16 | Rodri - 2021/22 Performances

[01282]

I’d love to have access to his scouting reports to see what they thought it strengths were. I guess the main problem is we’ve been spoilt since 2013 with one of City’s finest ever players playing in that position. Cumbersome is a great word to sum him up as one of the previous posters said.

 

[SanPellegrini]

i would back moving Laporte into that position if he stays and giving him a chance there. At least he’d offer defensive strength.

I don’t know if it’s Rodri (the player) or the role Pep’s asking him to play in the side. He clearly isn’t being asked to play the same role as Fern (because that doesn’t suit his attributes). But I honestly think if you put him in that role at, say, Blackburn Rovers, he wouldn’t fundamentally alter their success.

Maybe he’s not supposed to and it’s all part of the system, but I was fine with the system we had with Fern. We tried this before with Fernando, Javi Garcia and a few others and it never stuck. It’s an position continental managers seem to instinctively like: Pellegrini tried it, Pep did, Arteta seems to like it, and it might work in Spain but don’t think it suits the English game tbh

 

[kunaguero10]

I can’t stand him personally

We could do so much better in his position

 

[SanPellegrini]

Also I don’t think the arguments that we won titles with Rodri in that role hold much water

Javi Garcia player 29 times in the league when we won the premier league 2013/14. Surely that means he’s fantastic?

 

[ctwrd]

He’s still not the answer to the question of who replaces Fernandinho.
He was more athletic when he came on but again all too often his pass at the end of it is misplaced

 

[Tricky_Trev]

I like him, but the total lack of awareness to spot Fernandinho free, to then play a stupid backwards pass to Ake is concerning. He even had Ake and Dias pointing to Fernandinho but he still passes it back. Shocking really.

 

[B\connellblue]

I’d love to have access to his scouting reports to see what they thought it strengths were. I guess the main problem is we’ve been spoilt since 2013 with one of City’s finest ever players playing in that position. Cumbersome is a great word to sum him up as one of the previous posters said.

Guardiola on new signing: "He is a young, typically defensive midfielder who thinks very quickly. I hope he is here for a long time. Rodrigo is tall, which for a short side like ours is very good. He is great at set-pieces but we didn't buy him for that
Rodri is a fast,technically accomplished holding midfielder who is as good on the ball as he is at winning it back for his side."


Clearly Pep hardly set eyes on him before he rocked up. He obviously gives Txiki a shopping list and trusts him to source what he feels the team needs. I think it's fair to say Txiki has a blind spot when it comes to signing players from the Iberian peninsula.

 

[OB1]

I always why some posters think so little of Pep, after all this time.

I think we know why and it won't change. He could do the quad and I don't think it would change; especially if he did it in a season where he lost both league games to the Rags.

If I still lived in the North West, I like to think I would largely avoid this site and Twitter.

 

[OB1]

Also I don’t think the arguments that we won titles with Rodri in that role hold much water

Javi Garcia player 29 times in the league when we won the premier league 2013/14. Surely that means he’s fantastic?

Javi Garcia kept Fern out of the side in the run-in to winning the title if IIRC.

Garcia was a fine example of how blinkered some people are when it comes to football. Javi was a different kind of DM to Fern, or that Fern: he couldn't hare about the park so his game was based on marking space.

 

[Phil Mitchell Foden]

I think we know why and it won't change. He could do the quad and I don't think it would change; especially if he did it in a season where he lost both league games to the Rags.

If I still lived in the North West, I like to think I would largely avoid this site and Twitter.

What absolute gibberish are you coming out with here?

If you don't rate Rodri, that means you don't rate Pep? You think that was a valid argument, and now you're implying some kind of bigotry into the equation??

 

[mccity]

Javi Garcia kept Fern out of the side in the run-in to winning the title if IIRC.

Garcia was a fine example of how blinkered some people are when it comes to football. Javi was a different kind of DM to Fern, or that Fern: he couldn't hare about the park so his game was based on marking space.

On a similar note, remember during the Mancini days how nobody rated Barry and everybody loved De Jong?

People don't like to admit it, but people generally prefer highlight reel players. And in this case, the crash-bang midfielder who occasionally plays a great ball over the top is better than the simple (but also complex) DM metronome.

You know what's telling? I've been asking what Pep might argue Rodri's strengths are, and not a single one of his detractors is even remotely interested in what I may have to say. They don't want to know.

 

[Pedestrian]

I think we know why and it won't change. He could do the quad and I don't think it would change; especially if he did it in a season where he lost both league games to the Rags.

If I still lived in the North West, I like to think I would largely avoid this site and Twitter.

Why does it matter where you are based? Genuine question.

 

[Pedestrian]

On a similar note, remember during the Mancini days how nobody rated Barry and everybody loved De Jong?

No

 

[mccity]

No

You can pretend it didn't happen, but this forum was in universal agreement that De Jong was better than Barry. We even had a poster at the time who would argue in every thread that Barry was being underrated.

Why does it matter where you are based? Genuine question.

He's saying that if he was in the north west he'd have easier means of discussing City (presumably with local friends) so he wouldn't need to use the internet to have those conversations.

 

[Pedestrian]

You can pretend it didn't happen, but this forum was in universal agreement that De Jong was better than Barry. We even had a poster at the time who would argue in every thread that Barry was being underrated.



He's saying that if he was in the north west he'd have easier means of discussing City (presumably with local friends) so he wouldn't need to use the internet to have those conversations.

I think the majority of city fans truly appreciated Barry and his game. Nige was a much more ‘entertaining’ player imo but two completely different footballers who both served the club well.
Also thanks for the response to the question. Seems a bit odd though. If you don’t like bluemoon then move on. I think blue watch was his preferred area of debate at one point if I recall correctly. Whatever happened to that.

 

[mccity]

I think the majority of city fans truly appreciated Barry and his game. Nige was a much more ‘entertaining’ player imo but two completely different footballers who both served the club well.
Also thanks for the response to the question. Seems a bit odd though. If you don’t like bluemoon then move on. I think blue watch was his preferred area of debate at one point if I recall correctly. Whatever happened to that.

The thing with Barry is, it was never he wasn't great. It was just people definitely had a preference for De Jong, and as such Barry's talents went ignored. Since De Jong left, that feeling hasn't been there and it's been easy in retrospect to acknowledge the talent.

I understand we'll likely disagree, but I feel that's how it is with Rodri. Fernandinho has been a superstar and a half for City, especially at our height of glory between 2017-2019. I think a lot of people assume that the way Fernandinho plays is the one and only successfsul way to go and as such hold Rodri against those aspects, and ignore the things he actually does really well, such as being a league leader in progressive passes, pass completion, passes completed under pressure, and the ability to receive passes from defence with his back to play. They're just a few reasons why Pep loves him and why he's going to continue to get picked and is likely going to be remain a big part of our successes.

I really believe that when Rodri goes, unless his end spell here is disastrous, will be looked back at far more fondly than he is now. Just like Barry.

Even if you don't like him, you can't in good faith ignore the things the team has achieved with him in the team since he arrived. He's played just as large a role as many others in our latest triumphs.

He's not long turned 25 too, which is still a relatively young age for a position which requires as much intelligence as it does. As brilliant as Fernandinho has been, I don't think it's farfetched for me to say that the 25 year old version of him from 2010 wouldn't have been as good, nor the 2008 version if we're comparing them at 23 (age of Rodri when he showed up).

To be clear, I'm not saying Rodri is anywhere perfect. Nor am I saying he'll go on to be better than Fernandinho was. But I am saying I think he's far better than he gets credit for and comparing him harshly to Fernandinho at this stage of his career is equally a little bit unfair.

 

[FantasyIreland]

A very good player who has already contributed superbly to our success.However he is not without his weaknesses and faults,namely speed,agility and recovery......and,unfortunately,i believe those are permanently restrictive in terms of his further development.
It speaks volumes that he wasnt picked/trusted in the biggest game of my 48 years and that Pep also still favours a 36yr old as the legs and cement in our side.

He is a cracking squad player,but he wasn't bought for that reason.We needed a first choice rock in the middle of the park,and unfortunately he doesn't quite live up to that billing.

Its still a problem position for us.

 

[worsleyweb]

A very good player who has already contributed superbly to our success.However he is not without his weaknesses and faults,namely speed,agility and recovery......and,unfortunately,i believe those are permanently restrictive in terms of his further development.
It speaks volumes that he wasnt picked/trusted in the biggest game of my 48 years and that Pep also still favours a 36yr old as the legs and cement in our side.

He is a cracking squad player,but he wasn't bought for that reason.We needed a first choice rock in the middle of the park,and unfortunately he doesn't quite live up to that billing.

Its still a problem position for us.

that’s it nailed.

 

[eastmanc]

Rodri looks so cumbersome as a DM as he badly lacks pace and mobility. it makes me wonder whether he'd be better being turned into a CB. He could become a revelation there because he won't do as as a DM in this league.

When he played at centre half a couple of seasons back I thought he did very well indeed.

 

[eastmanc]

A very good player who has already contributed superbly to our success.However he is not without his weaknesses and faults,namely speed,agility and recovery......and,unfortunately,i believe those are permanently restrictive in terms of his further development.
It speaks volumes that he wasnt picked/trusted in the biggest game of my 48 years and that Pep also still favours a 36yr old as the legs and cement in our side.

He is a cracking squad player,but he wasn't bought for that reason.We needed a first choice rock in the middle of the park,and unfortunately he doesn't quite live up to that billing.

Its still a problem position for us.

It was a shame that Pep didn’t trust Fern in the Champs League final.