by Bernardo Silva put it rather eloquently. “You can’t give him limits – or he loses his magic,” the Manchester City midfielder told team-mate Jeremy Doku after another scintillating performance from the Belgian winger.
Of all the attacking talents on display at the Etihad Stadium, none was better on Saturday than Doku, whose dribble compulsion meant Liverpool’s defense never had a moment of peace.
It might be an exaggeration to suggest that Doku has a free role in this City team but the freedom given to him is part of Pep Guardiola’s latest bid to stay one step ahead of the rest and is bidding to deliver a fourth Premier League title in a row, and sixth in seven seasons.
Liverpool weren’t the first team to struggle to keep it, even if they were the first to end City’s impressive 100 per cent home record in 2023 with a lucky but good for the title race.
Guardiola has always tried to develop his City teams and has again made changes to his set-up this term to keep his opponents guessing. If the first side to win the championship were half-backs and flying wings, false nines were the order of the day by the time the third title rolled around.
Last season the Number 9 came out and out in Erling Haaland, moving to a double midfield pivot and using the wings, namely Jack Grealish and Bernardo, mainly as instruments of control in a 3-2-4- game. 1 formation.
That system still holds this season but Guardiola’s deployment of Doku and Phil Foden on the flanks alongside Julian Alvarez in an attacking midfield role behind Haaland in the absence of the injured Kevin De Bruyne has added another dimension. with the way the City attacked. .
City now have almost six per cent less possession per game than they did two seasons ago when they were still operating with a false nine and, while Guardiola is not about to abandon his thirst for control, d This could be the most direct, transitional part. Still the city team. It is no longer death by a thousand passes and they are probably more entertaining for him. Manuel Nunes, another ball carrier who needs to be more patient than Doku, was also added in the summer, which also highlights the change in strategy.
“For sure,” said Bernardo when asked if Doku brought something different to City. “Last season for the most part I played on the right and Jack on the left. We are a little more controlled, not so direct. If players change, so does the way the team is set up. There are many options depending on the game and what the manager needs.
“It gives you more one-on-one counter-attacks but you also lose a bit of control of the game so sometimes it’s good and sometimes it’s not. But overall the team is doing very well.”
Bernardo may have been referring to two weeks earlier when City conceded four times in a chaotic 4-4 draw at Chelsea and Guardiola took off Doku after an hour and brought on Grealish in an attempt to restore some order.
Illness had robbed Guardiola Grealish of the game in Liverpool but the discipline that helps the England player against Jurgen Klopp’s men was unnecessary as Doku asked persistent questions.
In truth, Liverpool did well to hang in there at times although the game might have been put to bed if Haaland had managed to head home Doku’s cross from close range after superb work from the moments Belgium before Trent Alexander-Arnold equalized. All told, Doku completed 11 dribbles, the most in a Premier League game in over two years.
“It’s a very good sign and he’s playing very well for us,” Bernardo said. “Hopefully he can keep going – keep learning and improving and help us win titles. We have to let him be himself and do his thing and know that he has a responsibility to help us when he doesn’t have the ball.
“But he’s doing really well. When I play with Jeremy I try to help him and I try to give him that freedom so he can do his thing.”
Sometimes the respect of one of the best defenders in the game says it all and Virgil van Dijk was not about to diminish Doku’s threat. “Everybody is going to have a tough evening this season as one defender against him,” said the Liverpool captain. “He is a very good dribbler and man v man.”
Liverpool have managed to save 12 points from relegation in the top flight this season and, while Van Dijk said they need to get so far behind, he praised their resilience and hopes it is a point of “the -important” will be the draw against City.
“We are looking consistent this year, which we lacked last year, but we have a tough time ahead of us in November and anything can happen,” he said.
