14 | Nico Gonzalez - 2025/26

[Blue Hefner]

You are pissed that he impressed you

I am normally glad when our players impress me

Are you American? I’m pissed as in, I am drunk. NOT pissed-off

I like him. I can’t make it any clearer

 

[bluwes]

100%. He’s not Rodders but no one is, similar to the Eddie/Donna argument

But 100% and Premier League/Champions League player

He’s as good as Rodders in his first season, remember that season when people on here named him plodri

 

[mattcity5]

Thought he was quite good today. I'm still not totally won over by him, but you can't expect perfection for a kid who is pretty much a back up. I've questioned his touch at times, but it was pretty good today and I noticed some turns that have been missing at times before. Fingers crossed this is a sign of things to come.

 

[Blue Hefner]

He’s as good as Rodders in his first season, remember that season when people on here named him plodri

I was one of them ‘Plodders’ - I remember watching him in a friendly in Japan and the first thing that came out of my mouth was “fucking he’ll, he’s slow. Really slow”

But what do we know. This is just a thought box, not to be taken too seriously

 

[come-on-barney]

People judging him as a ‘6’ when he’s an ‘8’. Break the bank for another ‘6’, and let’s see Nico as an ‘8’.

 

[Manchester_lalala]

Yeah people forget that Rodri was left out of the CL final on form and nobody much complained at the time

Yep, he wasn’t trusted by Pep until the following season.

 

[Blue-Ghana]

People judging him as a ‘6’ when he’s an ‘8’. Break the bank for another ‘6’, and let’s see Nico as an ‘8’.

His passing range is very poor for an 8. He may be an 8 in the Portuguese league, but not here

 

[itisrising]

I find the discourse on Nico very strange. I think, overall, there's been far more positive performances than poor ones. He's not Rodri level by any stretch and keeps it relatively basic, but there are clear moments where you can see he's got intelligence to get out of tight areas and genuinely competent in his role.

 

[Sam69]

 

[Blue_Lightsaber]

Yeah people forget that Rodri was left out of the CL final on form and nobody much complained at the time

Leaving Rodri and Ferma out was criminal no ifs and buts.

It did pay dividends over time..as it really pissed Rodri off.. and he got angry and said I'm never going to let Pep bench me again based on form.. and he became the player he did.

Some people when faced a slap in the face say that's life and smile and some get motivation to never let that happen to them again.

We know which one Rodri is -- the latter!

 

[KDB4ever]

Not gonna lie, felt like we only had 10 players on the pitch when he played. He still has so much to learn about how to help our build up from the back. Often times, he just stays in a very difficult position to receive the ball or just bring an extra opponent to our back line which does not help the situation at all.

 

[cleavers]

Not gonna lie, felt like we only had 10 players on the pitch when he played. He still has so much to learn about how to help our build up from the back. Often times, he just stays in a very difficult position to receive the ball or just bring an extra opponent to our back line which does not help the situation at all.

I love shit posts like this.

 

[wolviedinho]

Turning into a very useful player.

Happy to see him come on for Rodri.

Club made a good call on this lad.

 

[Blue_Lightsaber]

Not gonna lie, felt like we only had 10 players on the pitch when he played. He still has so much to learn about how to help our build up from the back. Often times, he just stays in a very difficult position to receive the ball or just bring an extra opponent to our back line which does not help the situation at all.

He's a really good understudy/ backup from my point of view as he's solid defensively but offensively he's lacking a bit of dynamism.

The thing is I still trust him to play DM a billion times more than Kova.

 

[lasereyes]

Leaving Rodri and Ferma out was criminal no ifs and buts.

20/20 hindsight 4 years on. He was bang out of form at that time and very few if any fans thought he should play. The pre match thread is prob still there.

 

[Blue_Lightsaber]

20/20 hindsight 4 years on. He was bang out of form at that time and very few if any fans thought he should play. The pre match thread is prob still there.

The thing that really benched him was giving the ball away at Brighton away, looking at the sky, not even tracking back and Brighton scoring.

I understood why, but that still hurts!

 

[Dubciteh]

20/20 hindsight 4 years on. He was bang out of form at that time and very few if any fans thought he should play. The pre match thread is prob still there.

Theres not a city fan out there who wanted gundo over fern or Rodr. Regardless of whether he was in or out of form, the debate was never neither. One of them would have won us that cl, if for anything to settle the players as much as anything. If rodri was out of form(and i cant recall if he was) then play fern, play one not neither

 

[Blue_Lightsaber]

Theres not a city fan out there who wanted gundo over fern or Rodr. Regardless of whether he was in or out of form, the debate was never neither. One of them would have won us that cl, if for anything to settle the players as much as anything. If rodri was out of form(and i cant recall if he was) then play fern, play one not neither

Pep tried to shoehorn Sterling in and he was out of form too.

Well to be honest in hindsight he was never the same player after the Lyon miss, but Pep still trusted him.

 

[Dubciteh]

Pep tried to shoehorn Sterling in and he was out of form too.

Well to be honest in hindsight he was never the same player after the Lyon miss, but Pep still trusted him.

Yep that was a huge mistake. Play rodri/fern drop sterling(drop is generous he wasnt in the team) and we win that, same system that got us there. Simple as but it is what is now at this stage

 

[Dax777]

Yeah people forget that Rodri was left out of the CL final on form and nobody much complained at the time

Don't blame Rodri for Pep's stupidity. There was zero excuse for that.