🚨 Elliot Anderson on Ayoub Bouaddi’s impact after coming on at halftime against PSG:
“I think people saw tonight what Ayoub is capable of.
We were 3–0 down at halftime. Nobody was happy. We’d made mistakes, PSG had punished us, and we knew we needed to change something.
Then the manager told Ayoub he was coming on.
I remember he came over to me while we were getting ready for the second half.
He said, ‘Elliot, when you get the ball, where do you want me?’
I told him, ‘Just make sure I can find you. We need to get control of this game.’
He nodded and said, ‘Okay. But when I give it back, you have to move forward.’
I looked at him and laughed.
I said, ‘We’ve been losing for 45 minutes and you’ve already started giving me instructions?’
He laughed too.
But that’s Ayoub.
He doesn’t really care who’s older than him or who’s played more games. If he sees something on the pitch, he’ll tell you.
And honestly, that’s what we needed.
Because when you’re 3–0 down against PSG, it’s very easy to start forcing things. Everybody wants to create a chance with one pass. Everybody wants to get the ball forward immediately.
Ayoub came on and started doing the simple things properly.
He’d receive the ball, draw somebody towards him, and find the next pass.
Then he’d move again.
Suddenly, I had somebody close to me whenever I was under pressure.
There was one moment when I passed to him with a PSG player right behind him. I thought he’d probably give it straight back.
Instead, he turned away from the pressure and found somebody further forward.
I remember saying, ‘Ayoub, you could’ve told me you were going to do that.’
He said, ‘You should’ve trusted me.’
That’s the confidence he has.
And it’s not arrogance. He just believes in what he can do.
When Erling scored the first goal, you could feel everybody beginning to believe we could get back into the match.
Then PSG scored again, which was frustrating.
But Ayoub didn’t change the way he played.
He kept asking for the ball. He kept trying to help us control the midfield.
And when he found Erling for the second goal, I wasn’t surprised.
Because he’d been looking for those passes since he came on.
After the game, I told him, ‘You know you’ve made things difficult for the manager now?’
He asked me what I meant.
I said, ‘Because everybody’s going to want you starting the next game.’
He just smiled and said, ‘That’s what I’m here for.’
I think that tells you everything about him.
He’s still very young, and of course he’s going to have games where things don’t go his way. We all do.
But I’ve played alongside experienced midfielders who don’t look as comfortable receiving the ball under pressure as he did tonight.
And this was against Paris Saint-Germain, not some friendly in preseason.
People are talking about how much Manchester City spent to sign him.
I think tonight they got a little glimpse of what they paid for.
We lost 4–2, so none of us is going home happy.
But if you ask me whether Ayoub is ready to play more games at this level, I don’t think you need to ask me.
Just watch the second half again.
And if he starts next to me, that’s fine.
He can keep giving me instructions.
As long as he keeps giving me the ball as well.”