Addition of maths genius Akanji a winning formula for Pep

Erling Haaland was centre of attention again this weekend but Man City have lots of reasons to be cheerful. 

MAESTRO: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola reacts on the touchline. Picture: Martin Rickett/PA Wire.

Erling Haaland yet again stole the headlines - for a miss, as well as an inevitable goal, on this occasion - but that simply paved the way for another Manchester City summer signing from Borussia Dortmund to take centre stage.

So much attention was paid to the striker’s move from the Bundesliga that Manuel Akanji, snapped up for a snip at £15 million, trod the same path with barely a ripple on the transfer window pool.

Not for the first time, it turns out that Pep Guardiola knew precisely what he was doing.

With early season injuries at various times to Aymeric Laporte, John Stones, Ruben Dias and Nathan Ake, the 27-year-old has already provided Guardiola with vital cover in the centre of his defence.

But, as City strolled to a predictable win over struggling Southampton, Akanji stepped into the right-back position that the injured Kyle Walker will not be able to fill until the Premier League returns from the World Cup hiatus on Boxing Day.

Shorter term, and with Stones still not back in training, Akanji probably played himself into a starting right-back role for Sunday’s eagerly-awaited visit to Liverpool with the way he performed against the Saints.

Even for Guardiola, as astute a judge of football talent as there is in the world today, the speed with which Akanji has acclimatised to the Premier League has been astonishing.

“Yes it takes players a long time to settle here, but when you are intelligent - I didn’t know him but you realise immediately - I only had to tell him once and he knows it,” said Guardiola. 

“He did it perfectly. it’s a gift for a manager, a gift, “I said for this season we need a striker and a central defender. We were lucky to get him.

“He’s very pleased how his whole life is compared to Erling. He’s a person who is at home with the family, studying mathematics and this kind of thing.

“We are very pleased with him, now I discover today when we went three at the back and we needed him on the right, with the absence of Kyle and John, who I don’t know when he’ll be back.

“He had a chance to play right back in this position and it’s so important we have another weapon at set pieces, with long balls, how aggressive he is with the ball, he’s the whole package.” 

The reference to mathematics, and Akanji’s phenomenal ability at mental arithmetic that was showcased in a TV interview last week, in part helps explain why and how he adapted so seamlessly to a new position.

It was a hunch, on Guardiola’s part, that Akanji would be able to make the switch but one which, still, caught the City manager by surprise.

“Yeah I thought he could but there are players you have to explain 10 times, a player has to train 10 times there to do what you are thinking, what you want him to do, and this guy – we did just one training session,” said Guardiola.

“Just to tell him – and he got it. The movement you have to do as a full-back, the high pressing, he didn’t do it once in training. And he did it perfectly. With the ball he’s a magnificent player.

“Our build up today should have been with three at the back and that’s why normally I play Kyle or John, we thought he could do it, it was a little bit scary as he hadn’t proved he could do it before.

“He had to go up the pitch, pressing, come back defending the crosses at the far the post. He didn’t miss once, absolutely perfect. It proves again, intelligent people always pay off. Manu has made a huge impact since he arrived. Again the club made an incredible decision with him.” 

As for Haaland, the unthinkable happened after 13 minutes when he could only strike the post when played clean through on Irish keeper Gavin Bazunu.

It hardly mattered, as goals poured in from Joao Cancelo, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez before Haaland finally turned in a Cancelo cross after 65 minutes for his 20th goal in just 12 goals, at an average of one goal every 47.7 minutes.

Little wonder Southampton lost and, while the pressure mounts on Ralph Hasenhuttl, his fate will surely not be determined by a result in which his team actually kept City below the average of five goals a game that Guardiola’s team had maintained over their first four league home games.

“After this game, we have no clarity,” said Hasenhuttl of his job security. “I know the clarity is I come in tomorrow, we must analyse this game very well and prepare for next week and a tough home game against West Ham.”