Pep Guardiola’s decade-long stay at Manchester City was underlined by the Catalan’s meticulous nature and structured patterns of carefully choreographed attacking play.
But to assume his players have the shackles put on them from the minute they arrived at the Etihad would be a misnomer.
Jeremy Doku arrived at the Etihad in the summer of 2023 and quickly established himself as one of the Premier League’s most exciting and unpredictable attacking talents.
Doku on the freedom handed to him by Guardiola
“I don’t remember Pep telling me before a game, ‘Jeremy, when you have the ball, do this and do that,’” Doku tells FourFourTwo when asked if his former manager’s style ever hampered his play.
“He’d tell us where the spaces are, but he signed every player for the individual qualities they possess – Rayan Cherki for that, and Erling Haaland for this.
“Omar Marmoush’s quality is his shooting, so shoot. Cherki’s qualities are… a lot, so do a lot! [Abdukodir] Khusanov’s quality is speed, and obviously all of the rest, so run quickly.
“Use your quality, it’s why we brought you to the club.”
Several pundits have suggested that one of the reasons that Jack Grealish failed to consistently hit the heights after City made him a £100million signing is this perceived lack of freedom, but Doku again goes against this notion.
“Pep has given me a lot of freedom,” he continues.
“He also told me tactically how I need to defend, and that when I have the ball, with my speed and explosiveness, that when I give the last pass or do the last movement, I should breathe and not go at the same intensity, that I need to calm down at the end of the action so I can make the best decision.
“He’s taught me that, and I feel like I’ve seen the fruits of it.”
Since joining City in a £55million move from Rennes shortly after the club’s 2022/23 treble-winning campaign, Doku has turned out 133 times for the club, scoring 20 times and laying on 34 assists.
He was a Premier League title winner in his first season and now heads to the World Cup as one of Belgium’s key players, as he continues to reap the rewards of three years under Guardiola.
“I’ve been able to improve my decision-making and my awareness on the ball, choosing my moments.”
