16 | Rodri 2025/26

TonyBookEnd said:
Midfielders should be lining up, wanting to play for Pep. We should have the pick of the bunch, but it's been panic, reactionary signings at squad filler level. In such a key area, the planning just baffles me
Reijnders, Kovacic, Gonzalez, Phillips... utter guff
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Nunes failed as a midfielder, the position for which he was recruited.

That said, given Nico Gonzalez's age and what he has shown, we must be patient with him.
 
Sam69 said:
Nunes failed as a midfielder, the position for which he was recruited.

That said, given Nico Gonzalez's age and what he has shown, we must be patient with him.
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We bought him as a Gundogan replacement and a lot of have failed at that.

It's not so easy to replicate one of our greatest captains!
 
Sam69 said:
Nunes failed as a midfielder, the position for which he was recruited.

That said, given Nico Gonzalez's age and what he has shown, we must be patient with him.
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He’s a decent player, just not at Rodri’s level, but who is, when he is fit? Sadly, fitness has eluded him for the last couple of years.
 
Isn't it funny that the same people that were using the win percentage with Rodri vs with Nico G to argue that Nico G was better are now begging for Rodri to come back. Make it make sense
 
He’s not trained for what, 3 weeks now?

Not a chance he’s starting or involved at all tomorrow I don’t think.
 
Claytop said:


Pep hopes he plays again this season…
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We won't risk him before the cup final. And he will have an eye on the World Cup undoubtedly too. Hopefully Nico has enough fitness from his last few starts to push on now and put in a better performance. We can beat Brentford and Palace without Rodri in the side.

We can beat Chelsea too as a matter of fact, but would be a boost for all of Rodri was available.
 
One thing you might suspect but AI (Pro version) helped me clarify: City's dependence on Rodri was far greater than Barca's dependence on Messi.

City in their best 3-season period (21/24, all competitions)) were far more dependent on Rodri than Barca in their best period on Messi (08-11 or 14-16).

City with Rodri in all competitions: 2,4 ppg vs 1,85 ppg without Rodri. That's 21 pts difference over 38 games.

Peak Pep Barca with Messi in all compets: 2,34 ppg vs 2.17 without Messi: 8 pts difference over 38 games.

Peak Enrique Barca (14-16): with Messi 2,45 ppg vs 2,56 ppg without Messi (better without Messi).

Rodri's best 70 game period (February 23 - May 24) may be the best ever in the top European leagues and Brazil.

The point is not that Rodri is comparable to Messi (arguably the greatest) but that Rodri was the soul of the most successful English team ever. Don't compare him unfavourably to other City legends.

Edit: the difference with/without Fernandinho (17-19) is slight compared to that with/without Rodri: 1 pt vs 23 pts. Peak Rodri was much more important to the team than Ferna in 17-19. In 18-19, we did better with Gundo at DM than with Ferna...
 
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alexmcity said:
One thing you might suspect but AI (Pro version) helped me clarify: City's dependence on Rodri was far greater than Barca's dependence on Messi.

City in their best 3-season period (21/24, all competitions)) were far more dependent on Rodri than Barca in their best period on Messi (08-11 or 14-16).

City with Rodri in all competitions: 2,4 ppg vs 1,85 ppg without Rodri. That's 21 pts difference over 38 games.

Peak Pep Barca with Messi in all compets: 2,34 ppg vs 2.17 without Messi: 8 pts difference over 38 games.

Peak Enrique Barca (14-16): with Messi 2,45 ppg vs 2,56 ppg without Messi (better without Messi).

Rodri's best 70 game period (February 23 - May 24) may be the best ever in the top European leagues and Brazil.

The point is not that Rodri is comparable to Messi (arguably the greatest) but that Rodri was the soul of the most successful English team ever. Don't compare him unfavourably to other City legends.

Edit: the difference with/without Fernandinho (17-19) is slight compared to that with/without Rodri: 1 pt vs 23 pts. Peak Rodri was much more important to the team than Ferna in 17-19. In 18-19, we did better with Gundo at DM than with Ferna...
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Another take here is that the Messi Barcelona teams and the Fernandinho-era Pep side were better able to mitigate for the absence of one key player than City in 21-24. They were excellent sides with or without their talismans, whereas in the Rodri era we really only rose to that level when the great man featured

An issue of overall squad quality and depth as much as individual brilliance
 
FromPollockToSilva said:
Another take here is that the Messi Barcelona teams and the Fernandinho-era Pep side were better able to mitigate for the absence of one key player than City in 21-24. They were excellent sides with or without their talismans, whereas in the Rodri era we really only rose to that level when the great man featured

An issue of overall squad quality and depth as much as individual brilliance
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Yes, many factors play a role. Like Rodri between 2021 and 2024, Messi missed few games in Barca's best periods and the sample concerning the games without him is small.

Our squad depth in 22/23 was maybe better than Barcelona's in 08-11 or at least comparable. In the run-in we had these options on the bench: Walker (when Akanji played at RB), Laporte, Foden, Mahrez, Alvarez... For me, that squad was at least as good as the one between 2017 and 2019.

Btw, I rate highly our current squad. Some bad injuries stopped us from winning 90+ pts in the league.
 
TonyBookEnd said:
Rodri had around 20 caps by the time he was 25. Maybe I'm being that person and far too critical, but I just don't see it with Gonzalez
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I think he's a bit too soft for the Premier League. When Rodri's not playing there's a distinct lack of physicality in central midfield. Not exactly convinced Nico is going to go in for any 50-50s and put himself about. Tends to dally on the ball a bit too, always seems to take an extra touch and slow the play down which often results in missing out on the opportunity to break quickly. Whilst we're picking faults, I wish he'd get some proper fucking studs in his boots!
 
Edghill OG said:
I think he's a bit too soft for the Premier League. When Rodri's not playing there's a distinct lack of physicality in central midfield. Not exactly convinced Nico is going to go in for any 50-50s and put himself about. Tends to dally on the ball a bit too, always seems to take an extra touch and slow the play down which often results in missing out on the opportunity to break quickly. Whilst we're picking faults, I wish he'd get some proper fucking studs in his boots!
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That extra touch usually means the chance has gone which results in a side or back pass, Rodri has his head up at all times. Hopefully Gonzales brings this into his game but personally I'd have likes to have seen it sooner
 
AI is becoming a good tool to compare teams from the same or different periods and it will get only better.

I let it work hours on comparisons between City 17/19 with the best players back then and City with Rodri, or between Barca 08-11 and City 21-24. City with Rodri fared better in terms of points per game, including cup competitions, than peak Pep Barca with Messi or Xavi (08-11).

Rodri's unbeaten run with City between February 2023 and May 2024 is the best in English football in terms of ppg in all competitions, 2.60 ppg over 70 games (better than any run of 70 consecutive games with KdB or David between 17-19) and one of the best ever full stop.

Actually, the only team in top leagues that have done better than City with peak Rodri are Bayern 12-14 (the Bundesliga...), with Enrique's Barca 14-16 on a par.

AI confirms in purely statistical terms that City 21-24 fare well compared to some of the greatest sides ever, not just wrt trophies.
 
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