#16 | Rodri - 2020/21 Performances

[domalino]

Those are all recent comments, after yours previously accusing me.

And the 'I must be so shit' comment re him on the bench means I WANTED HIM ON, replacing the guy who was actually shit & preferred to him.

Donald.

So what you're saying is that since I said you were negative about Rodri, you've 100% proven me correct by being constantly negative about Rodri?

 

[ninjamonkey]

Well apart from the fact that it's absolute bollocks, if Gareth Barry can play the position then Rodri is not too slow.

It's just fucking tiresome. Might as well be complaining that we lack an aerial threat because Aguero isn't 6'3'' after every match.

It’s very clearly not bollocks, did you not see opposition players just waltz past him yesterday? Gareth Barry didn’t play for Pep, Gareth Barry played in a defensive minded Mancini team, entirely different teams and systems but you know that.

If we were putting balls in the box all game asking Aguero to get his head on the end of them then you might have a point, but we’re not.

It’s a perfectly valid comment when every weeks there’s instances of it.

 

[domalino]

It’s very clearly not bollocks, did you not see opposition players just waltz past him yesterday? Gareth Barry didn’t play for Pep, Gareth Barry played in a defensive minded Mancini team, entirely different teams and systems but you know that.

If we were putting balls in the box all game asking Aguero to get his head on the end of them then you might have a point, but we’re not.

It’s a perfectly valid comment when every weeks there’s instances of it.

Busquets played for Pep and was slower than Rodri.

Fortunately, I know that there is one person who knows what it takes to play the defensive midfield role in a Pep Guardiola side better than anybody who thinks Rodri is shit, and that's Pep Guardiola. Who went out, bought Rodri and has played him non-stop since he arrived. Because he plays the role well and is not too slow for it.

So I will enjoy the next 3 or 4 years with him as the mainstay in our midfield and a few select posters constantly bitching that he can't run the 100m fast enough.

 

[oldius]

It is about balance - Rodri had a very decent game, yesterday, as the stats prove, but some posters are calling out every negative aspect of the display and stating, as fact, that he was (or is) terrible when it clearly isn't the case. It is occurring more and more and the players singled out are Gundogan, Rodri and Mahrez. It is turning nearly every thread concerning those players into an argument between both sides of the 'debate' instead of us recognising that we are blessed to have players of the quality that we have but there is light and shade to every single one of them.

 

[ninjamonkey]

Busquets played for Pep and was slower than Rodri.

Fortunately, I know that there is one person who knows what it takes to play the defensive midfield role in a Pep Guardiola side better than anybody who thinks Rodri is shit, and that's Pep Guardiola who went out, bought Rodri and has played him non-stop since he arrived. Because he plays the role well.

I don’t agree he was ever slower than Rodri, even now I’d back busquets in a race but even accepting he was, he had great anticipation, better positional sense, used his body as a shield/obstacle far better and could make recovery tackles, Rodri is substantially inferior in all of those areas. He was also playing in arguably the greatest club side ever, they didn’t lose the ball, they won it back further up the pitch and it was revolutionary football, nobody knew the weaknesses back then because they couldn’t have enough of the ball to find them.

Just naming players for different sides who were also fairly slow doesn’t suddenly mean Rodri’s lack of pace isn’t an issue. In our team, right now, in his position, you need to be more mobile than he is and his lack of mobility is being exploited every game.

 

[oldius]

I don’t agree he was ever slower than Rodri, even now I’d back busquets in a race but even accepting he was, he had great anticipation, better positional sense, used his body as a shield/obstacle far better and could make recovery tackles, Rodri is substantially inferior in all of those areas. He was also playing in arguably the greatest club side ever, they didn’t lose the ball, they won it back further up the pitch and it was revolutionary football, nobody knew the weaknesses back then because they couldn’t have enough of the ball to find them.

Just naming players for different sides who were also fairly slow doesn’t suddenly mean Rodri’s lack of pace isn’t an issue. In our team, right now, in his position, you need to be more mobile than he is and his lack of mobility is being exploited every game.

Only recognising a lack of mobility while ignoring his ability to break up play, hold possession, pass short and long, shoot and beat a man is an unbalanced position though. He does not operate alone and in all teams, there has to be a blend of strengths that complement each other.

 

[mdj0520]

Put Bernardo next to him every game and we are set.

 

[The Fat el Hombre]

Gets roasted multiple times in this vid. The one where saka just ghosts past him at 1:50... Ouch

 

[WallyA]

Gets roasted multiple times in this vid. The one where saka just ghosts past him at 1:50... Ouch

Just to add something balanced (I hope) that I mentioned in another thread.

Rodri does all the things that Pep would have asked Busquets to do in his prime, but back then, heavy pressing football wasn't as prevalent as it is now, and speed is more important now than it ever was.

Rodri makes use of his frame in many ways though. Aerially he is quite good, he is good at intercepting due to his long legs, and his passing short and long are very good. He is also good at keeping the ball under pressure and using his body to stop getting dispossessed, and can play out from the back the way Pep wants.

That's alot of praise for Rodri right there. But...

He has to work more on the defensive side where his speed is a weakness. I don't think its insurmountable, yes he won't get faster, but he can position himself better as he gets older and smarter.

From my watch of the game after the fact, him getting roasted over and over again by Saka was the biggest negative I noted from City in the first half (only watched first half). He also let a ball slide through and Saka got a good chance on target where Rodri instead put his hands up.

In that clip above for example, you can see that even though Saka is a quality player who uses his speed well, if Rodri literally positioned himself a little better, then Saka doesn't get by him and Rodri doesn't have to foul so constantly.

That's my 2 cents on it, don't want to pile up on him, and I did praise alot of his good qualities.

If that defensive side improves, basically through awareness and position as speed wont get better, he basically becomes the worlds best DM because the rest of his game is so strong.

 

[EdersonsSmiley]

You need to look up what censoring means, because telling someone you're tired of seeing them just repetitively say the same thing is not censoring.

Secondly, read again (for the first time maybe?) because I didn't say you said he was shit, I said you were repeating the same old shit.

Every comment you ever make around Rodri is either "Fernadinho is better" or "He's slow".

Agreed.

It is so tiring seeing the same 5 posters just spam this and the Garcia threads (and any post match threads they have appeared in) with "he's slow" or "he's weak" or "doesn't suit English football".

I don't know how people get such a vendetta against certain players that they just cannot praise them in any circumstances. I wonder if they even enjoy watching City because all they seem to do is whine at any opportunity.

Rodri could score a hat trick against United and NevilleNeville would still post on here that he let Rashford run past him once and is therefore shit.