Nathan Ake has said he has been very impressed with Oscar Bobb this season, branding him ‘such a good player’, after his cameo against Bournemouth on Saturday.
Manchester City beat the Cherries 6-1 at the Etihad Stadium, in what was a statement win by the Premier League champions.
After stuttering a little in the absence of Rodri, City are now back on track and have won every game since the last international break.
On Saturday, it was the Jeremy Doku show as the Belgian tore the Cherries apart. He helped himself to four assists and a goal.
The youngster was in frightening form, and has come in for praise left, right and centre. On Match of the Day, Danny Murphy hailed him as ‘absolutely outstanding’.
Pep Guardiola was able to give some minutes to young Oscar Bobb towards the end and the 20-year-old registered a great assist for Ake for the final goal of the afternoon.
After the game, Ake was quick to sing the youngster’s praises…
Nathan Ake really impressed with Oscar Bobb
Bobb was introduced to the action on 85 minutes, replacing the brilliant Bernardo Silva who had scored two goals for City.
It was not a great deal of time to make an impact. But the Norwegian did so, sending in a superb cross from the right side which found Ake to score with a diving header against his former club. That was his first assist for the first-team.
It was Bobb’s sixth appearance for City this season, and it’s great to see him getting some involvement.
Ake has been really impressed with Bobb from what he’s shown in both training and matches so far this term.
The 28-year-old said (mancity.com): “He’s such a good player – every time he has played this season, he’s been very good. He’s not shy at all in taking people on. It was a very good cross – I said thank you after.
“We’ve got an easy group to settle into. It’s also about them [young players coming in] – how humble he is, he wants to keep learning every day – even if things go well, he doesn’t change, he’s still the same.
“He’s working hard every day. You can see every time he comes on, he wants to take the opportunity. I’ve been very impressed with him.”
Bobb is a top prospect
It is always really nice to see Bobb get minutes for City. Maybe he could have come on a bit sooner against Bournemouth. But he was still able to showcase his talent in the short time he was on the pitch.
The £12,000-a-week talent, who Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard recently said was ‘fantastic with the ball’, plays with confidence and is always looking to be direct and take people on. A little bit like Jeremy Doku.
Clearly, he’s made a big impression on Ake.
Hopefully, Bobb’s involvement in the first-team will start to increase as the season wears on. Perhaps his goal should be to play as much as Rico Lewis did last season. The teenager made 23 appearances across all competitions, for a total of 1427 minutes.
