Stefan Ortega has said that Nathan Ake is one of Manchester City’s best players in terms of his aerial ability.
Having won the Treble in his debut season at the Manchester club, the shot-stopper will have undoubtedly gotten used to working with his teammates by now.
In fact, the German has been speaking about one player, in particular, and shared some big praise for one part of his game.
Ortega says Ake is City’s best aerial player
Speaking in a recent interview with the club which was shared in their latest edition of the City Magazine, Ortega said this about Ake when talking about how important timing is for goalkeepers rather than just their physical attributes.
He said: “Take Nathan Ake, he is not our tallest defender, but he is one of our best in an aerial duel and so strong, and all because he has perfect timing.”
Standing at five foot nine, Ake has other players in the City squad that are taller than him such as Erling Haaland, Rodri and Manuel Akanji.
Despite that, only Rodri (41) has won more aerial duels than the Dutchman in the Premier League this season in the City squad.
This backs up Ortega’s point about Ake being able to use his perfect timing to win aerial duels even though he isn’t the tallest player at the club.
Back in May, Pep Guardiola spoke about how fundamental it was for City to have a player like Ake in the team in terms of needing to defend against opposition attacking players, further highlighting how much of a significant figure he is for the Citizens.
With all of that in mind, perhaps the other players in Guardiola’s squad can learn from the 29-year-old about timing duels so they can improve this side of the game.
