Pep Guardiola raved about Jeremy Doku after Manchester City cruised past Newcastle United with a 2-0 victory in the FA Cup.
The Catalan boss fielded Doku as an attacking midfielder in his side’s latest triumph, just like he did when a De Bruyne-inspired City side beat the Magpies 3-2 at the Etihad Stadium.
While the £55 million (CBS Sports) man struggled with the positional shift in the fixture in January, Guardiola’s persistence with the experiment worked wonders on this occasion.
Pep Guardiola hails “brilliant” Jeremy Doku after Manchester City defeat Newcastle
The Belgian international started as one of his side’s attacking midfielders in the game, alongside Phil Foden.
With Josko Gvardiol replacing Nathan Ake in the side, he was tasked to provide width on the left flank, which allowed the former Rennes winger to tuck inside.
After Jeremy Doku impressed for Manchester City against Newcastle, Pep Guardiola sang his praises.
“He was brilliant. He’s a guy who can of course play in wider positions but in central positions, he has the ability to dribble and run”, he said [via HaytersTV].
“Of course, after he has the quality to see the last pass, like Kevin [De Bruyne] has or Gundo [Ilkay Gundogan] had or Riyad [Mahrez] and other players or Phil [Foden], but it’s the next step. He’s so young, the moments he couldn’t make the pass to Erling [Haaland], the last moments. But he played really, really, really good.”
Pep Guardiola went on to focus on how Jeremy Doku helped Manchester City vanquish Newcastle.
“He helped us to keep the ball and make the dribbles and drop them, he was really, really good.”
Jeremy Doku was in cracking touch against Eddie Howe’s side
As Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola deployed Jeremy Doku in a central position against Newcastle, he was given more space in the middle of the park than he gets out wide, especially when teams double up on the speedster.
With Doku being a world-class dribbler and blessed with frightening pace, the increased space allowed him to weave past the Magpies’ midfielders with ease and drive his side up the pitch.
Newcastle were often forced to hack Jeremy Doku down as it was impossible for them to contend with him when he drove with the ball.
Doku also smartly won fouls, dropping deeper to receive the ball before he was barged into or pushed, which did not help the visitors gain any momentum at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Especially in the first half, if Doku’s final ball was perhaps better weighted or if he made certain better positions, he would have put in a flawless display as an attacking midfielder as he had all the pizzazz, skill and dynamism for a player in that position.
