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Ayyoub Bouaddi should be axed by Man City, his stats vs Brighton prove he's not ready
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- Ayyoub Bouaddi should be axed by Man City, his stats vs Brighton prove he's not ready
Enzo Maresca has now overseen back-to-back defeats in the Premier League with Manchester City.
After going on a 100 per cent winning run in the opening seven games, it has been a far from ideal couple of fixtures.
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The Italian manager will now need to get back to the drawing board to ensure his side return to winning ways.
And questions of his starting XI decisions may be the first thing he visits as he searches for answers.
The pressure will undoubtedly begin to mount on Maresca, particularly after such a promising start to the campaign.
His side have looked far from their best in recent outings, and the Italian must now find a way to get his team performing consistently again, with one player on the chopping block in particular,
Ayyoub Bouaddi has done himself no favours in Man City pecking order
After an impressive season in Ligue 1 and a strong World Cup, Manchester City forked out a mammoth £85.6million on Ayyoub Bouaddi.
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The midfielder has the world at his feet, but he may still have some time to go before becoming a bona fide star.
Against Brighton on Saturday, as per FotMob , the Moroccan struggled to impose himself as he did earlier in the week in the same fixture in the Carabao Cup.
The 19-year-old managed to win just two of his five ground duels on Saturday, a 40 per cent success rate.
On the ball, Bouaddi also proved to be a net negative as well, as no player was dispossessed more than the African midfielders' total of three.
In truth, it was a game to forget for the summer signing, and perhaps a sign he is not yet ready to be a regular in the Premier League.
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At 19 years old, there is lots of time for that to change, but time out of the starting XI must be the next step until there are clear signs he is adapting to England's top flight.
Sources: Alex Freeman opens door to Man City move after Enzo Maresca plan revealed What is Man City's best midfield pairing?
Ahead of the upcoming games, Maresca will have plenty of decisions to make on his midfield pairing.
Elliott Anderson is a sure-fire selection, so the matter is simply on his partner.
Enzo Fernandez is another option, but against Brighton he was also poor in a more advanced position.
Rico Lewis and Nico O'Reilly have also been used in midfield before, and would be interesting choices.
But Argentine Fernandez is the likely best choice, as long as he can stick to remaining deeper and not leaving too much space for the opposition to run into.
