16 | Rodri - 2021/22 Performances

[Manchester_lalala]

Just keep Bernardo tight to him, we play our best football with them two together.

 

[ws01]

I think the Spurs game should reveal to most that a good portion of the improvement Rodders has made is due to Bernardo facilitating it by regularly dropping deep and playing a dual role. He hasn't magically found the ability to cover way more ground, or become more agile. Conversely for Dinho, Bernie doesn't tend to drop deep as much - hence the 'gaps in the middle' that people claim is Dinho having no legs.

As has been said, for any game against decent opposition, Bernie must be able to sit alongside him.

 

[Saddleworth2]

I think the Spurs game should reveal to most that a good portion of the improvement Rodders has made is due to Bernardo facilitating it by regularly dropping deep and playing a dual role. He hasn't magically found the ability to cover way more ground, or become more agile. Conversely for Dinho, Bernie doesn't tend to drop deep as much - hence the 'gaps in the middle' that people claim is Dinho having no legs.

As has been said, for any game against decent opposition, Bernie must be able to sit alongside him.

Its a really good observation. When I was re-watching the CL final the other day it was noticeable that Bernie carried out this role to help Gundogan. At times it looked like we were playing with twin DM's. I think our best midfield in big games is Rodri, Bernardo and Gundogan. If KDB is selected then it should be as a false 9.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

I think the Spurs game should reveal to most that a good portion of the improvement Rodders has made is due to Bernardo facilitating it by regularly dropping deep and playing a dual role. He hasn't magically found the ability to cover way more ground, or become more agile. Conversely for Dinho, Bernie doesn't tend to drop deep as much - hence the 'gaps in the middle' that people claim is Dinho having no legs.

As has been said, for any game against decent opposition, Bernie must be able to sit alongside him.

This is definitely noticeable. However, what 8 think we ACTUALLY do is play a more 4-4-2 when we play the false nine, with the midfielders who rotate into the false 9 position BOTH pressing high, so that we press with 4 forwards. As soon as that breaks down, we drop into a 4-4-2, and sometimes even a 4-5-1!
The problem in seeing it is that we are so rarely in this set up during games, and when we are we are rarely out of possession for long!

I think we are long past the discussion of whether we should play an extra midfielder against top teams, because it’s clear we need to. We are one of the weakest (in terms of size, strength and speed) midfields, yet one of the most technically proficient and efficient…but that’s going forward! We sometimes forget that, yes, against some teams we ARE actually going to have to defend for significant periods of the game!

We are obviously built for controlling the game and taking the ball forward…at our pace, in our own good time. The problem comes when we lose the ball WHILE attacking, leaving ourselves exposed at the back. Our default “defensive posture” is 2-2, with one FB tucking into midfield to supplement the DM. However, there are times when we literally have 10 players encamped inside our opponents half, with those two defensive “midfielders” past of the 8 attackers surrounding the opposition box.

Against that attacking formation, we are extremely vulnerable to the break, and no one I can think of has been as effective in executing that break against as Son!

Anyway, lick our wounds, move on, and hopefully Pep made his displeasure known in the 5-10 seconds post goal #3, when he turned around and reamed Borrell, his defensive coach!!

 

[samuelyeboah]

play 20 excellent games in a row - crickets

play 1 bad game - sell him immediately

 

[mccity]

play 20 excellent games in a row - crickets

play 1 bad game - sell him immediately

Bit of an exaggeration, but a little bit yeah.

It is a bit concerning how many seem believe he's almost completely dependent on Bernardo to defend

 

[jimharri]

play 20 excellent games in a row - crickets

play 1 bad game - sell him immediately

T'is the Bluemoon way. We have an awful lot of "glass half empty" types on here.

 

[applejuice]

Its a really good observation. When I was re-watching the CL final the other day it was noticeable that Bernie carried out this role to help Gundogan. At times it looked like we were playing with twin DM's. I think our best midfield in big games is Rodri, Bernardo and Gundogan. If KDB is selected then it should be as a false 9.

KDB lacks the ability to control ball at tight area. He was not a good false 9. If you rewatch CL final, you will notice how much improvement in control/release the ball near the box by Jesus than KDB.

IMO you can only play either KDB or Gundogan facing powerful opposite. Foden is our best false 9 or otherwise Jesus could be played in the middle.

 

[samuelyeboah]

T'is the Bluemoon way. We have an awful lot of "glass half empty" types on here.

ever since the spurs game people are trying to find a "solution"

because the notion that manchester city might lose a game of football even in the best possible world is inconceivable. the suggestion that actually, everything is fine and the system is working isn't satisfying as trying to poke through and find the one reason why we might have lost 1 game in the last 16 or so.

 

[applejuice]

This is definitely noticeable. However, what 8 think we ACTUALLY do is play a more 4-4-2 when we play the false nine, with the midfielders who rotate into the false 9 position BOTH pressing high, so that we press with 4 forwards. As soon as that breaks down, we drop into a 4-4-2, and sometimes even a 4-5-1!
The problem in seeing it is that we are so rarely in this set up during games, and when we are we are rarely out of possession for long!

I think we are long past the discussion of whether we should play an extra midfielder against top teams, because it’s clear we need to. We are one of the weakest (in terms of size, strength and speed) midfields, yet one of the most technically proficient and efficient…but that’s going forward! We sometimes forget that, yes, against some teams we ARE actually going to have to defend for significant periods of the game!

We are obviously built for controlling the game and taking the ball forward…at our pace, in our own good time. The problem comes when we lose the ball WHILE attacking, leaving ourselves exposed at the back. Our default “defensive posture” is 2-2, with one FB tucking into midfield to supplement the DM. However, there are times when we literally have 10 players encamped inside our opponents half, with those two defensive “midfielders” past of the 8 attackers surrounding the opposition box.

Against that attacking formation, we are extremely vulnerable to the break, and no one I can think of has been as effective in executing that break against as Son!

Anyway, lick our wounds, move on, and hopefully Pep made his displeasure known in the 5-10 seconds post goal #3, when he turned around and reamed Borrell, his defensive coach!!

Yes

we actually play more like 4-2-3-1 in attacking against Chelsea with Rodri&Bernado double pivots and KDB as a 10.
And in defending it is 442. Same in this Spurs game. It seems to be a togo plan vs good 343 team.


We played 442 in the first half against Liverpool as Grealish often dropped as deep as Bernado&Rodri to help break their pressing - and also the away game against Southampton. Liverpool&Southampton are known as the most aggressive pressing team in the PL (apart from us).