Nathan Ake is the Manchester City centre-back with the devastating combination, as comedian Troy Hawke memorably put it on the club's pre-season tour.
"You have the poise of an apex predator, but the eyes of a kindly woodland creature," Hawke told Ake as he filled into to the club's Houston hotel this summer.
It was part of a send-up of the squad as they arrived on tour, with Hawke, a character devised by comedian Milo McCabe, sending the internet into hysterics but managing to confuse the players as they walked past him.
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Like most of his teammates, Ake didn't have a clue what was going on, but the description was an accurate one. The 27-year-old has a reputation for being one of the nicest guys in football, but as Hawke surmised, there are two sides to the defender.
"On the pitch and off the pitch you can change a little bit. On the pitch, you’re harder and don’t really care, but off the pitch, I try to be more myself," said Ake.
The Netherlands international is as engaging and entertaining as ever during a half-hour chat with the MEN at the City Football Academy (CFA), on a day when the media duties are piling high for a player who is enjoying a renaissance this season.
Ake is thriving in an ever-changing defence under Pep Guardiola, with competition for places stronger than ever since the £15million addition of Manuel Akanji in the summer window.
Sometimes, nice guys can find themselves swallowed up when they make the leap to the elite and Ake did wonder what life at the Etihad would be like when he swapped the homely environment of Bournemouth for Manchester City in 2020.
Instead, he was surprised to walk into a similar dressing room, despite the broad kaleidoscope of languages, cultures and CVs.
"I never thought there was going to be such togetherness. I’m sure a lot people say it about their clubs, but it’s actually true," said Ake.
"Before you think there are a lot of stars, maybe it’s not going to be the same as Bournemouth because Bournemouth there a lot of English people and everyone bonds together easier.
"I thought maybe there would be more cliques, like languages together, but when I arrived here it was eye-opening, everyone was so nice, the staff, the players are very good with each other, there are no real groups, everyone is together. It surprised me a little bit, but a good surprise."
Ake has just gone past 50 appearances for City but it's been a stop-start career at the club until recently. There were just 13 appearances in his first season, played behind closed doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic and disrupted by injuries, then a further 27 last year as he began to settle in.
There was speculation about a move away from the club this summer, but the former Chelsea youngster felt he had unfinished business at City and so far he's gone about proving that.
Ake believes he has developed as a player on and off the ball under Guardiola, but admits there was a spell when he was trying too hard to make up for lost time.
"After all those injuries you try and overshow yourself, over perform, because things weren’t going well at the start, but with that you’re going to do stuff you don’t normally do and start to make mistakes, so you have games you don’t normally have," he said.
"I think last season, naturally, with games and with time, it already got better and I felt more confident on the pitch, I showed more of myself and what I’m normally about. This season it’s gone pretty good"
Erling Haaland has been at the heart of that success, making an astonishing start to his City career after a £51million move from Borussia Dortmund. Akanji has also hit the ground running at the Etihad, confounding a recent trend where new signings have taken time to assimilate to life under Guardiola.
Ake admits it took him some time to understand exactly what the Catalan wants, but it is becoming second nature now. The main frustration for the City boss this season has been the inability of his central defenders to play twice in a week, a situation that has led to plenty of rotation.
Ake hasn't started back-to-back games since August and is currently on a run of nine games where he has been swapped in and out of the team. That can unsettle some defenders, but the unique nature of City's control in games and the way they train makes it less of an issue.
"I think it matters less here, everyone knows each other very well, everyone plays with each other before, say one game you play with Dias, the next with Akanji, then with Laporte, it’s all quite similar," he said.
"Everyone knows what to do, in training we switch a lot of times, you play with everyone in training and in games everyone has played with everyone. It’s not like you play 20 games with someone and then you play another game with someone you’ve never played before. Everyone knows each other so it’s not too difficult."
Playing in the centre of defence for City under Guardiola can just as often be about starting attacks as stopping them, but that doesn't mean defending is an after thought at the CFA.
Ake reveals Guardiola "wasn't happy" after the concession of three goals in a winning cause in the Manchester derby and as much as he prizes quality on the ball in every player on the pitch, the first job for Ake and his colleagues is stop the ball going into their net.
"The manager always makes sure that we still know we are central defenders, of course we have to start attacks and stuff, but you have to defend the goal, still make sure you keep a clean sheet," he said.
"When you have situations when we are attacking and attacking and attacking we have to stay switched on, make sure the counter attacks are dealt with and stuff like that.
"He’s very hard on defenders, we do few a drills in training on defending. He’s not just attacking, attacking, he’s very good with defending as well."
Ake has emerged this season as one of the most reliable defenders Guardiola can call on.
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