Conor Bradley’s run helps Mo Salah, Nico Gonzalez’s pass for Man City, flexible Ferdi Kadioglu says on The Debrief. soccer news

Welcome to The Debrief. In his Sky Sports column, Adam Bate combines data and opinion to examine the key stories from the latest Premier League matches. this week:

Bradley’s underlap run Gonzalez’s forward pass Kadioglu’s extraordinary flexibility

Bradley works with Salah

Conor Bradley produced his best performance of the season for Liverpool in their 2-0 victory over Aston Villa at Anfield on Saturday night. No player on the pitch possessed the ball more than the tenacious Northern Ireland international.

But even more encouraging than his defensive performance were the belated signs that a partnership was developing between Bradley and Mohamed Salah. The Egyptian winger missed out on Trent Alexander-Arnold, but perhaps this link could work out as well.

Bradley makes a lot of different moves, and there are a lot of them. No other defender made more underlap runs during the Premier League weekend. Unlike Bradley, the next two defenders on the list actually made more overlapping runs. It’s a specific strategy.

This run comes directly from the training ground and is not necessarily designed for him to receive the ball, but to create space for Salah. It paid off against Villa. They exchanged 12 passes, but Bradley’s runs gave his teammates time to shine.

When I asked Arn Slott about it in a subsequent press conference, Liverpool’s head coach explained: “The more players play together, the better it will be. You can’t compare Trent and Connor, but Connor had a great game, as did a lot of other players.”

He added: “I think the team’s performance made the difference today. Everyone was fighting really hard to get over the line and get the win, and they were putting their bodies on the line to shoot. There were also a lot of positives today from the performance of individuals like Connor.”

“The challenge for him now will be to get himself ready because he hasn’t been used to 90 minutes too much this season. After two days of rest, the next game is coming up, so we have to think about it. But your question was, did he play well? Yes, he played well today.”

Next up is a reunion with Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe. Bradley’s tackle on Mbappe last season brought huge cheers at Anfield and was the highlight of the defender’s career so far. His performance against Villa suggests there are more highlights to come.

Gonzalez’s forward pass

“At the moment, Nico Gonzalez is definitely the first choice if Rodri is unable to play,” were the words of manager Josep Guardiola on the eve of Saturday’s match between Manchester City and Bournemouth, and the Spaniard’s excellent performance proved him right.

Gonzalez was involved in the moves that led to Erling Haaland’s two first-half goals, contributing to City’s 3-1 victory. What was particularly impressive about his work was that Gonzalez wasn’t content with just keeping the ball, he often tried to pass it forward.

His passing statistics make that clear. The player who received the most passes from him against Bournemouth was Phil Foden. The next two players on the list were Rayan Cherki and Bernardo Silva. It was a conscious effort to move the ball forward.

Guardiola often insists that the principle of possession remains the same, but Bournemouth had more possession than City at the weekend, and the team’s overall possession count is down more than 10 per cent compared to five seasons ago.

However, the importance of Rodri’s role remains. I recently spoke to Gonzalez’s former coach at Barcelona, ​​Pau Martí, and he explained why the player is so good at pressing in midfield. “I think it’s the speed of how he moves the ball,” he told Sky Sports.

“For his size, that’s not normal. He’s very confident on the ball, calm and uses his body to protect the ball,” Pau compared him to Sergio Busquets. “I think we are very similar because he is big but uses his feet well. He is very strong and can read the game.”

That was certainly evident against Bournemouth, an outstandingly mature performance from the 23-year-old midfielder who takes responsibility for Guardiola’s absence from Rodri, while also helping to play a role in the Premier League in 2025-26.

Brighton player Kadioglu

And finally, let me briefly explain about Brighton. That’s because Brighton’s win over Leeds was only the fifth time this season that a Premier League team has scored more than three expected goals in total. The attackers received praise, but it was a perfect performance.

Brighton also kept their first clean sheet of the Premier League season, but it was Ferdi Kadioglu who contributed in both aspects of the game. Quietly, the Turkish international has been one of the most impressive players since returning from injury.

His defense was aggressive, with only Mats Wiefer making more tackles, and his attacking play was enterprising, as you would expect from a player who can function not only in the backline but also as an out-and-out winger. He is currently used as a left-back.

Fabian Hürzeler believes Kadioglu can play at full-back or on the wing. “Those four positions are not a problem for him, so it’s great to have a player with that flexibility. He’s very good at decision-making and very good at understanding the game.”

Signed from Fenerbahce for £25 million the summer before last, Kadioglu, now 26, may not be Brighton’s typical youngster. But his flexibility is emblematic of the club’s approach and his quality on the ball sets him apart as a special player.