“The antithesis of Jeremy Doku”: How Antoine Semenyo’s “refreshing simplicity” has changed Man City’s attack

Antoine Semenyo showed on his “memorable” Manchester City debut that he can add a different dimension to Pep Guardiola’s attack, Citizens expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has told Sports Mole.

The 26-year-old was officially unveiled as Man City’s first signing of the January transfer window last Friday after completing his £64m transfer from Bournemouth and he was immediately thrown into the starting lineup for City’s emphatic 10-1 home win over Exeter in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.

Operating primarily as a left-winger, Semenyo made his presence felt at the Etihad Stadium, as he scored and provided an assist in a man-of-the-match display to help the Citizens ease into the fourth round of the FA Cup.

“It became a very memorable debut for Antoine Semenyo, probably overshadowed by the game in the end which is a crazy thing,” McInerney told Sports Mole. “To get a goal and assist on your debut and it'd be the thing that most probably won't remember from this game because it's a game that City score 10 goals in, yeah quite a crazy day but a thoroughly entertaining one.”

McInerney believes that Semenyo has several key attributes that some of Man City’s current wide options - including Savinho, Oscar Bobb, Jeremy Doku and Omar Marmoush - have been lacking under Guardiola, hence why the club decided to bring the Ghanian to the Etihad.

“I was really impressed by Semenyo,” he added. “Of course you have to consider the opposition. Exeter City are a mid-table League One side and I think they had a few players missing as well, so this was nothing close to the standard that you judge him against, but he was remarkably impressive.

Semenyo compared to Man City wingers after “remarkably impressive” debut

"We can take what we saw with value given that we've already seen him do really well in the Premier League this season. We've seen him score 10 goals and [provide] three assists. I think that is a great contribution actually for a flagging Bournemouth side this season, and then you see that carry on immediately in a City shirt.

“I know it's just Exeter in inverted commas, but it's the quality of the actions that were really impressive. He looked very fluid in a City shirt, that two-footedness was immediately on show, such crisp, creative passing as well, technically so comfortable going either way.

“The power and the drive, we all knew he had it... I don't know if there's something about just playing for City in that blue shirt, but he just looked smoother than he did at Bournemouth. He just felt like he suited that Man City shirt and he looked confident. This was a man playing with a lot of freedom.

“You look at his individual moments and a few really nice passes drilled into [Tijjani] Reijnders and [Erling] Haaland, and the burst of pace was evident immediately getting down the byline. Then of course the assist, a lovely little one-two. That cross with his weaker foot, so to speak, was ridiculous, a De Bruyne-esque cross with so much whip, so much pace, arrowed perfectly into Rico Lewis with his weaker foot, his left foot.

“You saw his catalogue complete [with a goal after] a great pass from [Rayan] Cherki, and something that City haven't got this season. We've now got a powerful runner out wide who uses strength, his commitment and desire to get past the defender and finish really nicely. We haven't seen that for a long time from City's wingers."

McInerney added: “Savinho, Doku, Bobb don't make those runs. The closest we’ve had was maybe Marmoush last season when he was playing out wide. He would try and get in behind, but he's not necessarily the same as Semenyo in terms of his wing play, probably doesn't have the same pace and power either.

“Marmoush is fast don't get me wrong, but Semenyo's bigger and stronger, maybe a little bit faster too, and it felt unique. It's something that we haven't seen from a City winger for an awful long time. Savinho, Bobb, Doku want the ball to feet, they want to try and run at the man, do something.

Why Man City’s new signing Semenyo is “the antithesis of Doku”

“[Semenyo] just wants to score goals. So clinical, so ruthless, so efficient, and I know once again it's just Exeter, but it's a continuation of what we've seen at Bournemouth and his upward trajectory in his career in general. It was a really impressive display and he immediately looked at home at the Etihad. I've got a feeling he could be a bit of a star for Man City.”

Comparing the qualities of Semenyo and Doku, who could both be battling for starts on the left flank in upcoming matches, McInerney added: “As good as Doku is, he's quite a complicated player. He does a lot to do a little sometimes. He's done fantastically well, he carries the ball so well, but Doku takes a million touches and does a million dribbles to create a chance.

“I just feel the ruthless efficiency from Semenyo is so refreshing, given how over complicated our wing-play has got. Semenyo’s just like, ‘I'm going to beat you and cross the ball or I'll just bulldoze past you and put it in the back of the net’

“It’s refreshing simplicity of the kind we haven't seen since [Raheem] Sterling or [Leroy] Sane running it behind. How often did we see Sane just race onto a De Bruyne pass and fire it into the bottom corner? I know this was his different foot (for Semenyo’s goal) but that could have been a Sane goal, a mirrored Sane goal.

“Efficient and just the antithesis of Doku actually. Doku's a brilliant, creative player but he's all busy and likes lots of touches, lots of different darts of direction and it takes a million years for something that Doku does to come off. Doku moves quickly, but everything takes a long time to happen. Semenyo is the opposite, he moves quick and it happens quickly.”

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