Elliot Anderson | Opening bid rejected (p189)

Asa's left peg said:
He would be a welcome addition and is a fantastic player, but he alone won't be the answer to our issues in midfield. If he had been with us since January he'd be fecked, last night, too.

It's a yes from me, but who else?
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Given the physical intensity of the league, it probably means looking for someone who already plays in it, even if there are better prospects elsewhere. Tonali would make sense in that regard.
 
cp64 said:
Couldn't think of a worse side for City to play last night. They press and are rapid in transition , next season will be interesting as so many teams who have had a light work load this season will be playing twice a week and Arsenal won't be able to get away with an underdog tag.
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Hopefully the wrestlers from North London will also be penalised on manhandling opponents.
The Champs League Final will be interesting, as so far in the European competitions, grappling is immediately stamped upon by the officials.
Kent Walton is not allowed to commentate on such abominations...
 
Gabriel said:
Given the physical intensity of the league, it probably means looking for someone who already plays in it, even if there are better prospects elsewhere. Tonali would make sense in that regard.
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Can't think of anyone who fits the Rodri profile (of old). I don't disagree with Tonali, it's just that there seems to be no like for like, as there was with replacing Sergio/David Dinho etc. Maybe we need 2 swiss army knives that can do a bit of everything. They would both fit that role. We do need someone who can run backwards!
 
Asa's left peg said:
Can't think of anyone who fits the Rodri profile (of old). I don't disagree with Tonali, it's just that there seems to be no like for like, as there was with replacing Sergio/David Dinho etc. Maybe we need 2 swiss army knives that can do a bit of everything. They would both fit that role. We do need someone who can run backwards!
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Been saying the same for a couple of years, which drew substantial pushback. Rodri is irreplaceable, but if only one (Cherki) of the front 4-5 has superior ball control, then we need to rethink the midfielder requirements.
 
Asa's left peg said:
Can't think of anyone who fits the Rodri profile (of old). I don't disagree with Tonali, it's just that there seems to be no like for like, as there was with replacing Sergio/David Dinho etc. Maybe we need 2 swiss army knives that can do a bit of everything. They would both fit that role. We do need someone who can run backwards!
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Balance has been the issue all season. We have been sterile and sideways in games we have setup more defensive or too open defensively when we have tried to be more attack minded.

The ball retention and technical dominance we once had is no longer there. So we need players with more energy so we can pin teams back and recover in transition. Anderson playing alongside Rodri, in the role Bernardo has this year is a perfect signing. He can drop in and play as a 6 but it a box to box player effective on and off the ball and for me is the perfect signing to help our defence be more robust and our attack be more effective.

The concern is how much football he has played - U21 Euros last summer, World Cup this one and a long season with Forest. We probably need another name too. I don't think Nico or Reijnders are up to the task personally.
 
I think we need two mids who can operate within those inside channels, left and right.
The doubling up of defenders against our wingers (last 5yrs I'd say), has led to this at times infuriating horseshoe attacking shape, which creeps up the pitch, gets to the penalty area and then goes sideways from left to right.

Sometimes it works, on fast transitions, but because we're a drilled unit the muscle memory is to stick to the plan. And as much as it pains me to say this, I don't see a plan B so much. easy for me to say that as an armchair supporter, but we need a tactical switch (in game) to be heavily worked on. Plus new players which is a given.

Anderson is a good fit.
 
I do think we have an answer or answers within the squad already who can do the job alongside an Elliot Anderson.

For me it’s Gvardiol and O’Reilly. Both get up and down the pitch, are technically excellent and can rotate position. Of the two I’d have O’Reilly as the more CM / box to box type.
 
BlueNomad said:
We also have to have decent squad players, who can do a job and not cause too much of a fuss, to step in and fill in every now and then.
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I agree and that's why I named those two. I don't think Nico can come in and do a job. I think he needs a consistent run of games to play his best football and I dont think we can give him that.

Reijnders has been absolutely miles off what we need. He is a player with a lot of energy but has been largely invisible this season. Last night was a game we needed someone with his profile but Pep doesn't trust him.

Maybe he will adjust but for me he is as bad a fit as Kalvin Phillips was. Nico is a very good footballer but I'm not convinced we can play him enough to keep him happy or to get him in form. When he came into the side to cover Rodri he was way off it, so he isn't a reliable squad member.
 
supercity88 said:
I agree and that's why I named those two. I don't think Nico can come in and do a job. I think he needs a consistent run of games to play his best football and I dont think we can give him that.

Reijnders has been absolutely miles off what we need. He is a player with a lot of energy but has been largely invisible this season. Last night was a game we needed someone with his profile but Pep doesn't trust him.

Maybe he will adjust but for me he is as bad a fit as Kalvin Phillips was. Nico is a very good footballer but I'm not convinced we can play him enough to keep him happy or to get him in form. When he came into the side to cover Rodri he was way off it, so he isn't a reliable squad member.
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Don’t think it’s about a run of games for Nico G. As much as some of his fan boys don’t like the simple truth he’s way too immobile for the role and is simply not good enough on the ball, he doesn’t have close to the passing range to play there. Reading of the game may improve but won’t change his inability to play through the lines / long balls. Pep doesn’t trust him at all and it’s been obvious since the day he signed.

Anderson will be a great addition as an 8. Plays through the lines with both feet, can do long passes and has a good engine. We need another one though as well as him.
 
Matt.D said:
Don’t think it’s about a run of games for Nico G. As much as some of his fan boys don’t like the simple truth he’s way too immobile for the role and is simply not good enough on the ball, he doesn’t have close to the passing range to play there. Reading of the game may improve but won’t change his inability to play through the lines / long balls. Pep doesn’t trust him at all and it’s been obvious since the day he signed.
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Considering no fucker in the team other than Kovacic passes the ball through the lines, perhaps it's not Nico's issue but more so that Pep doesn't want them to because no one else who plays in midfield does it either, you are telling me Rodri can't?
 
decmancity said:
Considering no fucker in the team other than Kovacic passes the ball through the lines, perhaps it's not Nico's issue but more so that Pep doesn't want them to because no one else who plays in midfield does it either, you are telling me Rodri can't?
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We need midfielders who can play through to Erling.
We have the best goalscorer in the world yet hardly feed him...
 
pride in battle said:
We need midfielders who can play through to Erling.
We have the best goalscorer in the world yet hardly feed him...
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I completely agree mate. Losing my hair at every game as I watch it.

I refuse to believe that they can't do it, for some reason they do not. Marmoush and Haaland spend the entire game with their hands out asking for passes and our entire defence and midfield see it and turn to face the other way.
 
Gabriel said:
Been saying the same for a couple of years, which drew substantial pushback. Rodri is irreplaceable, but if only one (Cherki) of the front 4-5 has superior ball control, then we need to rethink the midfielder requirements.
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Will there be a "Rodri" role in Maresca's set up?
 
JewelZee said:
Will there be a "Rodri" role in Maresca's set up?
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FWIW...if Rodri is here, you make sure he fits into the side - he's too good to leave out just because your system doesn't cater to him.

He is the system.

However, I'd love to see him have more freedom to go forward too like we saw between 22-24 before his injury when he was scoring goals. And I think somebody like Anderson would give him that.
 
skillman said:
FWIW...if Rodri is here, you make sure he fits into the side - he's too good to leave out just because your system doesn't cater to him.

He is the system.

However, I'd love to see him have more freedom to go forward too like we saw between 22-24 before his injury when he was scoring goals. And I think somebody like Anderson would give him that.
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I'm not asking if there is a role for Rodri, the player. I'm asking if he or anyone else will be playing in the role he has played under Pep...
 
JewelZee said:
I'm not asking if there is a role for Rodri, the player. I'm asking if he or anyone else will be playing in the role he has played under Pep...
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From what I have read, he has more of a double pivot, but one of those is a box to box player who pushes on in possession with a full back dropping inside. At Leicester it was Winks as a 6 and Ndidi box to box. Chelsea it was Caicedo and Fernandez.

Very similar to us really so of course Rodri would have a role.
 
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