KAMPALA: Routinely argue that a key parameter that ought never to be overlooked in judging the potency of a football manager is their ability to improve players at their disposal. This is the principal reason Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola attracts top stars like a magnet. Slightly above average players know they can develop into world beaters under the Spaniard’s tutelage. Like Riyad Mahrez, Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane before him, Erling Braut Haaland has morphed into the world’s most dangerous striker at the Etihad Stadium courtesy of Guardiola’s polishing on his undoubted talent.
Haaland is one of four Manchester City players in my most improved players line up because his goal scoring numbers belong to a different epoch. At the time of submitting this piece, the former Molde, RB Salzburg and Borussia Dortmund manager had already bludgeoned a cool 51 goals in all competitions. Far from being a flat track bully, 35 of his goals to date have come in the Premier League and 15 are in the Uefa Champions League.
Team mates Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji take the central defensive places in my back four thanks to the enormous strides they have made as Manchester City close in on an unprecedented Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble. Akanji was a surprise addition to the Etihad Stadium squad, yet he hasn’t put one foot wrong, often keeping EPL player of the year Ruben Diaz and stalwarts Aymeric Laporte out of the starting line up. Ake has taken some time to settle in, but few players across Europe can match his reading of the game, ability to switch positions and eye for goal.
World Cup winning forward Julian Alvarez is the fourth Manchester City player in this line up. The Argentine was a raw an untested South American talent when Guardiola snapped him up from River Plate. In no time, he was a mainstay in the City line up and an ever present as the Pumas won Qatar 2022. It’s about time pundits started looking beyond the silverware Guardiola wins and start examining the value he adds to his stars.
Barcelona starlet Alejandro Balde takes the left back slot. This La Masia Academy product is the complete package. As comfortable going forward as he is on the back foot, Balde has been a revelation marauding down the flank as Xavi Hernandez’s rebuilt Barcelona have wrapped up their first Liga Santander title with something to spare. It takes a mercurial talent to keep both Jodi Alba and Marco Alonso on the bench. 19-year-old Balde has done just that.
Arsenal’s fast improving Frenchman William Saliba must take turns at right back with Akanji in this line up. Saliba’s importance to manager Mikel Arteta’s project has been highlighted during his spell on the sidelines as the Gunners have tumbled out of the Europa League at the hands of an average Sporting Lisbon side and surrendered EPL leadership to Manchester City.
Two Cameroonians are surprise selections in my most improved. Inter Milan custodian Andre Onana has been monumental in the Nerrazzuri’s march to the Champions League semifinals and Napoli’s Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa has surpassed himself in helping guide Luciano Spalletti’s Partenopei to their first Scudetto since Diego Armando Maradona powered them to the Serie A in 1987 and 1990. Anguissa does a bit of everything. Excellent in the tackle, he is also adept at starting counterattacks and arriving in the opposition penalty box unnoticed.
Anguissa is joined in my selection by team mates Kvicha Kvaratskhelia and Victor Osimhen. Georgian wing wizard Kvaratskhelia has earned the moniker ‘Kvaradona’ in tribute to the club’s greatest player on account of his match winning skills whereas Nigerian Osimhen leads the hunt for the Capocannonieri awarded to the Serie A top scorer with 22 goals despite missing seven games injured.
Honorable mentions go to Arsenal pair Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka as well as Brighton and Hove Albion trio Moises Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister and Kaori Mitoma. All six were electric all season.
MOST IMPROVED LINE UP
1- Andre Onana (Inter Milan)
2- William Saliba (Arsenal)
3- Alejandro Balde (Barcelona)
4- Nathan Ake (Manchester City)
5- Manuel Akanji (Manchester City)
6- Andre Frank Zambo Anguissa (Napoli)
7- Kvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli)
8- Martin Odegaard (Arsenal)
9- Erling Braut Haaland (Manchester City)
10- Julian Alvarez (Manchester City)
11- Victor Osimhen (Napoli)
SUBS
1- Bukayo Saka,
2- Gabriel Martinelli
3- Evan Ferguson
4- Kaori Mitoma
5- Moises Caicedo