14 | Nico Gonzalez - 2025/26

January schedule is looking brutal. Hopefully Rodri can take up some of the 6 workload.

What Nico G has done so far this season is borderline miraculous for a new, young Pep 6 protege.

He’s not perfect by any stretch, but his consistency at what he can currently achieve is amazing and he’s improving all the time tactically.

He’s been overplayed, yet he’s still one of our most important and consistent performers.
 
He's not perfect by any stretch? Nico Gonzalez is absolute superb defensive midfielder, he play like Rodri's twin brother but is now tired like animal... Rodri and Mateo beeing injured is one of issues why is he overplayed, but playing a 70year old low and slow Bernie in midfield with him doesn't help much... We need another tall and fast midfielder.
 
MCFC ! said:
He's not perfect by any stretch? Nico Gonzalez is absolute superb defensive midfielder, he play like Rodri's twin brother but is now tired like animal... Rodri and Mateo beeing injured is one of issues why is he overplayed, but playing a 70year old low and slow Bernie in midfield with him doesn't help much... We need another tall and fast midfielder.
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Bernardo has been very good and has helped Nico, being slow hasn't mattered, his experience, positioning awareness, he isn't even that old 31.
 
MCFC ! said:
He's not perfect by any stretch? Nico Gonzalez is absolute superb defensive midfielder, he play like Rodri's twin brother but is now tired like animal... Rodri and Mateo beeing injured is one of issues why is he overplayed, but playing a 70year old low and slow Bernie in midfield with him doesn't help much... We need another tall and fast midfielder.
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Rodri's twin brother, who's not as good as hm
 
Nico Gonzalez has done very well indeed and has been so consistent. He is clearly a quick learner, very mature and playing at a standard beyond expectations. A very good steady player for us this season whose positioning has been spot on. He will, though, need a rest at some point.
 
alexmcity said:
20/21.

In 21/22 Rodri was undroppable.
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Yes that's right - thanks for correcting. Who can forget Rodri's equalizer on the final day. But 20/21 was his second season and he faded badly as the season went on. So the claim that he was a world beater after his first season is indeed revisionist history
 
lasereyes said:
But 20/21 was his second season and he faded badly as the season went on.
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Rodri was excellent in 20/21 for most of the season and key to the run of 21 consecutive wins. He was overplayed and lost form in the final 4-5 weeks.

In 20/21, Rodri completed about 75 passes per game vs 55 passes per game for Gonzalez this (25/26) season.

Generally, some were a bit slow to get how good Rodri was and wanted another DM after the CL final in Porto.

Gonzalez is pretty good. Future is bright.
 
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I don't know about dates etc but Rodri was being called shite on this forum for a number of seasons by fans who know fuck all. The same sorts of fans that wanted Kevin dropped, and sold! after his first seasons.

Gonzalez will take time to show if he's good enough. But the key thing is that he isn't showing he is shit.
 
I know Rodri is a different class to everyone else but it was so clearly night and day and good to see.

Rodri actually wants the ball deep in his own half, Gonzalez has gotten far too comfortable being marked and shirking that responsibility
 
Looked like a dead leg to me, hopefully thats the case, we can't lose him. Unfair to compare really but I think Rodri's performance did highlight how much improving Nico still has to do on the ball. I think it will come though, he's stepped up considerably and at a quicker rate than Rodri himself. I actually think he was better than Rodri defensively too.
 
The main difference between Nico and Rodri is their distribution.

Nico sometimes just delays his pass compared to Rodri, which makes all the difference when attacking.

Nico has improved tremendously this season but you could see the difference/improvement when Rodri appeared.

It would be good to see them both on the pitch at the same time.
 
If ever people thought Nico was as good as Rodri I think yesterday showed the major difference. He's been excellent for us and has helped us pick up form and find that winning formula again, but he was taking so many touches in that first half and just couldn't find a way of impacting the game. He's played a lot of football so was possibly just fatigued, but Rodri came on and instantly was finding those passes through the lines or spreading the ball wide to stretch Sunderland. It was a clear contrast and illustration of the further work Nico has to put in to get to that level - not a criticism, we're talking about the best DM in the world as a comparison.
 
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