Oleksandr Zinchenko: Ukrainian Royalty

Assume you are the manager of one of the world's biggest football clubs, and a Russian scout approaches you and tells you that he has a player with raw talent that you rarely see in football. If you have some intel coming to you from the Russian scouts, that's quite suspicious. But the manager in this story saw the player's game and gave him the most significant breakthrough one can get.

The manager here is none other than Josep Guardiola, and the player is Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Олександр Володимирович Зінченко or Oleksandr Volodymyrovych Zinchenko is a Ukrainian footballer who currently plays for Arsenal. That's the only piece of information I'll provide you from his Wikipedia page.

But what makes me write a whole piece about Zinchenko? What is so special about him and his game and his personality? The answer lies in the question itself.

Where do we begin? Oleksandr "Alex" Zinchenko, aka Zinny, started his career as a number 10 or an attacking midfielder. The initial parts of his career revolved around his time in Ukraine and Russia, where he moved in 2014 because the Russian annexation of Crimea led to protests and war in the Donbas region of Ukraine, where he and his parents lived. After grinding his way up to the Russian Premier League by playing lots of amateur football. In 2016, he earned his big move to Manchester City via Pep Guardiola.

Now let's talk about Zinchenko's game. In his Manchester City days, we have seen him play mostly in a left-back position. His left-bank stint at City paced up after injuries to Pep's main choices, Benjamin Mendy and Fabian Delph. Guardiola had something different in mind regarding Zinchenko. He took Zinny's midfield genes and mixed them with new ones from a fullback. Zinny was advised to continue his basic duties as a fullback, which include making overlapping runs at the left wing, and the new settings in him allowed him to tuck into midfield with the likes of Gundogan, Bernardo Silva and Rodri. Stats prove that his forward gameplay in the final third is up there at the top. 

He covers the wide flank in all the thirds, plus he gets into half spaces from where he controls the passing. He might not be the first inverted fullback (a term used for a full-back who gets into the middle of the field while in possession), but what Zinny has, not many of the players in the whole Manchester City squad had neither in Arsenal, and that made me an admirer of his game, his technical excellence.

Zinchenko is considered to be one of the most technical players in the Premier League. His ability to look forward through the passes, make ghost runs in the midfield, deliver peaches of cross in the corridor of uncertainty just like KDB (learned from the best), and various other things His technical guile helps him transform the systems of the team and lead them to success. His press resistance is also quite remarkable; he needles through the midfield of teams with a high line of pressing. Zinny's decision-making skills are what shine the most, personally, for me. Perfectly timed feints, one-touch passes, beautiful first touches that cancel out the opps' press, and diagonal balls across the field

His greatest single-piece of contribution in the blue shirt, out of many that stand out for me, is that half stepover and feint to ankle break Buendia and assist Rodri versus Aston Villa for the equaliser in the last game of the 2022–23 season to win the title. Ufff. Limbs.

Zinny's insane leadership skills and winning mentality are highly praised by his coaches. Captain of the Ukrainian national team at the age of 25. A boy who has witnessed war and guns at a young age, his struggles have rendered him impenetrable to the idea of losing a game. He also has a higher percentage of winning duels on the ground as well as in the air. He has also spoken out about Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Putin's cruelty towards his nation through the years.

Since his transfer to Arsenal, it is believed by the media that Zinchenko's presence in the dressing room has highly impacted the team's mentality and has increased their motivation to win the title and not think about finishing in the top 4. Arsenal is currently atop the table. Nothing more being said; this was me simping on Oleksandr Zinchenko, some more high praise, and I might jinx something.

In brief, Oleksandr Zinchenko is a fearless, sagacious leader and a warrior who is technically gifted and will surely rule the world of football for the years to come.