Looking at the rotation on the left, Manchester City's bowl of water is very flat: Grealish has played a total of 14 games so far this season, including seven in the Premier League, and has played 10 games and played a total of 870 minutes. Doku played a total of 16 games, including 10 in the Premier League, and played 850 minutes in nine starts.
Of course, you could argue that Grealish injured his hamstring muscles shortly after the start of the season, and the 25-day break has somewhat affected his form. But on Doku's side, with Mann's one-year debuff, Doku has to spend a few weeks on the training ground figuring out what Pep Guardiola wants to do in order to get his chance in the game - and in terms of the time it takes to integrate into the team, Doku has lost no less time than Grealish.
After all, compared to Doku's flashy performance of four assists per game, Grealish did swallow a little on the left. In the 13 games of the opening season, Grealish only provided two assists in all competitions, and the editor-in-chief of the Daily Mail, Redyman, complained directly on the show: "I don't mean to start Pep Guardiola, which may have a lot to do with the current situation of Manchester City, Grealish is now taking on too many tactical tasks, which makes him lose some of his original talent." ”
In the second half of last season, Grealish became an absolute mainstay for Manchester City, and the root cause was actually Pep Guardiola's adjustments. The new system of 3241 came out, Manchester City gave up Cancelo, and also gave up the core of the backfield and the attacking position on the wing, the middle all gave way to opportunity creation and scoring, and the wing replaced the iconic rib pass with a single point with strong individual ability to control the threat of substitution.
At this point, Grealish finally unleashed his talent. He already has a rare movement control of English players, can start with both left and right feet, can walk inside and outside, and can rely on a single point to break down dense defense. Because of his average explosiveness, he can't get rid of Neymar as much, which makes him easily stumped by foul tactics and has limited space to handle the ball, but let him open up the space to control the ball alone, and wait for his teammates in the middle to take position, and his talent will follow.
His goal assist stats have never been very remarkable, but that doesn't mean he's not a threat. In this season's Champions League, Grealish is second in terms of creating big chances, behind team-mate Phil Foden – after all, his ball quotient is certified by Kevin De Bruyne and Pep Guardiola.
Compared to Grealish, Doku is much younger and sharper. He was the king of Ligue 1 last season, using the skills of small players to get rid of the action and kill all sides in a small area, but when it comes to speed, he can also show top explosiveness, which allows him to always handle the ball with three meters more space than others.
Maybe it's because of his lack of experience, or because of the lack of running-in, his passing timing is almost meaningless, but as long as he is given space, he can play a strong side in the single lane, can effectively pull the opponent's defense, in the days without De Bruyne, Manchester City largely rely on his personal rhythm to drive the team to speed.
Pep Guardiola may have been happy with the rivalry between the two, but he is still in the PUA: "I want Grealish to be angry, I want him to be good and I want Doku to be angry as well, he hasn't played in the last two games, that's the way to be consistent at that level. "For Manchester City, relying on personnel rotation to play a different style on the left side is no longer an unenvisaged path, and with limited personnel rotation, the richness of the left side is likely to become the hole card for Manchester City to move forward.