16 | Rodri - 2021/22 Performances

[bobbyowenquiff]

Rodri is having an absolutely brilliant season so far and long may it continue!

A fantastic player who has just got better and better. I think he really works well alongside Bernardo, They make a brilliant and very dynamic realationship in the middle of our midfield. This is the first season where we look like we have not missed Fern...that's a tribute to Rodri.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

lets be real here. other than rodri no one is reliable as a 6 in our system. yeah gundo can play there but then we lack any physicality in midfield (ball retention/recycling he is very good at but defensively he isn't anywhere near the lvl of rodri). stones was horrible when he played there. ake already looks atleast a lvl beneath our other players in his natural position. dinho can have good games for sure but he can't do it every 3 days.

zinchenko could also be an option but pep does not seem to rate him as a DM.

with rodri we have somehow the same problem as for instance bayern has with lewa. very important position, very high level player, almost never injured but if something would happen, you need someone to step up.
I don't think we have the player in our squad to do so.

Can’t argue with anything you said there.

The problem, of course, is the quality you want will cost big $$$ AND will expect to be playing every week!

 

[ChicagoBlue]

I can't think of any reason why a LB should be ahead of a DM when Cancelo and Zinchenko are two great options (to the extent that I can't think of anyone realistic who could upgrade that position for us). They'll still be great options next season.

I’d like to see a young LB nurtured, as you and others rate Zin higher than I do. Cancelo is currently playing LB and covering at RB.

Ake/Laporte are both options on the left, but it’s a position we haven’t “solved,” given the players we have in front of them, who all are either world class or on the bubble for “world class” status.

Long may Cancelo play at this level, and long may he stay fit and healthy. In our system, injuries to Walker and Cancelo would be more damaging than an injury to KDB at the minute!

 

[Dax777]

Try Google.
"Who is called athlete?
1 : a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina."
Are you someone who believes a miler is an elite athlete but a marathon runner is not or you just haven't a clue what an athlete is.

In fairness, I think he was using the colloquial definition of athlete. I.e someone who is athletically superior to another in the same sport.

 

[ChicagoBlue]

Del Bosque on Busquets should be changed to Guardiola on Rodri…

“You watch the game, you don't see Busquets. You watch Busquets, you see the whole game.”

 

[alexmcity]

 

[asahartford1]

Just watched Rodri clear our Shaw again.
He (Shaw) looked like he was about to jump in wellies that were full of water.

 

[Tomblue]

Another player who took a bit of time to settle but now looks very good. I think because he isn't Fernandinho 2.0 took a while for fans to accept him.

 

[Trevor Morley's Tache]

I really makes me chuckle at the number of posters that were slating him week-in-week-out last season; Plodri this and Plodri that... 'not good enough at this level', 'too pedestrian', 'only ever passes sideways and backwards'.

I just don't think people understood the role that Pep wanted him to play. He pretty much made us tick in the latter stages of last season, and that has continued into this season. Everything seems to go through him, and his movement seems to trigger the players around him as to when to hold and when to go. He is such a special player.

 

[Shaffer92]

He pretty much made us tick in the latter stages of last season

I think it was the opposite. He was brilliant the first 3/4 of the season and then around the time we played Monchengladbach or so his performances just seemed to fall off a cliff. I put it down just to hitting that proverbial physical 'wall'. Hense Pep dropping him in the CL final. I've said previously that I worry the same could happen this year with only Dinho as his direct backup.