I saw a video of Pep Guardiola and Jeremy Doku today from Manchester City training that frustrated me. It is the worst thing Guardiola has brought into football.

This is the video in question.

In it, Pep stops an attacking drill to scold left-winger Jeremy Doku. He instructs Doku to receive the ball, strafe sideways to the left to draw in the defense, and then pass back sideways diagonally to a teammate so that teammate can put a cross into the box. I assume Doku didn’t do that because why else would he be yelling at him?

How many times have you seen Doku attempt that exact action in a game? Many.

In settled play, nine times out of ten when he plays left wing, Doku receives, shuffles left sideways, takes a few touches, and passes backwards to the right. Jack Grealish, an incredibly creative player before he joined City, does the same thing after having the same automation beat into him. Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva both do the same thing, but they’ll never beat their man in a straight line without a pass being fed into them, which is fine for them. And this only is used on the left wing; the right winger is normally free to take on their man.

It is an attempt to open the channels between the right fullback and center-back. Open up the channels for a through ball or play the cross towards the penalty spot.

In theory, it could open up more space in the half-space, but if they maintain possession for long enough, the midfielders are there to quickly clog that space.

For the purpose of defending with the ball, it can push the opposition further back into their own half and lower the potency of an opposition’s counterattack if they were to turn over the ball. But to me, that is the only redeeming quality.

If you insist on defending with the ball, this is an okay tool to use. Do I like defending with the ball? Hell no!

You see how electric Doku can be when he isn’t forced into an action. That type of profile, Grealish, players that can beat their man shouldn’t be afraid to lose the ball.

I should never be able to close my eyes and know exactly what a winger is going to do with the ball when they receive it. It’s as if Manchester City are playing a man down when the same play is repeated over and over without any variation in the choice of the dribble.

Football is a team sport and they’re playing a role but stop neutering wingers, especially the talented ones. It’s frustrating to watch and it is rarely effective for attacking purposes.