I hope he is Rodris backup, because nobody else in the squad is better suited for it.Got unfairly left out last season to the detriment of the team imo to enable Pep to shoehorn more attacking players into the side, for large parts of the season we didn't play anywhere close to the level we've been at in recent years but our best most fluid football almost always came when we had kovacic in the side.
He will prove invaluable to us this season. we can expet marked improvements from kovacic, gvardiol and doku with a year under their belt now.
Just hope Pep doesn't ask him to be Rodri's alternative because he simply isn't suited to that role, never has been at any of his previous clubs and isn't going to change at this point in his career.
Not saying any of these are the answer but Stones, Lewis, potentially Nunes are all better suited to do Rodri's role than Kovacic. Kovacic plays the complimentary 6 next to Rodri as well as anybody bar bernardo but he cannot play the lone 6. I suspect if theres no new signings and Rodri is unavailable, the most likely solution depending on availability is to just play kovacic and bernardo together as a two.I hope he is Rodris backup, because nobody else in the squad is better suited for it.
He also isnt suited as a #8 for us. Pep had to adapt to Kovacic qualities by going with wide fullbacks, so Kovacic didnt have to push up, and he stayed deep, instead the wingers came in.
I personally hate the wide fullback system, bring back wide wingers and have Bernie/Nunes/Rico partner Rodri and then push higher.
I hope he is Rodris backup, because nobody else in the squad is better suited for it.
He also isnt suited as a #8 for us. Pep had to adapt to Kovacic qualities by going with wide fullbacks, so Kovacic didnt have to push up, and he stayed deep, instead the wingers came in.
I personally hate the wide fullback system, bring back wide wingers and have Bernie/Nunes/Rico partner Rodri and then push higher.
Yeah the way I see the midfield 2 is:Him and Nunes played together in midfield when Rodri was out in a few games they did ok! Kovacic can do the Rodri role for me
1) I dont think Stones or Lewis should EVER play as a #6. Nunes could perhaps learn it with his frame but he is more suited as a box to box player.Not saying any of these are the answer but Stones, Lewis, potentially Nunes are all better suited to do Rodri's role than Kovacic. Kovacic plays the complimentary 6 next to Rodri as well as anybody bar bernardo but he cannot play the lone 6. I suspect if theres no new signings and Rodri is unavailable, the most likely solution depending on availability is to just play kovacic and bernardo together as a two.
How isn't he suited to the 8 role? That's been his primary role his entire career and hes excelled at it. He's phenomenal at linking the play and getting us through the lines either via a pass or carrying it himself, his ability to set the tempo is fantastic, he's always available. Will receive the ball under extreme pressure and take good care of it, he's the closest thing to bernardo out there.
I think you've linked something there that has no correlation, the fullbacks also pushed up when kovacic wasn't in the side, that was more to do with getting foden into a central position from a wide starting position. kovacic doesn't get forward like Gundo and will never score double figures as he did but that loss was largely offset by Rodri having more license to push up and score or create more than usual.
Stones has shown he's more than adept at it if rodri was unavailable, I've yet to see anybody better however he's never fit himself and with just 6 defenders, he's needed in defence. Just to reiterate, they were only examples of players who could perform that role better than kovacic not suggestions they should be doing it.1) I dont think Stones or Lewis should EVER play as a #6. Nunes could perhaps learn it with his frame but he is more suited as a box to box player.
2) He isnt suited to be an 8 for us in the sense to play like Gundogan. He doesnt offer enough inbetween the lines in the final 3rd, he really never did his entire career if you saw him play. He always played deep next to the defenders.
3) Yes, Foden got to play in the middle with the system, but it worked because it also required 2 in the middle, and Kovacic or Bernie were logical partners to Rodri.
But I didnt like us playing like this. I want wide wingers with the 8 joining the 10 inbetween the lines in possession. Thats not a role Kovacic can do unless he is the 6.
I think a starting partnership of Rodri-Bernie is more suited as Bernie can play between the lines.
A backup to that could be Kova-Nunes, lesser, but should work for rotation in easier games.
To be clear on one thing.Stones has shown he's more than adept at it if rodri was unavailable, I've yet to see anybody better however he's never fit himself and with just 6 defenders, he's needed in defence. Just to reiterate, they were only examples of players who could perform that role better than kovacic not suggestions they should be doing it.
What you're saying there is that he isn't a direct replacement for the final 2 seasons with us version of gundogan. That's not the same as saying he isn't a good 8 for us. He isnt a direct replacement, the role just changed and kovacic performs that role excellently.
Gundogan himself didn't always do that role for us, he adapted to that goalscoring role because we needed it at the time, before that when we had the likes of aguero etc and the need for goals from that area wasnt as strong, gundogan played differently but he still played as an 8. That deeper gundogan is actually very similar to Kovacic. He didn't get the appreciation he was due either.
You might not be a fan of the way we played and that's fine, we can all have our preferences but that's the way peps goingwere don't favour that style anymore nor do we have the players to play how we did 3/4 seasons ago. We don't need our 8 to be scoring 15 goals, We have a 40+goal striker, kdb and foden behind can hit 15-20 themselves and hopefully our new dangerous wingers can start banging them in too. Our 8 now has a very different task and kovacic fits it tremendously well.
Ilkay was a unique player, as he could play anywhere centrally from the pivot to a false nine.To be clear on one thing.
I dont believe for our squad that we will play with wingers inside and the double pivot of two 6s. It was the best Pep could do with the personnel.
We have alot of talented wide wingers, Im sure Pep will go back to this more as the default over the wide fullbacks.
In this sense, Kova isnt the best partner to Rodri for what I said.
You said Gundogan learned that role over time, and If Kovacic develops that, great, but currently I havent seen it. Gundogan also had alot of evidence he would be great at it, he did play as a 10 for Dortmund for alot of games. While Kovacic at Real Madrid or Chelsea never showed the instincts of a 10 like Gundogan.
I don't understand why you think kovaci isn't suited to that football. He's the best player in the team except for bernardo at sitting with rodri and getting us up the pitch through the lines. That's his major strength.To be clear on one thing.
I dont believe for our squad that we will play with wingers inside and the double pivot of two 6s. It was the best Pep could do with the personnel.
We have alot of talented wide wingers, Im sure Pep will go back to this more as the default over the wide fullbacks.
In this sense, Kova isnt the best partner to Rodri for what I said.
You said Gundogan learned that role over time, and If Kovacic develops that, great, but currently I havent seen it. Gundogan also had alot of evidence he would be great at it, he did play as a 10 for Dortmund for alot of games. While Kovacic at Real Madrid or Chelsea never showed the instincts of a 10 like Gundogan.