- 1 hour ago
Gianluigi Donnarumma to Manchester city is being called a signing that makes no sense. Pep popularised goalkeepers playing out from the back, and no sooner had they signed James Trafford had they turned their attention the man who, in Paris at least, is considered to not be good enough at it.But is it secretly a masterstroke? And what does it tell us about City's tactical plans for the coming season? Adam Clery looks at the Italian's time at PSG to find out.
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00:00Right, hello there everybody, welcome to the Adam Cleary Football Channel and Gigi Donnarumma.
00:06Hey, you remember him, don't you, from literally the most traumatic thing that's ever happened to any of us.
00:11Saving that sack of penalty at the death of the social distancing Euros after he'd sat and drank 18 pints
00:19in the pub you had to book to enter.
00:22Anyway, though, he's at Manchester City now, which everybody thinks is mad and makes no sense.
00:28So here's a video for you about why they're right, but also why they've done it.
00:37And just super quick before we start, this is another cool FopMob collab, which I'm genuinely really stoked about because
00:45we've got a widget that they have that we're using in this video that I've never used before and formed
00:51the core premise or one of them.
00:52So you're going to like it.
00:54Alright, so to start, I'm just going to brutally paraphrase a quote from noted unique football thinker Richard Keyes, right?
01:02The first thing Pep did when he got to Man City was bin Joe Hart because he wasn't good with
01:07his feet.
01:07And everyone in Paris says the same about Donnarumma.
01:10Shrug emoji.
01:11So just to recap there, man does thing in 2016 and nine years later, man does something slightly different.
01:22I don't know about you, but I am floored.
01:25For me being needlessly snides to one side for a second, this is undeniably the weirdest transfer of the summer
01:31because Edison was the premier ball at his feet goalkeeper.
01:35And then they went and signed the obvious heir to that throne in James Trafford.
01:40But seemingly Pep has decided to pivot to one who just looks like a man whose shop you were specifically
01:48told not to play anywhere near on a family holiday when you were much younger.
01:53I think that's a bit dodgy, mate.
01:5526, this guy.
01:57By the way, the paper rounds in Milan you must need to be armed for.
02:03Anyway, though, despite his obvious ability, he still found himself getting turfed out of PSG this summer because allegedly he
02:10was looking for an insane sum of money to renew a contract that was going to end at the end
02:14of this season regardless.
02:17And Luis Enrique took one look at that situation and said,
02:19No, pal.
02:21You can sling your rook.
02:23But in French, obviously.
02:25Or Spanish.
02:26Or Italian.
02:27I don't know.
02:28But whatever, it has given us the footballing equivalent of the what-da-hell-is-a-polar-bear-doing-in
02:34-Arlington, Texas meme.
02:36And that is because, speaking as a goalkeeper, here are my credentials.
02:39What a save!
02:41Short fight!
02:43The single most important thing you can be doing at any given moment is stopping the ball going into your
02:49net.
02:49And I mean, hey, in that regard, this guy's one of the best in the world, isn't he?
02:53Like, we all watched him last season single-handedly, albeit with both hands, knock Liverpool and Aston Villa out of
03:01the Champions League.
03:02He's brilliant at that, right?
03:04And, well, he sort of did.
03:06But in terms of the season as a whole, he actually didn't have a great one in terms of shot
03:11-stopping.
03:12These are his spot mob numbers from the league last season compared to Edison.
03:15And if the argument is that they're selling a feet goalkeeper in favour of a hands goalkeeper, it just isn't
03:21really, like, true at all.
03:24Like, one, Edison's much better as a shot-stopper than he's given credit for.
03:27And two, Donnarumma is not consistently the sort of brick wall he appears to be when he's on live UK
03:34telly.
03:35Like, I've actually sort of got this working theory that maybe Donnarumma is incredibly average.
03:39He just, like, hates the English.
03:42Like, that night at Wembley, seeing the lads stick the flare up his arse, that was the origin story behind
03:47this, like, incredible Anglo-Italian villain arc.
03:52And he can only hit those heights of goalkeeping again if he's, like, forced to have baked beans at a
03:57hotel breakfast.
03:58Just a thought.
03:59You merely adopted the dark.
04:02I was born in it.
04:04Anyway, though, yes, the numbers his save percentage compared to Edison's is almost identical, which is interesting.
04:10And if you want to throw Trafford in there as well, his are astonishing.
04:14But, obviously, the caveat is his last season was in the Championship.
04:18I don't know if that makes any major difference to you.
04:20It doesn't to me, because a save is a save.
04:23But just keep it in mind.
04:25But it's the number here that's a little bit concerning.
04:28Like, if you are asked about XG, then the quality of shots he's letting in is consistently...
04:34I don't know how to do this in English.
04:36Like, it's consistently not as good as the goals he's letting in.
04:41Like, over a whole season, the value of the shots he's faced was nearly four goals less than the amount
04:47of goals he actually conceded.
04:49And, again, like, totally up to you whether you're arsed about something like XG.
04:53But the clubs normally are, and, more importantly, the goalkeepers we all regard as excellent shot-stoppers,
05:00like your David Reyes, your Jordan Pickford's, forgive me, I genuinely believe that,
05:03they all tend to have a positive number in this category.
05:07They're saving more than the numbers say they should,
05:09whereas Donnarumma here is saving less than the numbers say he should, which is obviously bad.
05:15And, again, you look at Edison's number and Trafford's number,
05:17and they have, statistically, had much better seasons purely in regards of shot-stopping.
05:23So, saying we're bringing him in for the shot-stopping doesn't quite track.
05:27And, yeah, since there's, like, hardly any football on this week and the transfer window is finished,
05:31I did, I sat down and I watched every single goal he's conceded this season,
05:35and I've noticed two quite glaring weaknesses, in my opinion.
05:40So, first off, he struggles to quickly react to things that are down on his left-hand side,
05:44but also, he struggles to get a good leap across off his weaker foot.
05:50And you can actually, if you use the nifty little FopMob goals widget that they've got,
05:54which I just found, and I think, is really good, you can see this.
05:57These are all the shots he faced in the league.
05:59The balls are obviously the goals, right?
06:01The blue ones are just the ones that didn't go in.
06:03If you flip that to the other view, you see a massive overweighting to his left-hand side.
06:10And that is, of course, not to say he can't save things down that side.
06:14He makes some wonderful saves with his left-hand and going that way.
06:18Merely that if you can manage to get your shots off into that area,
06:21you clearly have a higher chance of scoring.
06:24Like, this goal from the Nice game is not Nice at all.
06:27It's awful.
06:27He just sort of lets it roll under his body,
06:30because he is, I think, expecting it to be more in the corner.
06:35Like, if you freeze-frame it, he does the really bad thing that I often do,
06:39and he goes too early.
06:42Like, there's about seven or eight yards there.
06:44You should wait.
06:44You should make them put it past you.
06:46But he's already committed to that side,
06:49clearly trying to get to the corner before he leaves his foot.
06:52So he just dives over the top.
06:53But if we then go back to this graph
06:55and filter it by just the stuff that comes from outside the box,
06:59you can see that weakness completely disappears.
07:02And that tells you straight away it's purely a reactions thing.
07:05If the ball is in flight for a little bit longer,
07:06he gets a longer view of it.
07:08He can make an excellent save on that side.
07:10Think about the Martin Udegaard chance against Arsenal.
07:13That looked amazing, and it was low down into that area.
07:16He's weak.
07:17But it comes from just outside the box.
07:20He had enough reaction time to make what was a brilliant save.
07:23But yeah, if we look at everything from this sort of distance,
07:24it's now all concentrated in this bottom right corner.
07:28And that is actually quite a common problem for a lot of goalkeepers.
07:33The way you have to sort of have your balance on your feet,
07:36when you go that way,
07:37sort of a lot of your weight has to come from your weaker foot
07:40more than it does going the other way.
07:42And it's harder to get across.
07:44It's a weird little quirk that we don't really tend to talk about.
07:47But because your body finds it slightly more awkward
07:50going one way than the other,
07:52you don't cover that side of the goal
07:53as well as you do your stronger side.
07:56I wonder if people know this about him.
07:58Like, is that something scouts know?
07:59Or have I just like massively grasped him up?
08:02I hope not.
08:03And just, like, as a cheeky aside,
08:06I know we've said, like,
08:07oh, this video's in partnership with FopMob,
08:09but that widget,
08:11I'm going to win so many arguments with that in pubs,
08:15now that I know that's there.
08:16I like that.
08:17The kicking is weirdly similar as well.
08:19Like, the pass accuracy is pretty much the same.
08:21The long ball accuracy is not as good,
08:23but still absolutely fine.
08:25He just does them a lot less than Edison.
08:28And obviously, when you start going on something like FB Ref
08:30and looking at the really advanced numbers here,
08:32you can see that, yeah,
08:32Edison's a much better distributor of the ball
08:35across multiple distances than Donnarumma is.
08:38And the fact he's leaving the club with seven assists
08:41tells you everything you need to know.
08:43But when you do look at these numbers,
08:44the big explainer for the difference in styles,
08:47and I think the reason why Pep finds this
08:50such an appealing transfer,
08:52is this number here.
08:55Like, don't let the reds and green confuse you.
08:57There isn't really a good or a bad end
08:58of this spectrum, right?
09:00You look at these here,
09:00you can see that Edison was still
09:02the Premier League's number one.
09:04Don't you worry about that, lads.
09:06I'll come and deal with it, goalkeeper.
09:08And Pep Guardiola has simply decided
09:10he no longer wants that.
09:13Donnarumma does less than half
09:16the sweeping up of the man he is replacing.
09:19In fact, and a little bit of a history lesson for you,
09:21right in 2022, Donnarumma tried to play out,
09:25got mugged by Karim Benzema,
09:26and Madrid sensationally came back
09:29from two goals down
09:30to knock them out of the Champions League.
09:32He got almost all the blame for that.
09:35Then against Monaco the next season,
09:37he kicked the ball straight at Minamino,
09:39and again, found himself getting labelled
09:41as just not good enough for PSG.
09:44They need a modern goalkeeper, not this lump.
09:46And mistakes like this have dogged him
09:48his entire career.
09:49Like, this one at Milan is genuinely
09:52quite painful to watch.
09:53So he's adapted his game ever since then
09:56to simply not get involved.
09:59He's the Gemma Collins of goalkeeping.
10:01I'm not getting involved.
10:02I'm here to enjoy myself, JC style.
10:05Do you know what I mean?
10:06He does not show for the ball
10:07to take the pressure off the defenders.
10:09If someone gets in behind,
10:10he doesn't come scrambling out to try
10:12and close down the space.
10:14Instead, if a player does get an opportunity like that,
10:16and this is a positive in my head, by the way,
10:19not a negative,
10:20he gets right back in his goal
10:21and basically says,
10:22OK, well, let's see if you can finish then.
10:25And as a result, you can see it in the numbers,
10:26he's like entirely cut mistakes out of his game.
10:29PSG virtually never get done
10:31trying to involve him in the play at the back.
10:34Like, if you've seen their now fabled kickoff routine
10:37where they just knock it into touch in the final third
10:39and then pen the opposition in,
10:41this is sort of the mindset
10:42he's allowing them to have.
10:44There's no point taking a load of risks here
10:46when you can just knock it up the other end,
10:48pen them in,
10:49and if they do get in behind,
10:50you've got great recovery pace
10:52with your fullbacks to try and remedy the situation.
10:55And if they do get through one-on-one,
10:57the goalie's not going to make it easy for them.
10:59He's going to demand that they actually finish well.
11:02Like, this is the Club World Cup final.
11:04He sweeps out fully 40 yards from goal
11:06to get the ball,
11:07and then he just keeps it in play
11:09and fucks off.
11:11Like, he gives it to the defender,
11:13they go forward and two passes later,
11:15they're in a dangerous area.
11:16They're not messing about
11:17trying to invite the opposition on.
11:19And actually, speaking of this game,
11:21go and watch the goals back,
11:23and what do you notice?
11:25Palmer's first goal and Palmer's second goal,
11:27there is weak pushing off with his left foot,
11:29so it ends up in that bottom right corner.
11:31And this rasper from De Lapp,
11:33he pushes off with his strong foot
11:34and makes a really, really good save.
11:37Player gets in behind
11:38and he just drops into his six-yard box,
11:40doesn't commit,
11:41doesn't make it easy,
11:42he just tells him,
11:43you've got to beat my frame now,
11:44how good's the finish?
11:45And that's another really good save.
11:48But you can see all of this
11:49as clear as buttons
11:51if you look at their heat maps
11:52from last season.
11:53Like, Edison,
11:54he wants to be involved,
11:55he is dealing with stuff,
11:56he is rushing out,
11:57he's sweeping up,
11:58he is wiping the arses
11:59of his back four.
12:01He desperately wants
12:02to be playing the game,
12:04and then,
12:05Donnarumma,
12:07none of his business,
12:08nothing to do with him.
12:09He will jog out
12:11to stop or throw
12:12or just to save somebody else
12:13a bit of time or energy,
12:14but when it comes to
12:15actually playing with it,
12:17not doing it.
12:18When he gets involved,
12:19he does so
12:20in his own box.
12:22So then,
12:22like,
12:23what does all of this tell us?
12:24Well, it tells us
12:25that Pep Guardiola,
12:25the man who killed
12:26centre-forwards
12:27as a genre,
12:29just to then completely
12:30reinvent them by buying
12:31Erling Haaland,
12:32likes to make changes
12:34every now and then.
12:34He wants City to be
12:35way less methodical
12:37with the ball.
12:37He clearly wants to see them
12:39having it less
12:40in this area of the pitch
12:41and instead,
12:42just being as direct
12:43as possible.
12:44Now, we are talking
12:45about the same manager
12:46who's gone and brought
12:46Ray and Al Nuri this summer
12:47to play a left-back
12:48and is sticking,
12:49like,
12:50really athletic,
12:51dynamic running
12:52central midfielders
12:53on the opposite side.
12:54So it's clear
12:55he's trying to solve
12:56that problem
12:56of him getting done
12:57in behind
12:58when he loses the ball.
12:59Now,
13:00he's just out of the goalkeeper
13:01who isn't going to
13:02fuck around with it
13:03and try and be a hero.
13:04And yes,
13:05it is insane
13:06that he seemingly
13:06decided to do that
13:07right after they
13:08hauled James Trafford
13:10back from Burnley.
13:12But you know what
13:12honestly would not
13:13surprise me?
13:14Seeing them get
13:15rotated quite a lot.
13:17Like,
13:17using Trafford
13:18in games where
13:18you do want
13:19a lot of the ball,
13:20where you do want
13:20to invite the opposition on,
13:21and then Donnarumma
13:23when you're just
13:23trying to have
13:24a bit of fun.
13:25I mean,
13:25given the conventional
13:26logic behind goalkeepers
13:27is that you must have
13:28a settled and permanent
13:30number one
13:31to give consistency
13:32to the back four.
13:33Wouldn't surprise me
13:33at all if Guardiola's
13:35thinking,
13:36nah,
13:37nah,
13:37I ain't going to do
13:37that actually.
13:38I'm going to rotate
13:39them based on the
13:40opposition.
13:41Be fun.
13:42Anyway though,
13:43that is it.
13:43That is the end of
13:44the Donnarumma video.
13:45I still don't think
13:47it makes a whole lot
13:47of sense,
13:48but I am excited
13:49to see it in action
13:51because he's a very
13:51different goalkeeper
13:52to anyone currently
13:53in the Premier League
13:54and that should always,
13:55and like I said,
13:56be celebrated.
13:56Be enjoyed.
13:57And of course,
13:58thanks again to our
13:58close in real life
13:59personal friends at
14:00FopMob who have
14:01partnered with us
14:02on this video
14:03and without whom
14:04we would not have
14:05had that incredibly
14:05cool and fun
14:06and surprisingly
14:07intuitive goals widget
14:09which I really,
14:10really enjoyed using.
14:12But it's not just that.
14:13They've got like
14:14all the good stats,
14:15haven't they?
14:15They've got all the
14:16lineups and the
14:17fixtures and the
14:17match data and just
14:18everything you want
14:19from a football app
14:21on your phone
14:21which this literally
14:22is on mine.
14:24So the link is
14:24in the description.
14:25We genuinely,
14:26really like them.
14:26We're stoked that
14:27we're actually working
14:28with them on this.
14:28So if you haven't
14:29got the app yet,
14:30this is a solid,
14:31genuine endorsement
14:32from me.
14:33I really like it.
14:34Go and get it.
14:34Until next time though,
14:35I just already talked
14:36too much at the end.
14:37My social media,
14:38subscribe to the channel.
14:39I love you all,
14:39God, so much.
14:40It actually makes me cry
14:41sometimes when I just
14:42think about it.
14:43That's Gigi Donnarumma.
14:44Goodbye.
14:46Arrivederci.
14:47What's that?
14:47Ciao.
14:48One of them.
14:49Italian.