“It’s thanks to the manager!” – Pep Guardiola credits himself for Jeremy Doku’s Manchester City heroics | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has delivered a typically tongue-in-cheek explanation for Jeremy Doku’s remarkable improvement this season.

Doku has been one of the standout performers in the Premier League this season, standing on seven goals and 14 assists for Manchester City in all competitions as the Blues pursue a domestic treble in the final three weeks of the season.

His brace in Monday’s 3-3 draw at Everton, including a stunning 97th minute equaliser that kept City’s title hopes alive, underlined a level of consistency and clinical impact that was not always associated with the winger in his first two seasons at the Etihad Stadium.

Speaking in a press conference ahead of Saturday’s home fixture with Brentford, Guardiola was in characteristically playful form when asked to explain the reasons behind Doku’s step forward.

Guardiola: When they play good, it’s thanks to the manager!

Guardiola began with a joke before quickly making clear his genuine admiration for the winger’s development.

“The manager, always!” he said. “When the players play good, it’s thanks to the manager. When they play bad, it’s because of them. I’m so glad!

“I’m so glad he made a step up and feels that as a winger he has to score and make an impact, not just an action one-against-one. Jeremy has been amazing this season, amazing!”

The substance beneath the humour is revealing. Guardiola’s specific mention of Doku understanding that impact as a winger goes beyond one-on-one duels – that goals and direct contributions are the measure – points to a tactical and mental maturity that has visibly developed across the course of the campaign.

Manchester City captain Bernardo Silva echoed the same sentiment after the Everton draw, describing Doku as “very, very good” and noting that he “demands a lot from himself” in training. The picture that emerges from both is of a player who has taken his development into his own hands and whose best football may still be ahead of him.

What has Doku’s season looked like at City?

Before this season, questions lingered over Doku’s end product despite his obvious quality in one-on-one situations. Guardiola’s words on Friday confirm that those questions have been answered and that the 23-year-old has done so through a conscious shift in how he approaches his responsibilities as a wide player.

His 97th-minute equaliser at Everton was the most dramatic example of that evolution, a composed, technically brilliant finish from outside the box in a moment that demanded a player rather than just an athlete.

Doku himself admitted the draw “feels painful” but vowed City would keep fighting: words that, much like his football this season, carry a weight they perhaps did not a year ago.