#16 | Rodri - 2020/21 Performances

[leo_city]

Indeed Pep does deem Rodri the ideal player to play that role within his system; probably explains why Pep hasn’t gotten to a Champions League final for almost 10 years.

Football has moved on; other teams actually press and counter-press now too - even the original, infinitely more talented Busquets hasn’t been relevant in elite European football post-2015.

It’s no coincidence that the only team Rodri remotely looks a £60m player against is Burnley, with their primitive low block, straight line 4–4-2 where the strikers mark the opposition centrebacks and midfielders retreat, allowing him space between those lines to pick passes unchallenged like a plodding paella Pirlo.

Anyway, the fact Guardiola signed Rodri isn’t a glorious endorsement - if he had his way we’d have Maguire, Jorginho and Sanchez in the first 11 too. If Rodri’s a mainstay for the next 3/4 years, we’re fucked.

- Football hasn't moved past Guardiola's style of play.
- Pep was always going to get a player like Rodri, he prefers control over anything else.
- defensive frailties have been the reason he's not gone far in CL, and it's not so easy, even I am critical of his approach to CL ties.
- if Pep had his way we would also have Messi and Mbappe.

Rodri won't be an issue for us, as seen when the defensive areas are stabilised and he was able to stand out in midfield doing really well against an Arsenal side that plays a lot better under Arteta than they did (also considering we weren't fully fit).

P.s. stop with this nonsense.

 

[Dr Jacoby]

He’s a brilliant footballer but his lack of mobility makes us very easy to counter against.

I am usually wrong but I remain unconvinced that he’s a good fit for our team in this league.

 

[eastmanc]

In a team which suits him, excellent. But so far, that isn't us.

We can cover it though. Now we have a defence.

Your right we aren’t the team that suits him.

 

[B\connellblue]

Even On his best day he's a Level below fern. Not the one.

 

[DATOIA]

Comparing him to Javi Garcia is like comparing Laporte to Nastasic :D

 

[FantasyIreland]

Even On his best day he's a Level below fern.

True,but then so are 95% of CDM's in the league.

 

[sky_blue]

Even On his best day he's a Level below fern. Not the one.

Dinho in 2014 was a level below Dinho in 2018.

 

[blueparrot]

True,but then so are 95% of CDM's in the league.

Who do you think isn’t, because I’d say all are a level below peakFernandinho in the current league.

 

[FantasyIreland]

Who do you think isn’t, because I’d say all are a level below peakFernandinho in the current league.

Being honest,I couldn't think of one....I was just leaving myself a very small margin in case I had done.Dinho was the best in my book.

 

[Sir Joe Aguero]

There's definitely a player there but he's not going to be the Fernandinho/Nigel De Jong DM we're looking for. I actually see a lot of parallels with Toure. Tall, technically very good, great at recycling possession, got a wicked shot from range. I'd be tempted to retrain him as a box-to-box midfielder. Remember Toure was originally a DM/CB and then started to score more and more and more.

Kolo said he had to convince him to go to the gym because he'd be surprised at the physicality of the Premier League. With the right training, we could have Toure Mk. 2