Not a chance Rico is as good as Milner. And I don’t think he’s as good as Zinchenko was for us
82 | Rico Lewis - 2025/26
- Thread starter BlueDejong
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He's 21. Let's judge him at the end of his contract in a performing side. Judgements now are based on frustration, IMO.
In comparison with other players I'd tend to agree. However, posters are well entitled to base opinions on him in isolation with what they've seen up until now. He's had some real iffy performances.
I wish I knew what it was about Rico Lewis that makes people write such absolute, objectively untrue, shite.
We've lifted 7 trophies with Lewis in the squad. We've won a treble with Rico playing 25 games. He's started in wins against Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Newcaslte, United, Spurs.
He's a squad player, maybe that's all he'll ever be, but stop fucking losing your head and writing things you know - and history proves - is total bollocks.
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Doesn’t everyone look better in a side that’s performing? He doesn’t get into our team when everyone is fit and performing. When he doesn’t play irrespective of age he’s poor.
Phillips has a decent trophy cabinet
I could obviously write back about how Rico played a bigger role in winning those trophies than Phillips could dream of, but I don't need to, because what I replied to was that you can't win titles with Rico Lewis in the squad.
And you can, because we have. End of. To say otherwise is simply false.
Maybe there’s an argument we’ve won those in spite of him being in the squad? We got hundred points with Delph at left back after all and it wasn’t because of him.
I replied to a post saying you can't win titles with him in the squad, something everyone reading that post and it's author knows to be false because we've done it 7 times and he played 50 odd games across those 2 seasons.
The point was that people are scapegoating him to the point where they're writing complete lies to justify their hatred of him, not to get in an argument where you lot continually move the goalposts to justify slagging him off again.
Similarly if you wrote "You can't get 100 points with Fabian Delph playing LB" I'd have pointed out that, actually, you can and we did.
You obviously can with trophies with him being in the squad but the post said “with the calibre of him being in the squad”, not worded very well but think it was more of a general comment about his lack of ability.
Of course we’ve won stuff with him in the squad but we’ve won that stuff with him mostly being sat on the bench.
So you agree we can win trophies with players the calibre of Rico Lewis in the squad and saying otherwise is bollocks.
Great, thanks for agreeing.
"He's a squad player and maybe that's all he'll ever be".
Already covered that. Turns out, you actually do need players to sit on the bench, you can't win a treble with 11 players. You need some players who'll play 25 games a season. You need some that will stick their hand up to play any position the team needs, even if it's not natural to them.
merz
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nah its based on the 3 or 4 years he spent with us in the first team. you made the comparision to milner and zinchenko which is ridiculous btw and then you backtracked saying no lets wait until our side is performing again? that means rico wont be playing or what is it you are missing exactly?
lets be real, most who seen him play for us the past years dont even think he can make it in the pl let alone with us.
It’s all well and good having players happy to play a reduced role and deputise for someone else, but Lewis isn’t good enough to come in and do a job in my opinion. He’s such a drop off that it seriously affects us.
When I’m at the game I get behind him and I want him to do well but I’m very much entitled to say we should have sold him to Forest when/if we had the chance as he’s too far below our level.
If you disagree, that’s fine, but it’s my honest assessment. I sigh whenever he’s picked.
HypnoticBlue
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Mendy won 8 trophies and World Cup, so means nowt really does it.
Lewis is a weak player who does nothing for our squad, it is what it is so move him on.
Again, you've not even read my post or the one I replied to.
The point is people are scapegoating him to the point where they'll actually write complete lies they know to be untrue.
Every single City fan knows we can win trophies with Rico as a squad player playing 1/3 of the games because they watched us do it. So to sit down and write something you know is bollocks shows how stupid the debate around him has gotten.
I personally don't actually give a shit what Bluemoon thinks of a player because half a dozen of the treble squad plus the manager would have been kicked out if Bluemoon got its way. It's a lot of the same names posting too.
supercity88
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I think it's actually more a case of you can't win trophies without players like Rico in the squad. He loves the club, will give his all and won't kick off if he lacks game time. That was the mentality Zin also had. He wanted to fight to stay at City even when we were willing to sell.
Rico hasn't improved as much as any of us would have liked. But he is also not doing a Cancelo and throwing a wobbler when he doesn't play.
I'm still not sure what he currently brings to the side. He isn't good enough as a RB against most sides, but I also don't feel he is that effective in the middle of the park. Hard to find a rhythm when you are in and out the side and in different positions though.
Focusing on Rico is the wrong thing to do. We didn't win the last few games because the senior players and match winners didn't perform.
That's cool. He's not going anywhere any time soon, 5 years on his contract and the manager loves him.
I bet you said Rodri was shit and would never be good enough too once upon a time, and that was just your honest assessment too. Like I said in a comment above, the forum as a whole has proven one thing over the last 5 years, and that's we've got very little ability to assess football players, so I don't pay attention.
But when people start writing things they know to be completely false about a player, I think it's interesting to ask why.
I'll be really clear in the hope that you understand.
Rico is 21 years of age. In 2022/2023, there was a clamour on here for him to be in the team because his performances were so superior to Kyle Walker's, especially in the offensive areas. He was an important member of a treble winning side. He made 27 appearances, including 14 in the Premier League. This was also true in 23/24 though he made 16 PL appearances. Last season, he played 44 games because we were injury ravaged, and 28 PL starts.
In that time period, we have won the Premier League and the Champions' League, and other honours.
He has played wherever asked, and has regularly performed well.
Like all young players, he can improve, mainly in his physicality - at 21, so can most players.
He is very astute at finding space, is a crisp passer and has a good first touch.
He can be bullied off the ball and can lose his man defensively if he is asked to invert into midfield.
There is no backtracking from me - I believe that he is a valuable squad player and I have been consistent in that view since he first emerged. I also think he has great potential and has shown that. I believe that players benefit from the support of fans but we can equally be balanced in our views and speak of strengths as well as areas for development. Comparisons with the players mentioned, and I could have used others like Delph, show that a functioning whole is not always reliant on 22 superstars. In fact, that is often detrimental to success because of players refusing to be dropped for the benefit of the squad.
Judging players in a performing team is a reasonable suggestion.
We could easily now be ripping apart Haaland and Foden for poor performances. Last year, in our bad run, any number of players were being ripped apart on here, yet the whole team was not performing, and it could be argued that we lacked pragmatism during a period of multiple injuries, quite similar to what is happening now, which creates massive pressure on defenders and can make them look silly.
@Roachy I think this answers your point.
@bondsman too.
HypnoticBlue
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I’ve read all the posts.
Lewis has won trophies by not playing a pivotal role, when he is needed to be a defender he can’t defend, whenever he is needed to get back he runs in treacle, whenever he needs to retain the ball he loses it, he gets brushed of the ball to easy, and runs into cul-de-sacs constantly, and he is constantly out of position so other players have to cover for him.
If you don’t accept/care what others on here say that’s fine, but there must be a reason that every team we play targets him to great effect.
I know he’s a smashing lad but he just isn’t good enough.
Rhapsody in Blue
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He doesn’t have a natural position, that’s the problem