82 | Rico Lewis - 2025/26

chris85mcfc said:
Love the way some on here use the 'Pep sees something in him, and he's a better judge' etc

And yet those same people are saying he should be playing in midfield rather than right back, despite Pep playing him at right back for the majority of games that he's featured in

You can't have your cake and eat it with Rico; he's either a right back or a midfielder, and if you think he's a midfielder, then you disagree with Pep, who you seem to want to use, to back up the amount of minutes he gets
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Never criticise the leader.

If you really think about it it's like slavish cultism.
 
Last year at his worse he was complacent. I hope that today shows tgat he can't be. He was way to relaxed today imo.

That he is in ahead of Nunes at RB is beyond me.

No problem with him in midfield but he is not a rb.

But he was only one of a few today that looked half assed.

Pep has to motivate them better.
 
thegoatsthegoat said:
Garbage, positionally he’s all over the shop. Towards the end he dived in and allowed spurs a chance to score, then in the space of a minute managed to mess up a city attack. He is shite and one of a few players who aren’t anywhere near good enough
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He has next to zero ability defensively as a right back. But he's not choosing himself. I place the blame at the person who keeps putting him there.
 
Whenever there is a team meltdown, Rico is always the main ingredient in it. Rico can be a good member too when the team wins comfortably. But he is very panic prone. This is the problems of youngster academy overhyped. Praised with no due contribution. The difference is, Rico is probably the only academy that was placed in a position that is a a dirty job and attracts blames easily. For that reason, I give him some credit. A good England right back is usually the team captain material.
 
When he plays as a fullback all he wants to do is go into the midfield and when he’s caught out which is most games he’s not fast enough or strong enough to stop a attack
 
Haaland94 said:
Has no work ethic, jogging back and leaving us exposed every single time. I knew he wouldn't catch Johnson and that it would end in a goal before they even crossed the ball. Players go past him like he is not even there. The academy fetish needs to end, he wouldn't start for any PL team. Can't wait for the usual posters to praise him after we crush Burnley at home. I would look good in a game like that as well. It matters how you look when the opposition is solid. Pep's blind spot.
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Good. Looking forward to your post on selling Reijnders then. Coz his looked ahit every time we've lost.
 
HelloCity said:
We need some positivity.

Can @alexmcity give me some stats about him actually being better than Roberto Carlos or something?
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AI analysed the data for Rico's starts in the PL.

The hardly surprising result: we are much better *without* Lewis in the starting XI.

With Lewis starting in the PL (since 2022): 59% wins, 1.95 ppg.

Without Lewis: 79% wins, 2.45 ppg.

While there are other factors like rotation and Rico featuring in weakened starting line-ups, the difference with him and without him is dramatic.
 
I've always said the lad's got skills. At Molineux, his pass to Haaland was technically difficult, and perfect. It took out the whole defence. I'm not sure that Kyle Walker could have done that. I have also always believed that, in that position, he can put in a decent shift against a slowish side. Everybody was waxing lyrical about his performance against Wolves.
But the hard fact is this: against a quick side, that presses, he is had on toast. And against the really elite pressing sides, like Real, he is definitely not up to it. Furthermore, coaches aren't stupid. They see that. And they target him.
 
When it comes to assessing fullbacks, I analyze them in the following manner.

1- Physical profile. This includes their pace, strength, and size. Pace is important because opposition wingers are often the fastest players on the pitch. Also if your FB has pace they can cover ground better meaning they can hold width giving you more attacking options. If they don’t have pace, they’re limited to inverting into midfield or dropping into a back 3 in possession.

Rico doesn’t have the pace needed to defend against the fastest wingers and he doesn’t have the pace to hold width.

So if you don’t have the pace, well do you have the strength to hold off your wingers? Will you get bullied by the likes of Semenyo and Leao or will you hold your own? I think we know the answer here.

So he doesn’t have pace nor does he have the strength, does he have the size? Nope. He’s like 5’5. You can’t rely on him to defend headers in the back post at all. That being said, tbh you don’t need to be tall to be a great fullback. Lahm, Alves, and Carlos were all short. However, they compensated with their pace, attacking/technical profile or defensive profile.

2- So we know Rico doesn’t have the physical profile. Let’s assess his attacking/technical profile.

Rico is good technically. He’s agile and he can control the ball well. Low centre of gravity means good press resistance. He has good fundamentals. However, he’s a jack of all trades who’s a master at nothing. I don’t see anything he does on the ball and think wow he’s elite at this one specific thing.

His passing range is poor. He doesn’t have a through ball in him. So you can’t compare him to Trent. He’s not a great dribbler so you can’t compare him to Ait Nouri.

3- Then if you look at his defensive profile, it’s like he’s already at a disadvantage due to his physical profile. But how are his defensive fundamentals? I actually think they’re okay. I don’t think they’re bad per se. I just think he tends to occupy really high spaces that his lack of physicality stands out more when running back. There’s a reason Nico O’Reilly who never played LB looked good there because he could compensate for his lack of defensive awareness with his elite physicality which Rico can’t.

So why does Pep persist on playing him? Well it’s because Rico’s movement is exceptional. That’s literally his only world class trait. The way he drops and opens spaces for others is very good. There’s a reason when City attacks that he often finds himself in positions you wish the attackers would be in. He’s ridiculously clever. It would be like if Thomas Muller played RB.

But then that begs the question.

Can a RB who is physically limited (small, slow, weak), technically good (not great) with okay defensive fundamentals (let’s say 6/10) scale up and become the starting RB for one of the best teams in the world?

My answer is no.
 
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JewelZee said:
He has next to zero ability defensively as a right back. But he's not choosing himself. I place the blame at the person who keeps putting him there.
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Oh absolutely, we can comment on his performances which are shite and then ask why he is being picked in the first place. A player we was considering selling had started both games, a bit like why bring a kid on to make his debut in a cup final then fuck him off at the first chance you get. More people are waking up to Peps nonsense now but I genuinely think he is losing the plot
 
Still, not good enough to be starting every game. He was good against Wolves, but Spurs was a proper test in which he came up short. Not sharp enough in defence and bullied off the ball too easily.
 
Junto said:
When it comes to assessing fullbacks, I analyze them in the following manner.

1- Physical profile. This includes their pace, strength, and size. Pace is important because opposition wingers are often the fastest players on the pitch. Also if your FB has pace they can cover ground better meaning they can hold width giving you more attacking options. If they don’t have pace, they’re limited to inverting into midfield or dropping into a back 3 in possession.

Rico doesn’t have the pace needed to defend against the fastest wingers and he doesn’t have the pace to hold width.

So if you don’t have the pace, well do you have the strength to hold off your wingers? Will you get bullied by the likes of Semenyo and Leao or will you hold your own? I think we know the answer here.

So he doesn’t have pace nor does he have the strength, does he have the size? Nope. He’s like 5’5. You can’t rely on him to defend headers in the back post at all. That being said, tbh you don’t need to be tall to be a great fullback. Lahm, Alves, and Carlos were all short. However, they compensated with their pace, attacking/technical profile or defensive profile.

2- So we know Rico doesn’t have the physical profile. Let’s assess his attacking/technical profile.

Rico is good technically. He’s agile and he can control the ball well. Low centre of gravity means good press resistance. He has good fundamentals. However, he’s a jack of all trades who’s a master at nothing. I don’t see anything he does on the ball and think wow he’s elite at this one specific thing.

His passing range is poor. He doesn’t have a through ball in him. So you can’t compare him to Trent. He’s not a great dribbler so you can’t compare him to Ait Nouri.

3- Then if you look at his defensive profile, it’s like he’s already at a disadvantage due to his physical profile. But how are his defensive fundamentals? I actually think they’re okay. I don’t think they’re bad per se. I just think he tends to occupy really high spaces that his lack of physicality stands out more when running back. There’s a reason Nico O’Reilly who never played LB looked good there because he could compensate for his lack of defensive awareness with his elite physicality which Rico can’t.

So why does Pep persist on playing him? Well it’s because Rico’s movement is exceptional. That’s literally his only world class trait. The way he drops and opens spaces for others is very good. There’s a reason when City attacks that he often finds himself in positions you wish the attackers would be in. He’s ridiculously clever. It would be like if Thomas Muller played RB.

But then that begs the question.

Can a RB who is physically limited (small, slow, weak), technically good (not great) with okay defensive fundamentals (let’s say 6/10) scale up and become the starting RB for one of the best teams in the world?

My answer is no.
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Top post. Very fair. You've come to your conclusion, and you've every right to it, because you've argued it point by point.
I'd be a tad less absolute than you. Squad player? Back-up in two, maybe even three positions? Yes, I think he's just about good enough. (And he may get better in terms of tactical awareness and who's where on the pitch — still pretty young). Physically, he still gets bullied, especially on anything in the air. For obvious reasons, that's not going to change. Not a starting player, if we've got our full line-up and everyone's fit. In short, a potentially useful squad utility player.
Incidentally, I've said this before — since John and Rúben are apparently going nowhere (and Nate Aké does not appear to be, although there's one more week before the window closes), and Gvardiol is a top central defender, and it would be utterly wasteful to keep him as back-up to Ait Nouri, he is far beyond that), I'd like see what Khusa can do over on that right side. He's quick, and he's got a proper bullying tackle on him. Positional awareness is something that can be improved, I believe.
 
Needs to be given a simple role in the team and told to do it effectively. He's 20 years old tiny and slow as shit he can't seamlessly flit between 3 positions on the pitch and cover 80 yards in transitions.

Rico is effectively being asked to overlap and provide width for the inverted winger Oscar Bobb, slot into cdm to help the lone Nico Gonzalez as he's stuck in midfield with 5 attackers, then also somehow run round the back to cut off counters against our glacial back 4 this daft **** sits on the halfway line every week.

It's all on Pep, he's killing a good young player, 'best right back in premier league history' Walker managed to look even worse in the role. It doesn't suit either of them.

If he's going to persist with it he has to play Nunes as he has the combination of footballing ability and physical attributes to give it a good shot and even he is very far from perfect.
 
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