82 | Rico Lewis - 2024/25

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I can’t believe Rico is getting blamed & nobody seems to be giving credit to Semedo for creating a goal every single one of us would be in awe of if it had been created by KDB

Infact, I’d suggest almost every man & his dog would be saying the ball was impossible to defend against

Bit sad all those who are bashing a 19 year old who’s probably 7-8 years away from being in his prime
 
Maly said:
I can’t believe Rico is getting blamed & nobody seems to be giving credit to Semedo for creating a goal every single one of us would be in awe of if it had been created by KDB

Infact, I’d suggest almost every man & his dog would be saying the ball was impossible to defend against

Bit sad all those who are bashing a 19 year old who’s probably 7-8 years away from being in his prime
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The ball is fantastic, arcing around the defenders. I don't know what Rico's starting position was. As a right back, with no other responsibilities then yes he should be looking to be ahead of the defender. But he's playing all over the pitch so probably had a lot of ground to make up. It's easy to criticise, but he probably thought he was fine to jog back because the ball was the other side of the pitch. A lesson learned for him. But I still think Dias could have possibly slid in or stuck a foot out to block it but equally you don't expect there to be much danger from someone swinging the ball in from that position - you think someone behind you will stop it!
 
supercity88 said:
The ball is fantastic, arcing around the defenders. I don't know what Rico's starting position was. As a right back, with no other responsibilities then yes he should be looking to be ahead of the defender. But he's playing all over the pitch so probably had a lot of ground to make up. It's easy to criticise, but he probably thought he was fine to jog back because the ball was the other side of the pitch. A lesson learned for him. But I still think Dias could have possibly slid in or stuck a foot out to block it but equally you don't expect there to be much danger from someone swinging the ball in from that position - you think someone behind you will stop it!
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Larsen is clearly Rico's responsibility. Larson is a bit to the left of Lewis and is the leftmost attacker. Larson is about 3 paces ahead of Lewis as the play develops; Lewis is the leftmost defender.



It appears that Lewis does not recognize the danger that Larsen poses - Larsen isn't at full sprint as the play develops and should Lewis have recognized the danger, he should have started a full out sprint to close the gap and cover- as Larsen is his man and is basically free.

Yes, maybe someone else might have come up with a play to stop the goal; and yes, the cross was fantastic; but the fact remains that the goal scorer was Lewis' man - and Lewis failed to get into position to stop him. Lewis is basically at 3/4 speed, watching the play develop ahead of him, inconceivably unaware of the danger.
 
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BlueMoonAcrossThePond said:
Larsen is clearly Rico's responsibility. Larson is a bit to the left of Lewis and is the leftmost attacker. Larson is about 3 paces ahead of Lewis as the play develops; Lewis is the leftmost defender.



It appears that Lewis does not recognize the danger that Larsen poses - Larsen isn't at full sprint as the play develops and should Lewis have recognized the danger, he should have started a full out sprint to close the gap and cover- as Larsen is his man and is basically free.

Yes, maybe someone else might have come up with a play to stop the goal, but the fact remains that the goal scorer was Lewis' man - and Lewis failed to get into position to stop him. Lewis is basically at 3/4 speed, watching the play develop ahead of him, inconceivably unaware of the danger.
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As I said, a lesson learned. He clearly thought there was no danger and had time to recover and was left watching the ball go in the back of the net. But first game of the season against Chelsea he tracked Neto's run to intercept the ball when he was certain to score so it's not a sign of an issue with him. Just one of those moments where he will realise he can't assume there's no danger and has to be in a position to intercept even if it takes one hell of a ball to create the chance.
 
supercity88 said:
As I said, a lesson learned. He clearly thought there was no danger and had time to recover and was left watching the ball go in the back of the net. But first game of the season against Chelsea he tracked Neto's run to intercept the ball when he was certain to score so it's not a sign of an issue with him. Just one of those moments where he will realise he can't assume there's no danger and has to be in a position to intercept even if it takes one hell of a ball to create the chance.
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Were this a one-off, sure. But it's not. Usually what happens is Lewis is 100% on his man on the wing, and then somehow, most of the time, the attacker makes a successful cross into the box.

For me, Lewis isn't cut out to be a defender.

And his offensive contribution - while not bad - isn't anything special. As I said - Lewis, at present, is a squad player, but due to his age, he might well develop into something more.
 
BlueMoonAcrossThePond said:
Were this a one-off, sure. But it's not. Usually what happens is Lewis is 100% on his man on the wing, and then somehow, most of the time, the attacker makes a successful cross into the box.

For me, Lewis isn't cut out to be a defender.

And his offensive contribution - while not bad - isn't anything special. As I said - Lewis, at present, is a squad player, but due to his age, he might well develop into something more.
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Sure Pep will appreciate your superior judgement

Thanks for calling
 
Gaz (FMwkdsoul) said:
Someone report this for hate speech, my twitter account has been locked while they investigate.. lol
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Tugay One Cup said:
Pretty sure I read that he's started more games for Pep than any other teenager at City, Bayern and Barca.

That's pretty impressive if true.
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This is true.

Its a huge show of faith in Rico's ability when you consider the players that Pep has managed, but hey, some people on here think he isn't good enough....
 
BlueMoonAcrossThePond said:
Were this a one-off, sure. But it's not. Usually what happens is Lewis is 100% on his man on the wing, and then somehow, most of the time, the attacker makes a successful cross into the box.

For me, Lewis isn't cut out to be a defender.

And his offensive contribution - while not bad - isn't anything special. As I said - Lewis, at present, is a squad player, but due to his age, he might well develop into something more.
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He's a month shy of 20, has shown nothing but full commitment in the majority of his performances and been used by Pep as a way of kicking other senior players up the arse when they've got complacent. Before this season I wasn't sure where he would end up positionally, but I've been impressed with his performances. We haven't lost with him in the side so far, so whatever lapses or mistakes he might make, he's yet to cost us. And whilst he can undoubtedly get better in the final third - most crucially in having the confidence and composure to shoot and score when the chance is there, he's an impressive talent and I don't think there's anything you would criticise him of that couldn't be aimed at just about every other player in the team.
 
BlueMoonAcrossThePond said:
Larsen is clearly Rico's responsibility. Larson is a bit to the left of Lewis and is the leftmost attacker. Larson is about 3 paces ahead of Lewis as the play develops; Lewis is the leftmost defender.



It appears that Lewis does not recognize the danger that Larsen poses - Larsen isn't at full sprint as the play develops and should Lewis have recognized the danger, he should have started a full out sprint to close the gap and cover- as Larsen is his man and is basically free.

Yes, maybe someone else might have come up with a play to stop the goal; and yes, the cross was fantastic; but the fact remains that the goal scorer was Lewis' man - and Lewis failed to get into position to stop him. Lewis is basically at 3/4 speed, watching the play develop ahead of him, inconceivably unaware of the danger.
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No. Lewis recognized the danger and began sprinting back into position as soon as the ball was passed to the right wing.

But watch from a play earlier. Lewis first stepped forward matched up with the LB who circled into the middle when the ball went to the CB, then the CB passed out to the DM on the middle, the LB then spreads wide to create a passing lane, and Lewis immediately drops back to see both the Mid and the LB.

DM then swings the ball to Semedo on the line, at this point, Larson starts jogging but kept his eye on Dias who was the last defender to stay in Line. Rico turns and starts sprinting, but Semedo places it early and perfectly in line of Larson's run. Rico would have had to either be 2 yards beyond the last man or exactly in Larson's hip pocket to have a chance.

It's just not a fair ask in my opinion. Tip of the hat to Wolves for a great attack in my view. I see no legitimate blame.

Could we have closed down quicker and forced a less accurate cross? Maybe. Could Rico have luckily gone 2 steps beyond Dias to intercept the pass? Maybe. Or be in Lardons hip pocket and able to tackle the ball away? Perhaps.


But in the end, the ball was just perfectly placed.
 
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