Garth Crooks said that Manchester City trickster Jeremy Doku wrecked Brighton & Hove Albion veteran James Milner on Saturday.
In his Premier League Team of the Week for BBC Sport, the outspoken pundit named the £55.5 million (Sky Sports) man’s heroics in his side’s 2-1 win at the Etihad Stadium.
Garth Crooks paid special focus to how Jeremy Doku toyed with James Milner, who was deployed at right-back by Roberto De Zerbi.
Garth Crooks says Jeremy Doku vs James Milner was a ‘mismatch’
Branded as an ‘exceptional winger’ by Pep Guardiola, the 21-year-old set up Julian Alvarez’s opener by exhibiting his devastating 1v1 abilities.
The youngster terrorised Milner to the extent that he was substituted at half-time.
As a result, Garth Crooks pinpointed how Jeremy Doku ripped James Milner to shreds as Manchester City returned to winning ways.
“What a mismatch. What was manager Roberto De Zerbi thinking? The decision to ask James Milner to mark Manchester City’s newly-signed 21-year-old Jeremy Doku, a renowned speed merchant means he has either never seen Doku play or is blissfully unaware that Milner is 38 on his next birthday”, he said.
Garth Crooks continued to emphasise how ridiculous a decision it was to deploy James Milner to stop Jeremy Doku in his tracks.
“Let’s be clear here, Milner has had a distinguished career with Newcastle, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Manchester City but asking him to deal with Doku without providing reinforcements was like asking him to keep pace with Usain Bolt. This was clearly not a good idea and it cost Brighton dearly.”
Jeremy Doku ran riot
Garth Crooks is right and James Milner probably had one of the most uncomfortable times of his career having to tame a sprightly speedster like the ex-Rennes wideman and that too in an unnatural position at right-back.
The Belgian winger was on song, constantly taking on the Englishman, coming out on top and looking likely to either score or assist.
It seemed like his Manchester City teammates also spotted James Milner as Brighton’s weakness and decided to constant exploit it by finding Jeremy Doku, who showed no mercy.
