on the ball and in progressing it, that he simply has too few incentives to make off ball runs. What also contributes to this is what I said above: he's not going to conquer the pitch with pace. Off the ball, if he is making diagonal runs in channels, he can be outrun by defenders. With the ball, very rarely. So he doesn't get into too many chances and thats why his goals are quality but not quantity.
The second main reason why he doesn't get in goalscoring chances too often is that he doesn't work hard enough for that. He just doesn't have the hunger of goalscorers, he often stays too long isolated on the touchline and then arrives in the box a second too late. Don't get me wrong, he puts in the necessary shift, but he doesn't put that extra effort. To take Vinicius for example: he doesn't stop running. Doku does what is asked of him, covers, presses, tracks back, but he is not the duracell bunny.
So I expect him to have Ronaldinho or Figo goalscoring numbers (minus penalties and freekicks). That is he will max out at around 10 league goals in a season and probably around 15 assists. These are solid numbers but they will not win you BDO these days. What you will see from him is pull rabbits out of the hat, create space constantly, make the key move or pass that will unlock the defense (so a lot of pre-assists) and generally contribute to the entire flow of the game.
This is an underrated and also relatively unknown aspect of his game: hes brilliant in small spaces and he recycles possession to perfection. People usually think of him as a counterattacking beast and someone who takes a lot of risks and loses a lot of balls, but he is actually great against low blocks because of his agility, close control and decision making. The latter is another underrated part of his game. Again for how electric his feet are and how young he is, its really baffling how he doesn't make poor decisions much more often.
And finally, the injury history. With the explosiveness he has and crazy change of directions, its always going to be a risk. But I think hes not as injury prone as his record so far suggests. At Anderlecht and early Rennes days, he had a different body from now. During this time I believe he was still growing into his body and in particular he gained a lot of muscle. Remember a lot of similar players (again Messi comes to mind) had similar muscular issues at that age. But I think now he has rounded up his growth and the worst has passed.
And thats it. Sorry for probably the longest post I have ever written, but I think this guy is so worth it, and he will be a hit especially at City with how they play, how Pep coaches his players and with the quality that will surround him. You guys have struck gold. I was hoping so much Madrid gets him (we were linked to him a year ago) but for Florentino its Mbappe or bust at this point, and we also signed Guler who I don't think is as good, but he will be close. Looking forward to the season and seeing the Belgian Flash in blue.
You are more than welcome on here!
