#16 | Rodri - 2020/21 Performances

Status
Not open for further replies.
ChicagoBlue said:
Somehow, Spain made it work 6-0 against Germany.

We overexposed him to attackers running at him with pace, when that’s not what we bought him for.
Yes, he does still have to stop them, which is why players like him (and Fernandinho!) usually sit out at least 3 games per season for yellow card accumulation!

In Pep’s set up, he is the player who slides back and forth between the CBs and midfield, and side to side to receive a pass in space.

In Pep’s set up, the press is meant to force a longer ball into midfield or to the opposition forwards, which is where he can mop it up (win the header, block the ball, or simply mop up the second ball).

Recently, our press has been non-existent, which means KDB and the LM are immediately tasked with becoming defenders, getting goal side and helping create a defensive shell. For some teams (Spurs last weekend) that is like a tortoise shell. For City, (“we don’t defend and we don’t teach the tackling”) that is an egg shell!

Whether it’s the blind side defender not tracking a run, one of the CBs not picking up the aerial threat, or the midfielders not plugging the 8/10 holes, we simply CANNOT DEFEND!!!

Back in the old days, Franny Lee was so good at getting penalties, then getting up and scoring them, he got the nickname Lee One Pen.

Weill, today, City are earning the inglorious defensive nickname of “One shot, one goal!”

At Spurs, that was “Two shots, two goals!”

It cannot continue, and it’s not down to Rodri’s performances!
Click to expand...
An excellent post, you've been looking at the games in totality, not just looking to find fault.
 
ChicagoBlue said:
It’s not him you would “release,” but the other player! That A.N. Other would be the defensive assistant, with the remit to get forward when we have the ball, and challenge the break and/or get goal side as soon as we lose it.

We need the kind of player who can play both ways, chip in with 5 or 6 goals from the perimeter, and help stop the counterattack from becoming the counterattack!

Believe it or not, I think Rodri CAN BE that player, but we can’t heap the whole “stop the counter!” on him, when we have full backs playing right and left wing, and only two defenders behind him who seem transfixed by marking the space, not the man!
Click to expand...

Given the way we play I just don’t think he’ll eventually bring enough to the table to warrant wanting to put someone alongside him to get the best out of him. Apart from being big I’m struggling to see what his standout skill is that we’d be getting more of. He’d still look to just shuffle the ball off sideways or backwards for someone else to move it effectively forward. If our goalkeeper needs to be able to move the ball through the lines then it’s surely a prerequisite for our DM?

Two new central players with dynamism and that can pass quickly would make an enormous difference.

I guess time will tell how we choose to go.
 
I thought he was our best player v Spurs & played a lot of good stuff in a fairly crap midfield.

Some folks still don't realise how good Fern was & that it isn't just a case of swapping him for someone 'different' & sailing on. That works when everyone else is on their A game.

Rodri can't replace him, nor can both Rodri & Gundogan together, unless the team is flying but Rodri, playing next to the right players, using teamwork to sort out Spurs, would have been fine imo. But not in a perfect Pep setup.

If we had a fast, athletic, team, many covering midfield, then his part would have been fine amongst it.

We don't. So we either need to create one & play Rodri or find a Superman to do what Fern did.

Or just write the season off & get everyone fit for next season, so it's not so much of an issue.
 
GBrannan said:
Given the way we play I just don’t think he’ll eventually bring enough to the table to warrant wanting to put someone alongside him to get the best out of him. Apart from being big I’m struggling to see what his standout skill is that we’d be getting more of. He’d still look to just shuffle the ball off sideways or backwards for someone else to move it effectively forward. If our goalkeeper needs to be able to move the ball through the lines then it’s surely a prerequisite for our DM?

Two new central players with dynamism and that can pass quickly would make an enormous difference.

I guess time will tell how we choose to go.
Click to expand...
Remember Ferna & Yaya, the best central midfield pairing in world football? Yeah...hard to recreate, isn’t it?

Yaya was one of a kind and Ferna was at his peak!

Ferna will be 36 by the end of the season and is in his “extra year,” while Rodri turned 24 this past summer. NEITHER are anywhere close to their peak!

That said, I certainly agree we need at least one dynamic midfielder, hopefully two.

I read today that we are ready to put half the squad in the window and are scouring the globe (and the Academy) for the next generation. Sounds good!

I hope bringing Jack Harrison back, bringing Douglas Luis back, buying a top, top striker (not Kane) and two dynamic midfielders is on the cards.

Yes, the Academy lads need a path, but I’d venture most 18-20 yr olds wouldn’t be unhappy to be Foden, Garcia, THB, Delap, Doyle or Braaf right now.

We have a spine of players that are probably going nowhere, but I wouldn’t be surprised if even the odd one of them wasn’t available for the correct money.

Pep likes to work with 16 players, but has hopefully come to understand the requirements needed to navigate a 4 trophy season in England are VASTLY different to those he has encountered in Spain and Germany, especially given the clubs he managed.

The English game is a 22 man game, with no injuries, let alone the young lads you need to fill in from time to time due to injuries.

We are light in a few areas:
Left back
Defensive midfield
A KDB relief player
A box to box MF with DM creds
A third (second?!) striker

For me, players who could leave:
Garcia
Stones
Zinchenko
Mendy
Gundogan
Bernardo
Mahrez

And, for the right (BIG) money:
Jesus
Sterling

Of course, I’m not saying they’re all going, but I think there’s £150-200M of transfer fees and probably well over £50M/yr in wages in there, too.

Throw in over £120M & £20M in wages on that second list, and there are financial opportunities over the next few years.

Notice, NOWHERE IN THERE is Rodri not being here for the next 6-8 years! ;-)
 
Last edited:
It's a shame (for him) that he's not 2 years older. I really think he would have done fantastically well in out 17-19 sides.
 
GBrannan said:
“Extremely gifted at passing”.

No he’s not, at least not what he’s demonstrated for us over the last 18 months.

Kevin Debruyne is extremely gifted at passing. Then we’ve got a whole bunch of players that are very good at passing. Fernandinho is one of these. Gundogan is too, as much as some people will hate to say it. They and a several others can manipulate and pass the ball at speed.

Then there’s the level below and I think this is where Rodri is. His decision making is too slow and then his speed of pass is also too slow. As a result he ends up just passing the ball sideways far too much or floating it out wide. His accuracy is always high but that doesn’t translate as being gifted at passing. Several times a game he needs to be breaking the lines with a pass, not an assist but an attacking pass. He just doesn’t do this. In a defensive team he’d probably be fine but against the parked bus he’s not, and that’s what we play against almost every week.

A new DM, and we desperately need one,
Click to expand...
With respect to the bolded above, this may come as a surprise to you: Rodri had the most number of key passes on Saturday.

So do with that fact what you may.
 
Dax777 said:
With respect to the bolded above, this may come as a surprise to you: Rodri had the most number of key passes on Saturday.

So do with that fact what you may.
Click to expand...
Another point is, I don't think some people realise why there are so many sideways passes. It's not a coincidence that whoever is in DM (including Fernandinho) tends to rack up so many passes per game.

I think people want 3 De Bruyne's in there at times, but De Bruyne often tends not to pass sideways much and often has a <75% pass accuracy. Imagine if all our other midfielders were like that...
 
Someone else posted it on here but it's a fair comment, Rodri isn't an awful player, he just isn't Fernandinho
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Unread Posts

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top
✖
  AdBlock Detected
Bluemoon relies on advertising to pay our hosting fees. Please support the site by disabling your ad blocking software to help keep the forum sustainable. Thanks.