Georgi Kinkladze - Style of Play

Style of Play

Kinkladze's position was as a playmaking midfielder, typically playing further forward than the rest of the midfield. The main aim of the role is to create goalscoring chances, suiting a creative player like Kinkladze. Dribbling ability was generally viewed as one of Kinkladze's strongest attributes, and his jinking runs with the ball resulted in some spectacular goals, most notably his "Goal of the Month" against Southampton. Set piece ability was another of Kinkladze's strengths; he regularly took corners and free kicks. He also took penalties; seven of his Manchester City goals were scored from the spot, though he stopped taking penalties for the club following two consecutive misses in the 1997–98 season. Two of his nine goals for Georgia were also penalties.

Weaker points of Kinkladze's game were those related to defending. He was not noted for tackling, which sometimes caused frustration for his managers; Colin Todd remarked wistfully in 2001 that "Georgi has to understand that there is an art to tackling". Unwillingness to tackle and accusations of a lack of effort were also the source of Joe Royle's omission of Kinkladze from his Manchester City side.

On occasions, Kinkladze played as a second striker, a role with less positional responsibility. Periods when Kinkladze was used in this way included Frank Clark's first months as Manchester City manager, and alongside Fabrizio Ravanelli at Derby County. Though a left-footed player, he did not perform well when played as a left winger, and publicly expressed his distaste for playing in the position.

Over the course of his career he was Georgian Player of the Year twice, won the Club Player of the Year three times at English clubs, and has been described by a Russian football history as the brightest Georgian talent of the 1990s. In 2005, he placed third in a BBC poll to find Manchester City's all-time "cult hero".