14 | Nico Gonzalez - 2025/26

I remember saying something similar about Gundogan and Rodri, but a player's job is to prove doubters wrong over and over and over again. Fair few in this squad now doing that.
 
He’s much more willing to play forward passes now, not as passive as before. You can really see he’s taken a step up over the past month.

Yeah I think there's facets his game we're not even seeing yet, or just beginning to as his confidence is growing. 2 months ago he was so so conservative and just trying to get the basics right, but he's started playing some of those Xabi Alonso pinged passes out to the wings, he's started playing quick 1-2's etc.

At Porto he used to make late runs into the box and scored a few nice headers, I think that could come next especially if he's partnered with Rodri and has more license to get forward. If he starts threading through balls for Haaland or chipping it over the backline for him to run on to, our attacking game is going to go up another few levels.
 
October 29th: 97 minutes against Swansea
November 2nd: 96 minutes against Bournemouth
November 5th: 95 minutes against Dortmund
November 9th: 93 minutes against Liverpool

He played four matches in 12 days. I was worried he'd be exhausted and worn out, but he was once again very, very strong. Well done to him! The international break will allow him to rest and recover a bit.
The other thing to note here is the one game he didn’t start (vs Villa) is the only one we lost!
 
Quality player. Absolute quality. Even if Rodri gets back to his best (no guarantee), it'll be no forgone conclusion who starts.

I'd love to see Pep try both.
 
He has a bit of that ability that Dave Silva had when confronted/surrounded by 2 or 3 players.
A little shimmy/movement and he has lost them and puts himself in space to make the pass.
I was always hopeful that Nunes would turn it around as he has all the tools.
Gonzo has all the tools too.
Let’s face it, Pep and his team seem to know what they are doing.
 
He’s on the Rodri trajectory is our Nico. And at an advanced pace. Only 23 still too.

I’ve honestly never had a problem with him or doubted him unlike some. When he came I personally thought he looked a little light weight, naive to the position and slow but even in the shit show of last year thought we looked better when he played second half of the season. He had all the attributes for Pep to mould into something special unlike some of the other midfielders we’d signed to fill that spot.

He’s kicked on big time this last few months though, more than I expected tbh to the point Rodri isn’t a shoe in to start anymore for me. And that’s a serious bloody compliment to him.

Consistency and steady improvement now is the key, which can be said for a few in this team currently
 
He’s on the Rodri trajectory is our Nico. And at an advanced pace. Only 23 still too.

I’ve honestly never had a problem with him or doubted him unlike some. When he came I personally thought he looked a little light weight, naive to the position and slow but even in the shit show of last year thought we looked better when he played second half of the season. He had all the attributes for Pep to mould into something special unlike some of the other midfielders we’d signed to fill that spot.

He’s kicked on big time this last few months though, more than I expected tbh to the point Rodri isn’t a shoe in to start anymore for me. And that’s a serious bloody compliment to him.

Consistency and steady improvement now is the key, which can be said for a few in this team currently
He is a very intelligent player.
With his age and willingness to learn, we could have another gem.
 
Looks clear that Elliot Anderson is the next $75-100M British midfielder, given his stats and progress with England, so the question is whether we get him asap and pair him with Nico, letting Rodri go IF he doesn’t sign that new deal…OR WHAT??

I wouldn’t want to lose Rodri for nothing and then have to shell out $75-100M on a replacement and him not be a proven CL/PL player!
 
Good to see Gonzalez standing out, but I disagree with your conclusion. The graph shows he's doing the same job (slightly less well) - I think ideally you want partners in midfield that compliment each other not replicate each other.

But then you have to factor in how good the team is. For Anderson to be playing like that in this season's Forest team is excellent.
 

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