Cobwebcat
Well-Known Member
We will see. Meet you back here at the end of the season!
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It's Quiet 18 - Wanna ring the bell?
- Thread starter tolmie's hairdoo
- Start date
this narrative infuriates me it really does, okay there was four games we played without rodri last year and yes we lost 3 but there was extenuating circumstances in all of them, we absolutely battered wolves and contrived to lose that game and it had nothing to do with rodris absence, we went toe to toe with arsenal at their ground and managed to lose based on an 88th minute deflected shot once again nothing to do with rodris absence, the only time we got a proper run around was the villa game when we had a 19 yr old lewis and stones in midfield and even then it took haaland missing from 2 yards out and we still only lost by goal.We squeaked the title by a fingernail and wouldn't have won it without Alvarez. The drop off without Rodri was alarming and has not been remedied either.
its such a bullshit press driven, numbers narrative.
newly promoted Ipswich and Chelsea which don't know what to do is not the best metrics.A 100% win rate without Rodri this season would suggest otherwise.
Community shield i don't count - it is glorified friendly and where it was mostly played by non-first teamers
yet your sample for us playing without rodri is FOUR gamesI think the sample needs to be enlarged to be significant.
johnny crossan
Well-Known Member
Nobody in the current squad can replace Rodri as a 6 and none of the ones you mention is a natural pivot.Are those players better than KDB,Bernardo, Kovacic, Gundogan as an 8? Which is were those players in your list would need to be playing instead of most weeks ?
like i have said the sample size you want to use to dismiss it is two games and the sample size you want to prove it is three games, make it make sense.newly promoted Ipswich and Chelsea which don't know what to do is not the best metrics.
Community shield i don't count - it is glorified friendly and where it was mostly played by non-first teamers
We squeaked the title by a fingernail and wouldn't have won it without Alvarez. The drop off without Rodri was alarming and has not been remedied either.
Someone else said it earlier in the window. Had we sold Alvarez for 82m, and Then signed Savinho, we would all be saying we successfully replaced Alvarez with a player that smashed La Liga last year and is a starter for Brazil, while bagging a 50-60m profit. We didn't, but the net result is still the same.
And then we added Gundogan, who offers depth to midfield (and attack), to give options for playing without Rodri, along with Kovacic and other combinations.
Those two things have been addressed imo, and the minutes Alvarez played in midfield won't be missed, and can be shared by Gundogan amongst others. Would have been good to have signed a second striker that can take the smaller proportion of minutes he played up top, but those can be absorbed in different ways.
I am not unhappy with the squad one bit. If we don't sign anyone else which now looks likely, I admit my surprise (more at the overall size of the squad than specific positions), but certainly not worried.
johnny crossan
Well-Known Member
Double that of the one quoted but yes, the margins are small and the quality of the opponent is also a major factor. Let's hope the sample size doesn't increase this time around then.yet your sample for us playing without rodri is FOUR games
johnny crossan
Well-Known Member
I devoutly hope Savinho can be a back up striker for us if needed - nobody else in the squad has a good track record in that position. Gundo is a big bonus I agree but he is not a 6 and just renders Nunes completely pointless.Someone else said it earlier in the window. Had we sold Alvarez for 82m, and Then signed Savinho, we would all be saying we successfully replaced Alvarez with a player that smashed La Liga last year and is a starter for Brazil, while bagging a 50-60m profit. We didn't, but the net result is still the same.
And then we added Gundogan, who offers depth to midfield (and attack), to give options for playing without Rodri, along with Kovacic and other combinations.
Those two things have been addressed imo, and the minutes Alvarez played in midfield won't be missed, and can be shared by Gundogan amongst others. Would have been good to have signed a second striker that can take the smaller proportion of minutes he played up top, but those can be absorbed in different ways.
I am not unhappy with the squad one bit. If we don't sign anyone else which now looks likely, I admit my surprise (more at the overall size of the squad than specific positions), but certainly not worried.
we actually won one of those four games tbfDouble that of the one quoted but yes, the margins are small and the quality of the opponent is also a major factor. Let's hope the sample size doesn't increase this time around then.