Pep Guardiola called Tommy Doyle a ‘special’ player but picked out an incident in Manchester City’s win over Swansea as an area for improvement. Doyle, City’s under-23 captain, started in the FA Cup fourth-round tie at Cheltenham last month and was included in the travelling party to face Swansea on Wednesday. After City had taken a three-goal lead, Doyle replaced Ilkay Gundogan for a 30-minute cameo where he impressed once again with his calmness and range of passing. Making his seventh senior appearance, the 19-year-old is slowly gathering attention for his clear talents and he is becoming a regular in first-team training when he isn’t leading the academy sides in the Premier League 2. Reflecting on Doyle’s performance, Guardiola praised Doyle’s overall performance but suggested he has to make better decisions in front of goal – even with a three-goal lead and a decent chance to score a first senior goal.
Pep Guardiola said: “He is a good player, it’s not the first time playing in the games. He’s a player with a special quality. He takes it, shoots. Another Man City fan. A historic family, the historic Doyle family. The minutes he plays, he plays good, unfortunately in the finishing in the last moment he should have passed the ball to Phil.”
Kyle Walker, the fortunate scorer of City’s opening goal at Swansea, also reserved praise for Doyle, pointing out his attitude when joining the first team squad.
Kyle Walker said: “Tommy, what a great player. And a good lad as well. An exciting talent, he wants to learn and it’s a pleasure working with him. I’ve seen plenty of kids come through the ranks at numerous clubs with a chip on their shoulder but he’s very good and very down to earth.”
