82 | Rico Lewis - 2024/25

[Gaz (FMwkdsoul)]

Would like to see him play the 'controller' 8 role is in, in a 'lesser' game but why wouldn't you use McAtee at that point? Do really like alot of this kids game when we are in total control. Clever player.

Maybe a 343 diamond mid with him just sat and being the extra pass/body.

 

[SebastianBlue]

IMO Rico doesn’t offer enough in the opposition half to justify the loss at RB. He doesn’t score goals and has minimal impact on chance creation. Yeah he is neat and tidy in possession but I would expect the same of nearly all youngsters who have spent most of their footballing development in our academy.

I don’t see the value in having a RB who spends most of a game moving into midfield, who then fails to impact the game defensively or offensively. Maybe it’s unfair to compare but we only have to look at the impact Gvardiol has in both halves of the pitch, to see that Rico falls seriously short in comparison.

IMO this current side (a Rodri free midfield) cannot sustain Rico at RB. That’s not Ricos fault, we just need someone who is more defensively minded/solid. I am really surprised Pep hasn’t returned to the 4 CBs solution to give us more solidity. I’d like to see Akanji at RB.

Lewis directly or indirectly created two of the big chances that Sa saved yesterday.

He also forced the bad pass that saw Totti booked and us getting a free kick on the edge of the Wolves box.

Edit: Lewis is also joint second in the team in assists (2) along side Savinho, just behind Bernardo (3).

He’s currently ranked 23rd in the league in assists.

 

[pride in battle]

Rico was further forward per instructions, and tried to get back. Stones is meant to stay wider and have a look over his left shoulder to see if there is a runner on the far post, specifically because Lewis will often not be able to get back to cover fast enough (he can’t be in two places at once, despite the expectations of some blues on here). He can easily run to close the man in the middle of the box from that wider position, if needed—and Dias will cut any ball to the middle runner, if he can. If he can’t, Stones isn’t going to be able to do it, so Stones is there to close, not cut out, and tucking closer to the middle runner is entirely unnecessary. It means we have two CBs covering the same runner, with only one actually being able to stop a ball from getting to him.

The goal was mostly down to Stones taking a poor line and thus ceding the great position for a tap in to the Wolves player, as Lewis scrambled back from his more forward position, which Pep has told him to take up in certain possession situations.

I genuinely don’t understand that of all the players this season, Lewis is one being singled out for being not good enough. In my opinion, on average, he is in our top three best players for the season thus far.

Rico's fault end of...

 

[SebastianBlue]

Agreed. A few posters getting irked by some of us making criticisms of him, but I don’t think anyone making critical comments is saying he’s a “bad player”. I’m certainly not and have included positives about him too. But ultimately I do think he has been a weak link for us at times.

I am not irked by criticism, I am annoyed by blues saying “he’s not good enough for us” or saying he isn’t a good player.

The number of blues in this and the match thread having a go at him is really disappointing. And I am fine being the lone voice defending him, if needed, as I was with Rodri when he was getting the “Plodri” nonsense.

 

[pride in battle]

I have watched it back about ten times, because I thought I must have missed something based on what people in this thread are saying about Lewis, and for me it is 40% on Gvardiol for not closing Semedo down (he ran away rather than to him), 50% on Stones for going walkabout (inexplicably covering no one or even occupying a position where he can impact play), and 10% on Lewis for perhaps not running back as fast as he could.

But, if you watch it back, I think you’ll see that Lewis probably can’t do anything about it even if he does sprint back a bit faster because the crosser was given so much space to put in a great cross and Stones didn’t take a line that would allow him to have a chance at cutting the ball out before it reached a far post runner.

It’s just bizarre to see so many throwing him, of all players, under the bus.

Are you blind, he didn't get back, if he had really bust a gut yes he would off

 

[pride in battle]

IMO Rico doesn’t offer enough in the opposition half to justify the loss at RB. He doesn’t score goals and has minimal impact on chance creation. Yeah he is neat and tidy in possession but I would expect the same of nearly all youngsters who have spent most of their footballing development in our academy.

I don’t see the value in having a RB who spends most of a game moving into midfield, who then fails to impact the game defensively or offensively. Maybe it’s unfair to compare but we only have to look at the impact Gvardiol has in both halves of the pitch, to see that Rico falls seriously short in comparison.

IMO this current side (a Rodri free midfield) cannot sustain Rico at RB. That’s not Ricos fault, we just need someone who is more defensively minded/solid. I am really surprised Pep hasn’t returned to the 4 CBs solution to give us more solidity. I’d like to see Akanji at RB.

I think we will see Akanji at RB

 

[Gigant]

There are a tone of RBs better than him at the moment, but for the sake of argument he is still waaaay more usefull to this team than Walker.

 

[SebastianBlue]

Rico's fault end of...

Are you blind, he didn't get back, if he had really bust a gut yes he would off

I could ask you the same.

Any student of the game or anyone that has played football at any decent level knows that Gvardiol and Stones are as much (or more, in my opinion) to blame for conceding this particular goal as Lewis.

Could Lewis have gotten back faster? Maybe. As I have said, that could be a reasonable criticism.

But even if he had, Stones was still in the better position to eliminate the danger of the far post runner (because Lewis was starting from a worse position because of how Pep asks him to play; it is always going to be that was because of the role Pep has given Lewis), and it was absolutely Stones’ job in the situation to do it. Instead, he ran a line that completely took him out of impacting play, regardless of what Lewis did or did not do. He wasn’t covering runners or an area to cut out threats to runners. And he would be the first to acknowledge that.

Does Lewis share some of the blame? Sure, I will concede that.

But is Lewis solely at fault for the goal? No, absolutely no credible football tactician would claim that.

(By the way, before anyone says “it was because Lewis was out of position to begin with”, ignoring that Pep instructs him to stay further forward, please note Gvardiol’s position relative to our CBs and the Wolves attackers.)

 

[pride in battle]

There are a tone of RBs better than him at the moment, but for the sake of argument he is still waaaay more usefull to this team than Walker.

No he isn't, walker can defend, Rico can't

 

[baggy]

you can keep going back until you find error but also, lets give wolves some credit here, it was a good attack, a fantastic cross and a great finish.