Doyle sends message to Pep - and Gareth!
TOMMY Doyle has had to wait patiently for opportunities with City and England as he’s watched other team-mates progress at a faster rate.
After captaining the academy to the FA Youth Cup, Premier League 2 title and previously the Under-18 Premier League Cup, it was clear another season at under-23 level wouldn’t be beneficial for the bornand-bred City fan.
However, with Fernandinho, Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin de Bruyne ahead of him, Doyle knew senior minutes would be limited this season. Unlike Cole Palmer or Liam Delap, central midfield is not a position Pep Guardiola tends to rotate as much, particularly with the more defensive-minded players.
A loan at Hamburg was sourced, and Doyle has had to bide his time for games in the 2.Bundesliga.
A late assist for a comical own goal in one game, followed by a smart injury-time winner in another, has kickstarted his life in Germany.
It’s a spell that will do wonders for Doyle’s development, and he will hope to return to City a better player with a better chance of getting firstteam games.
Similarly, he’ll be looking at Palmer and Taylor Harwood-Bellis as they have both begun the season well for their clubs and as first choice in Lee Carsley’s new-look England under-21 side.
Doyle has been limited to a cameo off the bench against Kosovo and a start in the much-changed 1-0 win against Andorra.
Players such as Palmer, Conor Gallagher and Oliver Skipp have been preferred in central midfield for the Young Lions, so Doyle will have identified the friendly at Georgia yesterday as an opportunity to show the new England Under-21 coaching staff what he can do.
Starting as the holding midfielder, he was at the heart of everything England tried to do, but couldn’t help them fall three goals behind.
Of all the players to get their chance to impress, though, Doyle was among the better performers and kept the play ticking in his familiar defensive-midfield position.
His two assists late on from pinpoint corners gave him something to show from the 90 minutes and could earn him a start in their next competitive line-up.
It could also show England coaches that they have a reliable defensive midfielder coming through the ranks in a position that has been lacking in genuine options in recent years. As the rest of the squad looks to have strength in depth behind the starting XI, the bottom of midfield is probably the only weak point.
Jordan Henderson is a good option, but isn’t getting any younger, while Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips have struck up a good partnership in the last 18 months. As this international break has shown, though, should one or two injuries hit, there are fewer options available to Gareth Southgate behind those three.
James Ward-Prowse is a solid, if unspectacular, option and Jude Bellingham is exciting but raw. Conor Gallagher made his debut this week and maybe Phil Foden could drop back into midfield – however, all of these names are more advanced midfielders, rather than a deep-lying, possessionfocussed player like Doyle.