Rodri - 2019/20 Performances

[ChicagoBlue]

I thought first half last night he was poor. Not often that Eddie has to resort to going long every single time. Rodri provided no outlet for the defence, when he had the ball it went back or sideways and 50% of the time put the recipient und3r pressure. He got a couple of bollockings for that one from Kev, one from Fern. He has had some very good games for us this season and some not so good. I thought last night was his worse which is not what you want to see in biggest game of the s3ason so far. I will as you suggest, watch it agin though.

They were up his arse in the middle of the field the entire game, and if you think Eddie was hoofing it because of Rodri, well?!

 

[Saddleworth2]

We’ll have to agree to disagree about the overall quality of his performance last night.

But, ironically given @OrigamiNinja response to my post, I was referring to the “all or nothing” analyses being posted on this and the match thread after our historic win last night. After my post there have been a few much more nuanced, sensible assessments, which is heartening, though.

By the way, anyone using the sequence leading to Real’s goal as a baton to beat Rodri with is... well, I could use stronger words but I will just say they are simply wrong to do so.

Simply used it as an example of several instances where he put the intended recipient under pressure. I will be watching the game again today so will see if I am being harsh.

 

[Saddleworth2]

They were up his arse in the middle of the field the entire game, and if you think Eddie was hoofing it because of Rodri, well?!

Not only but he was certainly a significant factor. Real pressed us high. Surely our pivot needs to be able to deal with that effectively? I don’t think he did last night. Let’s flip this. Why do you think he had an effective game? What did he do well? I could answer that question for every other player. I would struggle with Rodri.

 

[dannyboy29]

He's not brave enough for me yet in possession. The number of times we break the first press then instead of being on the half-turn and moving us forward he will just pass back into the first line. He will look fantastic against teams that sit back and give him all the time in the world to play but against the top teams, he will need to be better under pressure and take more responsibility with progressing the attack.

 

[FCBarca]

Even the error was as much Ota’s fault as his. And then Walker had a chance to knock it out.

Defenders in that area of the pitch can be given some latitude for an error like that but not a pivot like Rodri - it was unwise the decisions he made in that sequence & I am sure Pep lectured him about it. Like I said, margins are small & you can be brutally punished for switching off just slightly like that

And I say this acknowledging I would have loved it if he were playing instead for Barca

 

[OrigamiNinja]

We’ll have to agree to disagree about the overall quality of his performance last night.

But, ironically given @OrigamiNinja response to my post, I was referring to the “all or nothing” analyses being posted on this and the match thread after our historic win last night. After my post there have been a few much more nuanced, sensible assessments, which is heartening, though.

By the way, anyone using the sequence leading to Real’s goal as a baton to beat Rodri with is... well, I could use stronger words but I will just say they are simply wrong to do so.

Is there anything more "all or nothing" than suggesting that because we got a fantastic victory, all of the team must have been really good?

We have all had the pleasure of watching the best CDM in the world, week in, week out over the past 2 seasons. If any set of fans should know what a top class CDM performance looks like, its us. With that in mind, I don't know how anyone can suggest Rodri was anything but terrible last night. It doesn't mean he is a bad player, it doesn't mean he won't go on to be world class for us in the future but last night he was awful and a wonderful victory for the team doesn't change that.

 

[SebastianBlue]

Is there anything more "all or nothing" than suggesting that because we got a fantastic victory, all of the team must have been really good?

Where did I suggest that?

 

[ws01]

He's not brave enough for me yet in possession. The number of times we break the first press then instead of being on the half-turn and moving us forward he will just pass back into the first line. He will look fantastic against teams that sit back and give him all the time in the world to play but against the top teams, he will need to be better under pressure and take more responsibility with progressing the attack.

In his defence the ability to play consistently on the half-turn is such a difficult skill to master, despite how often we talk about it. It's something Gundogan also struggles with and his experience far outweighs Rodri's.

We've been spoilt for years watching Dinho do it effortlessly without IMO appreciating just how difficult it is to think that quick, take the risk knowing that a slight mistake could gift the opposition a chance to go in on goal, and then make the right pass.

 

[OrigamiNinja]

Defenders in that area of the pitch can be given some latitude for an error like that but not a pivot like Rodri - it was unwise the decisions he made in that sequence & I am sure Pep lectured him about it. Like I said, margins are small & you can be brutally punished for switching off just slightly like that

And I say this acknowledging I would have loved it if he were playing instead for Barca

Rodri was lauded on here last week for making 178/188 passes against West Ham. Some didn't like it when I pointed out that of the 10 incomplete passes, he gave the opposition at least 4 counter attacking opportunities and I suggested that against a better side we would get punished. It happened last night. As you say, in his position the margins are small, and he needs to wise up.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

Defenders in that area of the pitch can be given some latitude for an error like that but not a pivot like Rodri - it was unwise the decisions he made in that sequence & I am sure Pep lectured him about it. Like I said, margins are small & you can be brutally punished for switching off just slightly like that

And I say this acknowledging I would have loved it if he were playing instead for Barca

Ota pinged the ball back to him when he had 3 players closing him down. His first touch (right foot) brought the ball under some control, but Benzema was closing him down from the front, so it was a quick left footed square ball (with his back to Modric, who was closing him down from behind) that did him. Ota gave him nowhere to go. He couldn’t turn right (Modric) or left (Vinicius) and didn’t have a route back to Ederson or Fernandinho (the usual “get out of jail” pass) because of Benzema.

The entire sequence was caused by Ota, whose first touch was particularly poor, second touch barely got the ball under control, and was then rushed into making the pass back to Rodri by Benzema closing him down so quickly.

I literally just watched the entire move again in slow motion to make sure I didn’t remember it wrong.