I’VE always said football is a simple game — now it seems even Pep Guardiola agrees that you can’t beat winging it.
But don’t think I’m having a pop at a bloke who’s rightfully got a reputation as one of modern football’s trailblazers. Nothing could be further from the truth.
I’m not suggesting all the success he’s had at Manchester City is down to playing it off the cuff. It’s the result of hard graft, preparation and obviously having the best players.
If you’re talking trends, it’s usually a case of what Pep does today, the rest do tomorrow, from goalkeepers who must be as good with their feet as their hands, to playing out from the back.
But sometimes the best ways can be the old ways — and that’s what I mean by Pep winging it at City this season.
Or, to put it another way, the way he has turned back time with Jeremy Doku, the man who, for me, is the most exciting player in the Premier League.
Back in the day every club in the league would play with at least one winger — most had them on both sides.
Blokes whose first thought and main objective was to be positive, to run at their full-back, to take him on and whip in a cross.
Division One, as it was back then, was full of them. Mike Summerbee, Steve Heighway, Eddie Gray, Dave Thomas, Stevie Coppell — the list was endless. And that’s only from the 1970s and ’80s.
Sir Alex Ferguson turned Manchester United into the best team in the country with Ryan Giggs or Lee Sharpe on one side, Andrei Kanchelskis on the other.
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When I was at Tottenham I had two of the best, with Gareth Bale flying down the left and Aaron Lennon on the right.
All of them players who excited fans and put the fear of God in full-backs. And who would get the crowd buzzing every time they got the ball.
Lots of managers would no doubt argue they play with wingers now as well. But not in the old sense. Not in the way I view them.
These days, the ball goes wide and the first thought is not to try to beat the defender and get to the byline or fire in a shot.
Most of the time it’s about finding a square ball or — and this frustrates me even more — passing it back the way it’s just come.
Wolves had one in Adama Traore, who was an absolute flyer and would tear at people, although in his case there was rarely an end product.
But in Doku, City have an old-school winger who is absolute dynamite. A man whose first thought isn’t to play it safe but to turn and take on the full-back, to attack and create.
If I had to choose one man who’s lit up the Premier League this season, it’s Doku. At a time when there is such a stink over VAR, he has been a breath of fresh air.
But sometimes the best ways can be the old ways — and that’s what I mean by Pep winging it at City this season.
Harry Redknapp
Not so much a guy who puts bums on seats, as gets backsides out of them — because he makes things happen.
There aren’t many games now when the full-back gets put under any serious, sustained pressure.
Players are more intent on a safe pass and keeping possession than running at their opponent and trying to be positive.
But in Doku, Pep has a player who thinks the opposite. Someone who is killing defenders, in a football sense, every time he gets the ball.
I feel sorry for Pedro Porro, who will be the one in his firing line today when Tottenham are at the Etihad.
Porro’s done alright in his first season in England but he will have his hands full this afternoon.
To be honest, it looks a pretty thankless task all round for Spurs.
They have a better record than most against City and I’m sure Spurs boss Ange Postecoglou will send them out to have a go. Rightly so, too, because if you sit back, there’s only one winner.
It’s tough enough at the best of times and now not only is Harry Kane gone, but they also hardly have any fit first-choice defenders.
Ange is doing a great job and the recent blip is more down to injuries and suspensions.
But I can’t see them getting anything at City — especially with Doku in this form.
