The Belgian international Jérémy Doku was one of Manchester City’s four big transfers in the 2023 summer, being brought as a long-term investment, similar to Josko Gvardiol. While the 21-year-old has predominantly played as a right-winger, Pep Guardiola has different plans for him, seeing the potential of using him as an inverted winger due to his favoured right foot.
While he was brought as a back-up for Jack Grealish on the left, he can successfully replace Phil Phoden on the right as well. His arrival is essential for the team, especially with the departure of Riyad Mahrez (Al-Ahli) and Cole Palmer (Chelsea).
In Doku’s face, the manager has a versatile player with distinguished technical skills and composure on the ball. He was one of the best performers for his previous club, Rennes, despite not being a regular starter. The first impressions at Etihad are quite positive, with the youngster already scoring twice and assisting once in seven games.
In our scout report in the form of tactical analysis, we explain what Doku’s role at Manchester City is and how he can impact their performance both in and out of possession.
Jérémy Doku Style Of Play
Guardiola tends to bring players with a distinguished passing range and composure who can shine both individually and team-wise and fit his tactics. The possession-based style and quick ball movement require players with strong on and off-the-ball movement who can adapt to quick transitions and explosive attacking movement. The winger position, of course, falls in the same category.
The strong spatial awareness and press resistance are a must for every player playing under the Spaniard as it allows the Citizens a smooth build-up play and versatility in the final third. They are essential for the wingers, as they need to support ball progression both from out wide and centrally through progressive runs, passing and shooting.
It also applies to their defensive performance, as being able to identify free spaces and anticipate opposing players’ movement is crucial for high-pressing teams such as Manchester City, who want everyone involved in pressuring their opponents.
The winger position in Pep’s team suggests that the player needs to have strong link-up-play abilities and versatility to be able to do positional interchanges. The winger is also required to have strong finishing to support the offensive movement and provide a threat from different zones.
Jérémy Doku Data profile
In this section, we focus on comparing Jérémy Doku’s numbers to those of the players in the same position in the Premier League. This helps us to see some tendencies in his game and to underline his strengths.
We’re starting with the most underestimated part of his performance – his defensive contribution. While the 21-year-old is constantly praised for his dribbling and success in 1vs1 situations, this is only a small part of his set of skills. Guardiola got himself a defensively persistent player with high awareness out of possession.
The above scatter plot compares the Defensive duels won, % next to the Defensive duels per 90 of all top-tier left-wingers/left-attacking midfielders who have played 4+ games in the current 2023/24 season.
As it suggests, Doku is one of the best performers in that indicator, with a considerably high frequency of defensive interactions and the third-best success rate. That shows his willingness to have the ball and his tendency to support his teammates in each phase of the game.
The Belgian international also averages 4.09 possession-adjusted interceptions, demonstrating his anticipation skills and technique.
The plot above illustrates the left-wingers’ passing numbers. As shown, Doku has one of the highest passing frequencies in the league, which is prompted by City’s high intensity.
However, his passing accuracy is around the average for his position in the league, showing that he has the potential to improve and be even more beneficial for the team. Despite his success rate being under 80%, he still pulls off a strong performance through his short passing and link-up play.
As shown above, the number of his dribbling attempts per 90 is almost off the chart, as he is the only player with 10+ dribbles per game. Only Tottenham’s Ivan Perišić can partly compete with that achievement.
His crossing numbers are pretty high as well, being one of the best providers in the Premier League.
To underline his ball progression skills and his offensive prowess, we have also compared the wingers’ Progressive runs per 90 vs their Offensive duels per 90. Doku’s offensive duels’ frequency and success go hand in hand with his dribbling.
The high number of progressive runs shows his ability to continuously control the ball and advance it, drawing the team forward as well.
Jérémy Doku Ball progression and final third impact
The 21-year-old’s role in City’s ball progression is not only focused on advancing the ball in the final third and crossing it. Due to his smart positioning and pace, the youngster would often drop deeper to receive. While moving up and down the touchline is his speciality; he frequently moves to the half-spaces to provide a passing option for his teammates. That allows positional interchanges and gives the full-backs the chance to overlap while he combines with his teammates centrally.
He relies on a combination of lateral, forward and back passes. The number of his back passes is high, and while at first glance it may look like he is insecure and has difficulties in breaking through defences, that’s not true. His back passes are essential for City, as he successfully advances the ball and sets his teammates up through his back diagonal passes, as illustrated by his pass map. That allows the team to be more unpredictable and use runs from deep to outplay the opposition and shoot.
His pace and composure allow him to escape pressure and move past the opposing defensive lines through accelerations to join the attack and create opportunities. He can exploit space and create space equally well. That’s why he is so successful in delivering the ball to critical areas. His passing accuracy could be improved, though, as it sometimes results in wasting perfect goalscoring opportunities despite his excellent vision and spatial awareness.
The below image illustrates such a situation. Doku was with the ball during City’s counter-attack and had the idea and the perfect opportunity to send a through ball to Phil Foden and completely dismiss the opposing defenders.
However, his pass was way too long and inaccurate and ended up in the goalkeeper’s hands. That’s an example of his ability to identify spaces but also of where he can improve.
Doku not only uses space to create for his teammates. He also successfully exploits spaces between the opposition’s lines to act as a passing outlet and link-up-play. Once he receives the ball, his composure and outstanding dribbling allow him to move even further and threaten the goal. His good first touch makes him a good option for receiving and controlling long balls. That’s very beneficial for Pep’s side to switch play.
The next sequence shows how City opted for a switch of play. Doku received the ball and immediately lured his marker out of his way through his dribbling. Once he advanced it even more, he crossed it right behind the defence into the six-yard box.
The Belgian is well-built and receives successfully with his back to the goal, as his physique and composure on the ball allow him to take on defenders. He often uses his body to protect the ball, which often results in suffering fouls (2.49 per 90), giving City a perfect opportunity to expose the opposition through set-pieces.
By averaging 12.68 dribbling attempts per 90, he increases City’s chances to create goalscoring opportunities as once he advances the ball, he can equally well cross to the six-yard box, lay it off for a teammate coming from behind or shoot. His ability to use both feet adds to his all-roundness. The following map shows his penetrating carries. It demonstrates his ball control and his ability to progress it successfully, breaking through defences and delivering it to the box.
The below example, on the other side, shows his ability to do layoffs. He delivered the ball deep into the opposition half and then laid it off for Álvarez, who eventually scored.
Doku’s pace and ball control add to the team’s counter-attacking options. Similarly to Erling Haaland, he drops deeper and waits on the counter, which can lead to them combining well and exposing their opponents through their pace and physicality.
The following image illustrates how well they can combine. Haaland won the first ball and immediately sent it back to Julián Álvarez. Meanwhile, Doku started his off-the-ball movement to be able to receive further up the pitch. Álvarez passed the ball to him, and he outplayed the opposition through his pace and close control.
Doku provides a direct threat to the goal as well. At the same time, the frequency of his shots isn’t as high as the other Premier League wingers’; he moves into crucial areas, which allow him to have a considerably high accuracy rate. He would predominantly move into the half spaces and try to shoot from tight angles, which makes it difficult for defenders and goalkeepers to predict his movement. The below sequence is an example of his movement.
His frequency numbers are the lowest among the attackers at City. However, his overall contribution is much more valuable for the team as it increases their explosiveness in attack.
Jérémy Doku Defensive performance
The ex-Rennes player is solid defensively as well. Compared to the other attacking plays, his defensive contribution is irreplaceable.
He is very proactive in counter-pressing and frequently manages to recover possession both through his positioning and direct interactions. That’s very suitable for City, who tend to press high and require all players to be involved defensively.
His ability to hold on to the ball allows the team to retain possession as he wins his direct defensive challenges. He demonstrates good press resistance, thanks to his composure and positioning.
His anticipation skills add to his defensive performance as he positions well and contributes with many possession-adjusted interceptions.
Conclusion
As our analysis shows, Jérémy Doku style of play seems like the perfect long-term investment for Manchester City. Being so versatile and successful at 21 underlines his potential to improve. His dynamic allows him to be competitive enough in the Premier League, causing trouble to the opposing defenders.
His ability to break through the opposition’s lines and provide both direct and indirect threat can be very beneficial for the team. Doku’s individual skill is right on City’s alley, however, but seeing how he fits the team’s cohesive playing style and the connections he made shows that Guardiola made the right decision to bring him to Etihad.
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