Actually, we didn't create 26 chances. It was 28.
My apologies. Didn't mean to count us short. Also, the point is not to suggest this was all Rodri's doing. Rather it's to show that the creation of chances often isn't immensely influenced by who the DM is.
Some were waxing lyrical about how much better we play when Dihno plays. As it turned out we created significantly fewer against Palace than we did here when Rodri played. Putting a dent in the "we create more with Dihno" argument.
In fairness, the number of opportunities is more a function of how the opposition played as opposes to who's playing DM for us.
Different players, different styles. Both effective. Personally prefer Rodri, but have no issues with Dihno.
https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1...-League-2020-2021-Manchester-City-Aston-Villa
Have to admit I was one of the doubters of Rodri, and at this moment, I'm very happy to be proven wrong. The past few matches some of his interceptions and tackling were nothing short of sublime. You are right that Rodri isn't a like-for-like replacement to Dinho, and if we constantly compare him to Dinho only, we might never recognize Rodri's worth.Hopefully people are starting to see the merits of a player like Rodri. Maybe it's time to accept that he was not bought as a like for like replacement for Fernandinho and therefore stop the comparisons.
Although Pep certainly rates Fernandinho very highly, had he had a midfielder like that until he came to City? Rodri doesn't do the workload of two players or protect the back line quite as well, but it's not about who's better at that necessarily. Fernandinho is one of my favourite City players and I do believe he's shown Pep the worth of having a player like that in your team. So he may be on the look out for a direct replacement but they are hard to find as we know.
My point is, would you compare Busquets to Dinho? I wouldn't because they are different types of players for different systems of play. Rodri to me is closer to the Busquets style of DM. He's not as aggressive in the tackle because he's more conscious of giving a foul away and at his best he's very good in the transition. He's not always been at his best and there are things Pep wants him to improve on but he's still fairly young and already showing why Pep wanted him for me. Hopefully he goes from strength to strength from here until nobody can argue he is the right fit for City and the system Pep wants to play with.
It's why Kante wasn't preferred for what Sarri wanted to do at Chelsea and why it's not working for the style of play Lampard wants to play with him there. It does make me wonder, what would Pep do with a younger Fernandinho or if City had Kante. I think he would find a way to tweak his system to find a way to get the best out of him for the team but some games he may still have wanted a Busquets style DM depending on the opposition and how they're set up. He'd love to have the flexibility of having both in the squad I'm sure though.
People forget that many, many players were out of form; I think the slight tinkering of shape is a minor detail compared to no pre-season, 16 players out for ten days or more and the Covid outbreak. It is the whole team that is playing better.Have to admit I was one of the doubters of Rodri, and at this moment, I'm very happy to be proven wrong. The past few matches some of his interceptions and tackling were nothing short of sublime. You are right that Rodri isn't a like-for-like replacement to Dinho, and if we constantly compare him to Dinho only, we might never recognize Rodri's worth.
Alot of credit also goes to Pep for changing our system to bring the best out of Rodri, even if it's a slight change in our midfield shape. Earlier on I believe Rodri suffered having to anchor the midfield alone playing behind two very forward-thinking number 8s, but having a more defensive-minded midfielder (Gundo/Cancelo) next to him has benefited him greatly.
Top 10 Most Possession Won in PL (Midfield + Final Third)
1. Rodri (103)
2. Bissouma (85)
3. Ward Prowse (83)
4. Tielemans (82)
5. Romeu (82)
6. Rice (80)
7. Anguissa (79)
8. Soucek (78)
9. Højbjerg (77)
10. Kante (75)
He is a top player and this is confirmed by all the stats. It is unfortunate that some have made their minds up so, therefore, refute the stats and start to create new ones like the speed of pass. One recent improvement I have noticed is his willingness to release the ball first time; this could negate one minor flaw when he was caught on the ball a couple of times when he held it a little longer than he shouldSo, the difference between Rodri (1.) and No 2. (Bissouma) is bigger than that between No 2. and No. 10 (Kante).
Basically, Rodri is in a league of his own when it comes to winning possession in midfield and in the final 3rd. Combined with his outstanding passings stats, he's been the best DM in the league this season. Easily.
That's why stats may be useful, they go sometimes completely against your preconceptions of what a given player is good at. If we judged Rodri on what some on here write about him, we'd think he was vey average at winning possession and couldn't pass the ball forward to save his life. Turns out he isn't half as bad as he is often being portrayed.
If we want to sell, Real and Barca would bite our hand off.
So, the difference between Rodri (1.) and No 2. (Bissouma) is bigger than that between No 2. and No. 10 (Kante).
Basically, Rodri is in a league of his own when it comes to winning possession in midfield and in the final 3rd. Combined with his outstanding passing stats, he's been the best DM in the league this season. Easily.
That's why stats may be useful, they go sometimes completely against your preconceptions of what a given player is good at. If we judged Rodri on what some on here write about him, we'd think he was very average at winning possession and couldn't pass the ball forward to save his life. Turns out he isn't half as bad as he is often being portrayed.
And presumably they have all not played fewer minutes than Rodri by as much as 30%? I can’t be bothered looking but I am guessing their minutes played are not too far away from Rodri’s.Also think about the opportunities to win the ball back for each player.
Brighton are out of possession about 50% of the time, City are out of possession about 37% of the time. Bissouma has about 30% more opportunities to win the ball back.