Welcome Abdukodir Khusanov

[give it to gordon]

Felt sorry for the lad, clearly nervous and like a rabbit in the headlights.
I felt that Akanji should have just taken control and cleared it being the senior player.

 

[Citizen in Pakistan]

It's hilarious how these pundits are saying Pep made a mistake by starting him, it's pretty obvious pep saw something in him to hand him his debut which wasn't the worst in the world and it's fair to say pep knows more about the game being one of the best managers in history than someone sitting in a studio who never managed or was a failure at it

 

[Tb1981]

Clearly the mistake for the goal is all about communication
Akanji needs to shout and clear that ball
He may have done it
Khusanov will get better I have no doubt

 

[Haaland94]

Solid debut under the most difficult circumstances. Don't let anyone spin it otherwise.

edit: The original video now got blocked, here is another one:

 

[mancboy]

the list of players who have took a while to settle at city is massive, lets not forget that the current balon d'or holder was nicknamed plodri by our fans in his first season, so writing the lad off after a bad first ten minutes as the press want us to do is foolish.

 

[mimicmickmickdoyle]

His mistakes were unfortunate but he settled down afterwards and I thought played OK. Showed good character.

Blocked a certain goal as well

 

[searsleftpeg]

Sure his name being sung to the rafters will help, and show what club a great club and family he has joined .

 

[Didsbury Dave]

I saw enough to think this lad looks like a proper player. Comfortable on the ball, quick, decisive. That error is going to become part of his story. The flipside of when Lee Bradbury scored a hat trick at Burnley.

 

[tommybooth]

Yesterday's chip paper. When he kicks rat boy into the stands, that will be worth repeating and banging on about.

 

[iwasthere1968]

The lad stood up , faced the situation and battled.
He going to be fine.

 

[grant1977]

One mistake shouldn’t define a decent debut imo. He will be good for us

 

[Centurions]

Solid debut under the most difficult circumstances. Don't let anyone spin it otherwise.

Yep, unfortunate error for the goal and he made more passes to Chelsea players than his own, early doors (not that he was the only one mind). He showed glimpses of why he'll be a good signing though with tackles, strength in challenges and a couple of line breaking passes that set us up on the front front.

Yes, Pep hooked him around the hour mark but that may have been the plan all along as Stones needs the minutes and Khusanov can't play midweek.

If he's strong enough to put that early mistake behind him I think he'll prove to be around for a long time for us.

 

[CC1]

Solid debut under the most difficult circumstances. Don't let anyone spin it otherwise.

Nice cameo. He just needs time & to build up some bonds with the team. Language a problem but it’s easy to get round that

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

There's a photo on the beeb of Ed communicating with him, presumably just after the mistake. I genuinely wonder what language they're communicating in. Portuguese? Uzbek??

 

[Benarbia’s Backheel]

Not sure where to write this, but I was a bit disappointed with Pep yesterday. He threw Khusanov straight in and then in his post match interview and press conference did very little to protect his young player. Just said it was a poor debut and that he’ll recover. He didn’t say any of the usual stuff that he could have said, ie ‘he did so so good to recover his composure’ etc.

Imagine being him in that first 5 mins, in front of 55,000 people. I hope he goes on to captain us in the future.

Well played, Khus!

 

[M9 Blue]

Fast track some English lessons and he will be fine,could have fallen apart after those first few minutes........he did'nt.

 

[borassic]

Not sure where to write this, but I was a bit disappointed with Pep yesterday. He threw Khusanov straight in and then in his post match interview and press conference did very little to protect his young player. Just said it was a poor debut and that he’ll recover. He didn’t say any of the usual stuff that he could have said, ie ‘he did so so good to recover his composure’ etc.

Imagine being him in that first 5 mins, in front of 55,000 people. I hope he goes on to captain us in the future.

Well played, Khus!

He threw him in because he thinks he’s good enough. There’s not much bigger accolades than that, I also think Pep didn’t make a big deal out of it in the presser and rightly so, leave that to Sky Sports

 

[oldius]

Not sure where to write this, but I was a bit disappointed with Pep yesterday. He threw Khusanov straight in and then in his post match interview and press conference did very little to protect his young player. Just said it was a poor debut and that he’ll recover. He didn’t say any of the usual stuff that he could have said, ie ‘he did so so good to recover his composure’ etc.

Imagine being him in that first 5 mins, in front of 55,000 people. I hope he goes on to captain us in the future.

Well played, Khus!

The video just posted shows, indeed, that there was far more to his game than the first ten minutes. It shows some mental strength to recover from that, but I also noted Gvardiol, Akanji, and especially Bernardo, encouraging him and giving him options for the pass. What Pep did do was make light of what happened, which effectively shuts it down, saying that sometimes it is the best way to learn. I think that if you talk about the positives only, people spin it to say that he's just trying to ignore what happened, or trying to build him up. I imagine those conversations may well take place behind the scenes.

 

[Gabriel]

Like all new players, he'll take time to settle and learn the system. A common failing with new defenders to the League is that they still think they have more time, something that can be seen in how quickly they move after they have passed the ball to a teammate. I would hazard that by the end of the season he will be moving instinctively and much faster into space to make the angles. He's going to get plenty game time between now and then.

 

[the blue panther]

It was a mistake that he'll never, ever make again; a schoolboy error which came from nervousness, and one of those awkward situations where the ball's slowing down and you just misjudge it when you're still "cold."

I thought he looked pretty good. But for that mistake, who knows how good that debut might have been - yes, he cost us the first goal, but he was in the right place to make the block soon afterwards, which saved a certain 2nd goal, and no one in the media is talking about that.

Gvardiol was a hero yesterday but he's made several mistakes this season which have cost us goals; nobody's got on his back. Abdukodir has a big future with City ahead of him just like Gvardiol, and I know we'll support him.