Bernardo Silva put it quite eloquently. “You can’t put limitations on him, otherwise he loses his magic,” the Manchester City midfielder said of team-mate Jeremy Doku after another exciting performance from the Belgian winger.
Of all the attacking talents on display at the Etihad Stadium, there was none better than Doku on Saturday; Doku’s passion for dribbling caused Liverpool’s defense to have no peace of mind.
It might be an exaggeration to say Doku has a free role in this City team, but the freedom he has been afforded forms a very deliberate part of Pep Guardiola’s latest tactic to stay one step ahead of the rest as he looks to secure a fourth successive Premier League title. and sixth in seven seasons.
While Liverpool may have been the first team to make City’s astonishing 100 per cent home record in 2023 feel a bit lucky but end it well within the title race, they were not the first team to struggle to contain it.
Guardiola has continually sought to improve City’s teams and has re-tweaked his squad this term to keep opponents guessing. If the team that won their first title had been made up entirely of halfbacks and flying wingers, a third title would have become the order of the day when a third title was achieved around false nines.
Last season we saw the arrival of a number 9 in Erling Haaland, a move to a double midfield pivot and the use of wingers (Jack Grealish and Bernardo) largely as control tools in a 3-2-4. 1 formation.
This system continued this season, but Guardiola’s deployment of Doku and Phil Foden on the wings and Julian Alvarez’s playing the attacking midfield role behind Haaland in the absence of the injured Kevin De Bruyne added a different dimension to City’s attacking style. brought. .
City are now averaging almost six per cent less possession per game than they did two seasons ago when they played with a false nine, and while Guardiola will never relinquish his thirst for control, this has the potential to be his most direct, transitional period. City team yet. It’s no longer death by a thousand passes, and they’re probably more fun for it. The addition of Manuel Nunes, another ball carrier who needs to be more patient than Doku, in the summer months indicates a change in strategy.
Asked if Doku gives City anything different, Bernardo said: “Absolutely.” “Last season I mostly played on the right and Jack on the left. We are a little more controlled, not directly. If the players change, the way the team is set up changes. There are a lot of options depending on the game and what the manager wants.
“It gives you more one-on-one, counter-attacking opportunities, but you also lose control of the game a little bit, so sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad. But overall the team is in very good shape.”
Bernardo may be referring to a fortnight ago when City went down four times in a chaotic 4-4 draw at Chelsea and Guardiola brought on Grealish an hour later in a bid to remove Doku and restore order.
Illness had forced Guardiola to strip Grealish for the Liverpool game, but the control the Englishman had helped provide against Jurgen Klopp’s men was not necessary due to Doku’s persistent questioning.
In fact, Liverpool did well to hang in there at times, but the game could have been over had Haaland managed to turn home Doku’s cross from close range after Haaland had produced more spectacular work in the Belgian moments before Trent Alexander-Arnold equalised. In total, Doku completed 11 dribbles; this was the highest dribbling figure in a Premier League match for over two years.
“He has been a very good signing and he is playing very well for us,” Bernardo said. “Hopefully he can move on and continue to learn and improve and help us win championships. “We have to let him be himself and do his job, knowing that he has a responsibility to help us when he doesn’t have the ball.
“But it’s going really well. “When I play with Jeremy, I try to help him and give him that freedom to do his job.”
Sometimes recognition of one of the best defenders in the game speaks for itself and Virgil van Dijk was not about to underestimate Doku’s threat. “Everyone will have a tough afternoon as a defender against him this season,” said Liverpool’s captain. “He’s a very good dribbler and one-on-one.”
Liverpool have saved 12 points from losing top flight this season and although Van Dijk says they need to stop falling so far behind, he praised their resilience and hopes their draw against City will be a “very important” point.
“We are looking consistent this year, which was something we missed last year, but we are in November with a difficult period approaching and anything can happen,” he said.