New boy will have to improve to hit heights at Etihad
AKE HAS UNDERWHELMING SUCCESS RATE IN AERIAL DUELS
CITY stepped up their preparations for the new season last week as they had a bid of £40m plus add-ons accepted for Bournemouth defender Nathan Ake.
Pep Guardiola went into this summer’s window keen to strengthen at the back after the team’s defensive weaknesses contributed to them surrendering their Premier League crown to Liverpool.
Ake joined Bournemouth in 2017 and made 121 appearances, establishing himself as one of the stand-out young defenders in the Premier League.
His impending departure on the back of the Cherries’ relegation is not a huge surprise, nor is City’s decision to move for him given that Guardiola has long been an admirer of the 25-year-old.
Ake is composed in possession and a poster boy for the modern ball-playing central defender.
Additionally, he does have in his locker the ability to play more incisive balls into the opposition’s half when required.
There are questions about how well he can scale up the quantity of those passes without impacting the quality, particularly given that his average of just under 38 passes per 90 minutes is around half of the number he will be playing at City.
Not just an excellent ballplayer, Ake is also left-footed which adds an extra facet to his appeal. Leftfooted centre-backs with Premier League experience can be hard to find.
Beyond his abilities with the ball at his feet, we can’t forget that Ake is also a very good defender.
It can be difficult to accurately rate defenders based on their statistics alone, but ranking inside the league’s top 20 per cent in terms of defensive duels won and possession-adjusted interceptions per 90 does paint a picture of an accomplished defender on the floor.
A big issue in his numbers though is his underwhelming success rate in aerial duels. His average of 47.33 per cent this season puts him inside the bottom ten from 81 Premier League central defenders who have played over 900 minutes.
This suggests he is unlikely to improve City when defending setpieces and there’s also a chance he could struggle to defend in City’s high line.
That is because most Premier League sides will sit deep against teams who deploy these tactics, aiming to soak up pressure and then hit them on the counter in transitions.
To do this, the ball will normally be played long as soon as it is won. To nullify this threat, top teams like City require a commanding aerial presence.
If Ake is deployed alongside a defender like Laporte, then it may not be a major issue. But if he is to be seen as legitimate left-sided cover for the former Athletic Bilbao player, then it’s an area of his game that has to improve.