Welcome to the Premier League Khusanov, it wasn't that bad
While it was a nightmare opening few minutes, the Uzbek settled down a little and has what it takes to succeed.
Penang’s stadium just before the 2016 Malaysia Super League season kicked off and there was a feeling of anticipation. The historic club had just been promoted back to the big-time and in a pre-season friendly against Kuala Lumpur, fans were looking forward to seeing new Brazilian striker Tadeu. Unfortunately, he looked unfit and out of sorts, and an early and unsuccessful attempt to control the ball ended so badly that the fans laughed. The forward never recovered.
The humidity in Malaysia is fierce with time is needed to adjust but once the laughter died down, there were shakes of the head at the Stadium Banadaraya Pulau Pinang. Minds had been quickly made up that the South American did not have what it took.
Tadeu, whose resume screamed ‘journeyman' and then some, came and went without anyone really noticing but the same can’t be said of Abdukodir Khusanov and his first game in the colours of Manchester City. It came against Chelsea on Saturday, in a re-run of the 2021 UEFA Champions League final, in front of 53,000 fans and millions watching worldwide.
“Welcome to the Premier League/English football” is a staple for local commentators whenever a foreign coach or player make his debut. It is a flexible phrase. For a silky playmaker, it can be said when he is chopped down or bundled off the ball, for a defender is can be whenever a star of the league does something special and for a coach it can just be the relentlessness of games, the pace and frantic energy of it all. There’s a knowing chuckle and then it moves on.
Some may find the phrase a little annoying, perhaps slightly smug, but smugness is better than sympathy and that is what Khusanov had. “It’s a moment when you feel like crying for the lad,” said Sky Sports pundit and former Manchester United star Gary Neville after just three minutes of the defender’s debut. It’s fair to say that the 20-year-old’s first taste of English action was eye-catching, just not in the way he would have wanted.
Here was Uzbekistan’s pride after his big move from Lens to join Manchester City –the champions, no less –the first from the Central Asian nation to play in the Premier League. People were still taking their seats when Khusanov missed a header at the edge of the area. There was another opportunity to clear the bouncing ball and he tried –in a decision he will bitterly regret – to head back to goalkeeper Ederson. It didn’t get anywhere near and there was Nicolas Jackson to nip in and then suddenly, Chelsea were winning.
Asia’s most expensive defender looked close to tears. He was soon shown a yellow for bringing down Cole Palmer. Yet, in the end, there were some decent moments. Nobody would pretend it was great or good but it could have been worse. At least City came back to win 3-1 and when the new signing did leave the pitch, the crowd reacted warmly as did his team-mates.
“The players were together.” said City boss Pep Guardiola. “That was massively important. Any player can make a mistake. The fans always support the new players. He’s so young. He will learn. In this kind of situation, there’s nothing much to say. He knows he made it. It is not easy for him. He trains once and then to play against [Nicolas] Jackson and Cole and Madueke and [Jadon] Sancho. It is a process when you buy a player this young. He will learn. These kinds of actions are the best lesson you can take. He doesn’t speak English so I didn’t speak to him. He’ll be fine. He only made one or two training sessions.”
A look at his career so far suggests that, mentally, Khusanov has what it takes. As a teenager, he bounced back from being overlooked at Tashkent’s Bunyodkor, went to Belarus to quickly become one of the best defenders in the league before moving to Lens in France, settling quickly and starting to shine in the middle of the three-man defence, the second best in the league this season. All that takes some doing for a young player from Central Asia.
It is harsh to throw a young player in after just a few days in a country where he does not speak the language to defend against a team that were champions of Europe less than four years earlier. Yet, such is football. On another day, he doesn’t put a foot wrong and everything looks a lot different but ‘Welcome to the Premier League’ and all that.
And it is probably worth mentioning here Jonathan Woodgate’s Real Madrid debut in 2005. The English centre-back had to wait over a year after signing for the club to actually be fit enough to play and then, when it finally happened, scored an own goal and was sent off. In the great scheme of things, Khusanov’s introduction wasn’t so bad.
Going forward, Son Heung-min may provide some inspiration. The South Korean did not have the same kind of debut as his Asian counterpart as he arrived in the summer of 2015 but it took time to win over the hearts and mind of the Tottenham Hotspur faithful. Indeed, at the end of his first season, the South Korean wanted to return to Germany. "I came close to leaving," Son said in 2019. "I went to the gaffer's office and told him I didn't feel comfortable and wanted to leave for Germany.” Mauricio Pochettino was having none of it, however.
Few then would have imagined that a decade later, the forward would still be in North London and the club captain and a club legend. Had he left in 2016, it is unlikely that few fans at the time would have cared too much.
Son ended up shining in England. It remains to be seen how Abdukodir Khusanov does but there is still a lot of football to play in the English Premier League for this 20-year-old.