Jose Fonte and Wayne Rooney believe Manchester City winger Jeremy Doku is a real threat, but the former identified one area of his game that he must improve.
Doku has featured in all three of Belgium’s games at Euro 2024 so far.
He impressed in the first two matches, but in the 0-0 draw with Ukraine on Wednesday he did not have much of an influence.
Belgium fans actually booed their own players at the end of the game, after being unhappy with the way the team played.
Belgium did go through as group runners-up though, and will face France in the last 16.
Doku will hope to improve after his showing against Ukraine.
Jose Fonte says there is one area in which Jeremy Doku needs to improve
Doku is still very much a work in progress.
The 22-year-old has just finished his first season with City, and he finished with seven goals and 10 assists to his name across all competitions.
That is a pretty good return, for a player coming in for very big money from a foreign league.
Doku lit up the Premier League at times with his rapid acceleration and dribbling.
Undoubtedly, he must be a nightmare for a full-back to try and defend against and ahead of Belgium’s game with Ukraine, Doku came in for some praise from BBC pundits Jose Fonte and Wayne Rooney.
Fonte, though, believes there is one thing he needs to improve on – his end product.
He said: “With this guy, you can’t leave him. You can’t leave your full-back exposed one-vs-one because you know he’s going to create you problems.
“He can go left, right, he’s aggressive, he’s positive.
“For me, it’s just a little bit… the decision-making has to improve. The last pass, the last ball, making the right decision. But what a threat he is, great player.”
Rooney reckons Doku’s unpredictability is the key to him being so difficult to defend against. Like Fonte, he also thinks he’s a serious threat.
He added: “I think sometimes he doesn’t know what he’s going to do with the ball. So for a defender, it must be so difficult to defend against when you’re trying to anticipate and understand what he’s going to do.
“He can surprise you, he can go either way and he’s a real threat.”
Doku must be a nightmare to face
Doku was not at his best for Belgium against Ukraine. But then, very few Belgium players had good games.
Ultimately for Doku, it is all about finding that consistency.
The £50,000-a-week star’s ability to beat a full-back is not in question. It is all about what he can do when he has to deliver – and at the moment, the end product needs improving.
But Doku is still only 22. He has plenty of time on his side to work on this particular aspect of his game.
The minute he starts to find a bit more consistency with his final ball, then it is going to be truly scary for teams coming up against him.