Mauricio Pochettino told Chelsea will unlock ‘next Eden Hazard’ with clever Pep Guardiola advice
Emmanuel Petit has encouraged Mauricio Pochettino and Mykhailo Mudryk to draw inspiration from Pep Guardiola and Jeremy Doku. The Chelsea star has struggled to adjust to life in the Premier League since joining from Shakhtar Donetsk in January, meanwhile the Manchester City ace, who only arrived from Rennes this summer, has taken to the English top flight like a duck to water.
Doku opened his account for City against West Ham at the weekend with a fine strike into the bottom corner. Just moments into the second half at the London Stadium, Julian Alvarez teed up the 21-year-old against Vladimir Coufal, who was left isolated on the wing.
As Doku drove forwards, the Hammers right-back was left no choice but to backpedal into his box. After a feint drop of the shoulder, the Belgium international, who has previously drawn comparisons to Eden Hazard, cut inside and slotted the ball past Alphonse Areola.
After the game, Guardiola heaped tremendous praise on the youngster and revealed what advice he gave him before the game. The City boss said: “I was in Barcelona when Jeremy arrived and I had the feeling that maybe he was a little shy in his first game.
“He’d just joined us, had two or three days’ training with a team that had won the Treble and we spoke about this – I told him to use his quality as a winger – one on one or one versus two, if you have the feeling, go.
“From the first minute, he was incredible, aggressive with determination and arrived many times on the byline. I’m really pleased because we thought the quality was there, and he has started to prove it.”
Speaking to Betway, Petit urged Mudryk to follow the advice Guardiola gave Doku. The former Arsenal and Chelsea ace said: “You can see with foreign players in the Premier League that they can struggle, not many thrive straight away.
“The physical demands including speed is huge, you only have one or two seconds to think before you receive the ball. It’s a paradox because Mudryk’s qualities include speed and power with the ball, but he’s struggling.
“Mudryk is always playing with his back to goal, he should be running at them instead just like Doku did for Manchester City against West Ham. He received the ball, turned and ran at his opponents – and he scored! Mudryk doesn’t do that despite his speed.”
Petit continued by claiming that had Mudryk joined City instead of Chelsea then he would have adjusted to life in the Premier League far quicker. The Frenchman added: “If you put Mudryk in Manchester City’s team, I’m sure he would play differently.