Fernandinho

[Kippaxstreetheadache]

It's an awful lot of money to pay for a player of his age with little resale value and others have pointed out elsewhere that perhaps there were other options around.

But the fact is that Fernandinho is EXACTLY the type of player we needed and lacked last season.

I know he split Blues but it's no coincidence that we won the league with De Jong and fell behind without him. He was an energetic destructive force sitting in front of our back-line that gave us necessary protection. From the very start last term it was disconcerting how often Komps etc were exposed and pulled (out of necessity) out of position.

As much as I loved him though NDJ had his flaws - he was perhaps too ABC. Fernandinho is from a similar mould yet has far superior technique. In short then, the perfect player for what we needed to dramatically improve. So what price for that? Added to that his experience and the fact that he's played for nearly a decade in Ukraine so he's hardly going to be hiding on the proverbial wet Tuesday in Stoke so that minimises the risk of him not settling and I'm well made up with the signing.

The way he quietly bossed the midfield on Mon offered me great encouragement. No fuss a la De Jong and once he's got to know the movement around him there will be far better link-up play.

With the triangle of him, Yaya, and Kompany no-one will get an easy ride and where do they go from there?....to the left there's Nasty and put the ball anywhere near Zaba and he'll snap and harry the shit out of you.

I don't agree.

It is a coincidence.

I think many are forgetting that the season we won the title De Jong featured less in the starting line up than he ever had done previously. Mancini favoured pairing Barry deep with Yaya, that's when we played the best football the league has seen since Arsene's invincibles.

De Jong would often be brought as a sub to pair Barry and release Yaya further forward, but he wasn't a key player that season. A valuable player but not a key player.

Our problems last season were due to not being as fluid and creative as we were the year we win the title. We were sound defensively, but didn't have the cutting edge we used to going forward. Our problem was goals and moving the ball too slowly.

De Jong staying would not have changed that, him staying would have had no bearing on the title race IMO.

Our problem (among others) was that instead of replacing him with a player with his defensive qualities and a greater footballing ability, i.e De Rossi, we replaced him with Garcia.

We needed an upgrade on Barry and De Jong, to be paired with Yaya. That way Barry could become the De Jong rotating/impact sub to release Yaya.

Instead we downgraded and panic bought a player who wasn't good enough in the shape of Garcia on deadline day.

This year we identified a central midfielder suitable to pair Yaya, a player with De Jong's defensive qualities but with a vastly superior technique and passing ability. And we got our man.

Fernandinho is nimble, has a great work rate, and most importantly the quality to strengthen our threat going forward.

He's the balanced player we've needed for a while. And he will prove a key signing.

 

[NoahCity]

It's an awful lot of money to pay for a player of his age with little resale value and others have pointed out elsewhere that perhaps there were other options around.

But the fact is that Fernandinho is EXACTLY the type of player we needed and lacked last season.

I know he split Blues but it's no coincidence that we won the league with De Jong and fell behind without him. He was an energetic destructive force sitting in front of our back-line that gave us necessary protection. From the very start last term it was disconcerting how often Komps etc were exposed and pulled (out of necessity) out of position.

As much as I loved him though NDJ had his flaws - he was perhaps too ABC. Fernandinho is from a similar mould yet has far superior technique. In short then, the perfect player for what we needed to dramatically improve. So what price for that? Added to that his experience and the fact that he's played for nearly a decade in Ukraine so he's hardly going to be hiding on the proverbial wet Tuesday in Stoke so that minimises the risk of him not settling and I'm well made up with the signing.

The way he quietly bossed the midfield on Mon offered me great encouragement. No fuss a la De Jong and once he's got to know the movement around him there will be far better link-up play.

With the triangle of him, Yaya, and Kompany no-one will get an easy ride and where do they go from there?....to the left there's Nasty and put the ball anywhere near Zaba and he'll snap and harry the shit out of you.

I don't agree.

It is a coincidence.

I think many are forgetting that the season we won the title De Jong featured less in the starting line up than he ever had done previously. Mancini favoured pairing Barry deep with Yaya, that's when we played the best football the league has seen since Arsene's invincibles.

De Jong would often be brought as a sub to pair Barry and release Yaya further forward, but he wasn't a key player that season. A valuable player but not a key player.

Our problems last season were due to not being as fluid and creative as we were the year we win the title. We were sound defensively, but didn't have the cutting edge we used to going forward. Our problem was goals and moving the ball too slowly.

De Jong staying would not have changed that, him staying would have had no bearing on the title race IMO.

Our problem (among others) was that instead of replacing him with a player with his defensive qualities and a greater footballing ability, i.e De Rossi, we replaced him with Garcia.

We needed an upgrade on Barry and De Jong, to be paired with Yaya. That way Barry could become the De Jong rotating/impact sub to release Yaya.

Instead we downgraded and panic bought a player who wasn't good enough in the shape of Garcia on deadline day.

This year we identified a central midfielder suitable to pair Yaya, a player with De Jong's defensive qualities but with a vastly superior technique and passing ability. And we got our man.

Fernandinho is nimble, has a great work rate, and most importantly the quality to strengthen our threat going forward.

He's the balanced player we've needed for a while. And he will prove a key signing.

so you think we should keep Barry for this season?

 

[Kippaxstreetheadache]

It's an awful lot of money to pay for a player of his age with little resale value and others have pointed out elsewhere that perhaps there were other options around.

But the fact is that Fernandinho is EXACTLY the type of player we needed and lacked last season.

I know he split Blues but it's no coincidence that we won the league with De Jong and fell behind without him. He was an energetic destructive force sitting in front of our back-line that gave us necessary protection. From the very start last term it was disconcerting how often Komps etc were exposed and pulled (out of necessity) out of position.

As much as I loved him though NDJ had his flaws - he was perhaps too ABC. Fernandinho is from a similar mould yet has far superior technique. In short then, the perfect player for what we needed to dramatically improve. So what price for that? Added to that his experience and the fact that he's played for nearly a decade in Ukraine so he's hardly going to be hiding on the proverbial wet Tuesday in Stoke so that minimises the risk of him not settling and I'm well made up with the signing.

The way he quietly bossed the midfield on Mon offered me great encouragement. No fuss a la De Jong and once he's got to know the movement around him there will be far better link-up play.

With the triangle of him, Yaya, and Kompany no-one will get an easy ride and where do they go from there?....to the left there's Nasty and put the ball anywhere near Zaba and he'll snap and harry the shit out of you.

I don't agree.

It is a coincidence.

I think many are forgetting that the season we won the title De Jong featured less in the starting line up than he ever had done previously. Mancini favoured pairing Barry deep with Yaya, that's when we played the best football the league has seen since Arsene's invincibles.

De Jong would often be brought as a sub to pair Barry and release Yaya further forward, but he wasn't a key player that season. A valuable player but not a key player.

Our problems last season were due to not being as fluid and creative as we were the year we win the title. We were sound defensively, but didn't have the cutting edge we used to going forward. Our problem was goals and moving the ball too slowly.

De Jong staying would not have changed that, him staying would have had no bearing on the title race IMO.

Our problem (among others) was that instead of replacing him with a player with his defensive qualities and a greater footballing ability, i.e De Rossi, we replaced him with Garcia.

We needed an upgrade on Barry and De Jong, to be paired with Yaya. That way Barry could become the De Jong rotating/impact sub to release Yaya.

Instead we downgraded and panic bought a player who wasn't good enough in the shape of Garcia on deadline day.

This year we identified a central midfielder suitable to pair Yaya, a player with De Jong's defensive qualities but with a vastly superior technique and passing ability. And we got our man.

Fernandinho is nimble, has a great work rate, and most importantly the quality to strengthen our threat going forward.

He's the balanced player we've needed for a while. And he will prove a key signing.

so you think we should keep Barry for this season?

No. He should've been the stand in last season, he shouldn't have been a key player last year.

He isn't mobile enough to play in Pellegrini's 4-2-2-2, that formation requires a lot of pressing, Barry has neither the stamina or athleticism to play in this system.

He could have been a useful squad player if we were still managed by Mancini and playing a slow paced 4-2-3-1, but under the new set-up? No.

Garcia and Rodwell will be Fernandinho's stand in, the former clearly not good enough and the latter could prove useful if he stays fit. But this area could prove a problem is Fernandinho is injured - that could be a reason to retain Barry, but I don't think it'll be enough.

Barry is a good player though, and could still prove himself an important player to a number of Premier League clubs.

 

[TCIB]

Towards the end of our title winning season De Jong played a lot.
It is no coincidence we were rock solid at that time.

De Jong played his part just fine and at a time it really counted.

 

[Braggster]

Reckon he is much better than NDJ. Far more to his game and able to play at greater pace and intensity. By the end of the season I can see a lot of people in European football saying, "Why was he allowed to stay in Ukraine all those years?". Bit like Jackson Martinez who only moved to European football aged 25 and now has big teams admiring him (Chelsea linked again today).

Or Diego Milito, who, while in Europe, had never played for a superclub until his move to Inter at age (I think) 31. Milito's production at Genoa and Zaragoza was excellent, shame he didn't get longer on the big stage at the peak of his career. But the likes of Ferna, Martinez and Milito just go to show that the market is by no means completely efficient

I rewatched the highlights last night and two things really struck me. One, Fernandinho is an absolutely fantastic player, with far more to his all round game than NDJ. Two, he and Yaya as a pairing completely transform the tempo of the team, often in quite a subtle way - the passing is so crisp, quick and incisive it just lets us find our dangermen quicker and in more space.

NDJ and Barry, who are both good players, look like dinosaurs in comparison.

 

[DanCity]

A few of us started singing this on Monday night <To the chorous of 'Panic' by The Smiths>

Fernan-dinh-o
Fernan-dinh-o
Fernan-dinh-o
Fernan-dinh-oo

Fer-nan-dinho, Fer-nan-dinho, Fer-nan-dinho

Fernan-dinh-o
Fernan-dinh-o
Fernan-dinh-o
Fernan-dinh-oo

<and repeat>

<a class="postlink" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AlH2oYedfk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AlH2oYedfk</a>

 

[vintiz]

Not trying to be a dick, but I can remember reading post similar to this on MEN bout javi when he recently signed as being an upgrade to NDJ and see what he's turned out to be !
I hope an completely wrong bout fern and I hope come may he would have proved his quality.

 

[FantasyIreland]

Not trying to be a dick, but I can remember reading post similar to this on MEN bout javi when he recently signed as being an upgrade to NDJ and see what he's turned out to be !
I hope an completely wrong bout fern and I hope come may he would have proved his quality.

As you obviously missed preseason and the Newcastle game,try watching the Cardiff game.

 

[Le Havre Oswald]

Not trying to be a dick, but I can remember reading post similar to this on MEN bout javi when he recently signed as being an upgrade to NDJ and see what he's turned out to be !
I hope an completely wrong bout fern and I hope come may he would have proved his quality.

As you obviously missed preseason and the Newcastle game,try watching the Cardiff game.

Hahaha what a strange post.

 

[Bigga]

Nice little vid from the lad- his English is coming on.....

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23784250" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/23784250</a>

This guy is so impressive. He is just an ultimate ambitious professional. If he wasn't a footballer I'd bet he'd be running a multinational company. He just seems that confident in himself without being cocky. I think it's his greatest quality and why we paid top price for him.

That said he's not as powerful a player as I thought he'd be. I fear he might get a few red cards as he doesn't have the physical presence that is required to avoid diving in as often as he does. He'll get plenty of bookings and be on the edge of going too far more often than not. That's fine though. He is still a huge asset for us and I'm hoping there's more to come from him ( 2nd half for a spell he seemed to ping balls around like he was becoming more comfortable).

So glad we signed him. We have a steely bunch in the dressing room now. :-)

I don't think you can take one game as a general overview. He looked a little uncertain of the pace of the game, at that point, to me.

Once he has the style and pace down, I think he'll adapt and push on, quite easily.

Chelsea's Ramirez looked pants early on, according to some(not me as I could see the potential), but look how he soon settled into the pace of the game!!