#16 | Rodri - 2020/21 Performances

[samarasra]

It’s not that it needs a wholesale group of top level players, but in my opinion we’re short of two genuinely top level players. One in midfield and one in attack.

We got the third that we needed in the summer, where Dias, at around £65m, is a significant outlay on a centre back.

We should certainly be breaking our ceiling for a striker in the summer and I think we need to do the same in midfield.

I agree entirely, I only referred to the original group because that was what you wrote.

 

[Grealish’s Shinpads]

I really want him to do well for us - seems like a lovely bloke with the right attitude. That being said I just don’t think he’s up to scratch. He’s painfully slow and a downgrade on Dinho.

 

[samarasra]

Fernandinho in his prime would've given us about 10x more urgency both in possession and in our pressing and that's where both the pace of the game and our creativity begin. We play at snail's pace now which conveniently is Rodri's pace.

What pressing ? Every City player except Ederson was in the West Brom half for most of the game and even he was edging up to the halfway line a few times. What would Fernandinho do in those particular circumstances, pick up the ball and run into the goal with it, then get carded for tactical fouling.

 

[samarasra]

One of my best mates here in Valencia is a Barcelona fan. When we signed Rodri he was gutted because he wanted them to sign him. In his opinion Rodri's biggest attribute was his range of passing. Where has that gone? Is he being asked to just play 5 yard passes or is it him that's not showing the ability to do that in the PL? How did he miss that ball over the top when both Sterling and De Bruyne had broken their defensive line and would have had an easy opportunity to score? I was excited when we signed him based on what my mate had said. Last night's over hit pass just shows how one dimewnsional he is for us and that range of passing just isn't there.

Your friend was right. What range of passing do you expect when there is a bunch of 15/16 players camped around the West Brom box. Even Kevin & Gundogan couldn't get frees over a standing defence and into a 24' x 8' stationary target with a net on it. But Rodri a CDM, not a creative midfielder is expected be like Messi or Dave or Pirlo at their peak and pass to the feet of sub six foot tall moving targets covered 2 to 1 in a blanket defence.

 

[Txiki Txiki Bang Bang]

What's crazy is that in 6 years from now we'll be having people saying how bad the new crop are and why they can't be like this current batch.

I doubt that. We had Javi Garcia about 8 years ago, back then we said he was shite and today we can still all agree that he is shite. Shite is Shite, it isn't fine wine, it doesn't get better with time.

 

[EdersonsSmiley]

Not sure how it's Rodri's fault that non of the front 5 ever run in behind.

Sterling did it once for the goal and then Kevin did for his shot from a tight angle. We used to do this 10 times a game and half the time have an easy square ball available for a goal.

What has happened to that run between fullback and centre back just inside the box we used to do constantly?

 

[Keeper!]

The guy is going backwards but not so sure it his fault.

He should not be playing alongside Gundo, they are far too slow when together, Rodri is a classy player but needs legs and energy alongside him.

 

[bellsouth]

It would help if he remembered that the goal isn’t 20 feet high - not that he’s alone there, most of players shorting way too high

 

[argyle]

Have said previously, I think he'd be a great player in Spain or Italy.

In the premier league it's exposing his lack of pace and slow movement.

The people that decide transfers made a big mistake overlooking that.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

He is part of the problem that is making us more cautious I think. He can be exposed when we go too gung ho. I’m not a fan but personally the biggest culprits for me are the forwards who keep missing chances, Sterling the biggest culprit of the lot.