Tottenham 0-1 Manchester City (Haaland 12′)
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM — Sometimes it’s the little things, barely noticed, that can tell you a lot about a player.
Jeremy Doku will be credited with the assist for the final ball across the box to Erling Haaland, but, as Ange Postecoglou pointed out – in his bizarre tirade against assist statistics – rarely does that tell you the full story of a goal.
This one was made 60 yards away, by the movement and skill of Omar Marmoush. It was too early in the swift counter-attack, even, for the replay clips on social media to catch.
From an attacking position, Marmoush sprinted deep within his own half to retrieve the ball coming out of Manchester City’s box and Kevin Danso, the panicked Tottenham Hotspur centre-back, had been forced to go with him.
What Marmoush did next was marvellous to witness: it wasn’t the kind of skill taught by coaches, your Cruyff turn or step-overs, but rather a simple deft touch and gentle spin that unbalanced Danso and carried him, almost floating, around his opponent.
Centre-back dragged wildly out of position, City break on, Marmoush handed the ball off to Savinho and it was worked all the way across the pitch until Haaland ran into a Danso-shaped hole in the Spurs defence to score.
The only goal of the game between two off-colour teams and three vital points that put City in a strong position to qualify for the Champions League.
Back with a bang
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 26, 2025
Erling Haaland returns to the Manchester City team to sweep home to put his side ahead 1-0 in the capital
@tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/m6vvj6TJOX
Those who saw Marmoush come through at Wadi Degla in Egypt may have wondered how he had been found quite so deep on a football pitch. Mido, the former Spurs and Middlesbrough striker, gave Marmoush his debut at 17 years old at the club and says the player never had much concern for dropping back or getting on the ball.
He played most of last season at Frankfurt as a striker – leaving the Bundesliga only behind Harry Kane on goals. For Egypt, in his 35 games, he has predominantly played off the right-wing.
At Frankfurt he sometimes played as a 10, and even as an eight in that attacking but slightly reserved central midfield role. What he has shown so far in his handful of City games since his £59m transfer has given Pep Guardiola plenty to think about.
Marmoush prefers playing as a No 10. But Guardiola often has different ideas, sees things players can’t even see in themselves.
As Kevin De Bruyne’s light fades, can Marmoush ease that burden and replace him?
After Marmoush’s debut, when he played off the left-wing, and was replaced by De Bruyne, Guardiola noted that “he’s intelligent at defending” and that “he made incredible movements that players in the middle could not see”.
He is a phenomenal creator, as much a provider as the goalscorer he proved to be in the first half of the season.
Up until his final game in Germany, only five players in the league had created more chances than him. None had carried the ball more times than him – and those long dribbles had resulted in shots more than twice as many times as any other player.
Marmoush has stepped into City’s worst season in years, halfway through it, and is settling remarkably well. Players speak often about the difficulty in adapting to Guardiola’s demands – Jack Grealish said it took him a whole season before he felt comfortable. It will take time to be as close to perfection as Guardiola wishes.
And their unexpected, unusual January transfer window splurge could now pay dividends next season. January signings find it notoriously difficult to make an impact, yet already out of the title race Guardiola has been able to work through that painful transition now.
He started three of the new signings – Nico Gonzalez and Abdukodir Khusanov joining Marmoush in the XI – against Spurs.
Had these players joined in the summer, they would still be bedding in when the season started, but Guardiola can use the second half of this season to massage out the faults and make sure his message sticks.
Qualify for the Champions League and they can begin next season back as title favourites as though this painful campaign never happened – leave it behind as a mere unfortunate ripple in their recent history.
When Guardiola substituted Marmoush with 15 minutes remaining against Spurs he gave the Egyptian a little affectionate hair ruffle on his way to the bench: a job well done. It was another little moment, that might go unnoticed, but said a lot.
As Guardiola attempts to rebuild the pieces of Manchester City into the indomitable team they once were, not so long ago, Marmoush is quickly emerging as one of its future stars.
from Football - The i Paper https://ift.tt/5Vai0BJ
Post a Comment
EmoticonClick to see the code!
To insert emoticon you must added at least one space before the code.