Forever Blue With Ian Cheeseman: Memories of Kaziu Deyna

As a I watched down from high up in the away end at Newcastle United one player kept coming to the front of my mind.

It wasn’t one of the highly skilful Manchester City players of the present that I was thinking about, even though they were twisting and turning and dazzling in a way the Magpies couldn’t live with. 

It was a Polish player signed by manager Tony Book in November 1978 who made less than fifty appearances for the Blues. At the time City signed Kaziu Deyna from Legia Warsaw I was just a teenager, but I was already a student of the beautiful game and he represented something very different than anything I’d ever seen before. Deyna couldn’t speak English and there was a rumour, at the time, that Chairman Peter Swales bought him because of the new trend of signing overseas players. 

As I watched Deyna I noticed straight away that he lingered on the ball longer than other players did. Sometimes the crowd got impatient with this and you could hear shouts of, “shoot will you”, or something similar that I can’t write here! What I could see was that he was a player that didn’t want to waste possession or his energy, so if there was no room for a shot, he didn’t. Similarly he wouldn’t waste a pass if he couldn’t see that something productive would come of it. 

I could see why Deyna’s way of playing was frustrating some parts of the crowd but I found this new way of looking at football as fascinating. He was the only one in the City team who played that way so it didn’t really work. 

As I watched Pep Guardiola’a 2021 team I couldn’t help think that Kaziu Deyna would fit perfectly into this team. Every player in the City team resists the temptation to rush into a percentage pass and waits until a team mate is available and that the pass can be completed. At times that means that the ball will go backwards or sideways, leading to suggestions of passing for passing’s sake. The system requires everyone to think the same way and to have level ability, in the right areas of the pitch. 

The twenty two players in City’s first team squad are very evenly balanced. When one player is rested, injured or suspended in comes a player of equal quality and footballing intelligence, which means there’s no reliance on individual moments of brilliance, even they still happen from time to time. That’s why I believe that if City sign a “specialist” striker in January, or next summer, they have to find a player that can also fit into the highly intelligent, mobile system Pep has developed. 

When Pep first took over even Sergio Aguero was asked to play differently. He learnt quickly and adapted, though the injuries he suffered from meant he never blossomed in the way he might have done in those later years. Kaziu Deyna led the way at City and I’ll always remember the way he opened my eyes to the football I’m watching these days. 

As this is my last City column before Christmas Day I just want to wish everyone who has read my utterings a great time with your family and friends. We started the year with games being played behind closed doors, which was horrible. We are living in times where things are currently changing and I can only hope that life will improve for us all as we head towards 2022. Stay healthy, love those you cherish the most and remember, it’s great to be a Blue!