Player thread: Fernando (2014/15)

[Mikejl]

Was pleased when we bought him, forgave him his early struggles, clearly a square peg in a round hole though. Ideal to play away from home in the CL, see Roma, good option to close down the space in tight away games, see Chelsea. Absolute waste of a shirt at home to poor opposition, slows the game down, ponderous & now his confidence looks shot. Not his fault, blame the manager/ tactics

 

[Neville Kneville]

His game is suffering a bit, but I think he is a really good player. He just needs to play in a system that suits him and the team.

Pellegrini got it totally wrong against Hull and took too long to change it. And the result is Fernando gets criticism he doesn't really deserve

Fernando doesn't deserve criticism purely because the signing of him is just totally unnecessary, he just doesn't fit in with the way we play at all. I feel sorry for him sometimes just because he has been brought in and asked to do a job that is completely alien to him.

He is 26 years old, he isn't a young lad that you can mould and hope that he can improve certain aspects of his game, what you see is what you get with him. Like I said he is ideal in games where we are a bit 'backs to the wall', but playing him at home against the likes of Hull is baffling. Like Shaleumstash said in the Pellegrini thread, its almost like he thinks he can replace Fernando with Yaya and expect a similar result/performance.

He's just a couple of years older than that other Turkey Mangala yet most still think he just needs a little time to become the greatest CB ever. Porto took us to the cleaners last summer, the scary thing is I remember a Porto fan came on here and said of the two he was more sad to see Fernando go.......YIKES!!

Perhaps he was judging the pair of them on more than a few games in their first season at a new club ?

 

[MC ID]

Agree with the genetal sentiment, he's great when we need to be defensive but limited otherwise, doesn't help us when we are facing 11 behind the ball. Then again I don't think any of us where expecting him to.

 

[I'm no cynic but...]

Perhaps the problem could be resolved by playing Zabba as our holding midfielder, at least until this season is out. He is up to speed with what is needed in this league and he won't go down without a fight, and is as near as anything we have to a De Jong type of player. He can't be any worse at this job than Fernando.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

Agree with the genetal sentiment, he's great when we need to be defensive but limited otherwise, doesn't help us when we are facing 11 behind the ball. Then again I don't think any of us where expecting him to.

He's not great. He's ok when we don't have the ball but nothing special.

As for the 11 behind the ball, it's no wonder with the number of times we let the away team score first and to be fair to Hull their goal wasn't from their first gilt edged chance. They really should have scored when they hit the bar.

Last 4 homes games, the away team have scored first in every one. Always going to make life difficult.

 

[LoveCity]

Perhaps the problem could be resolved by playing Zabba as our holding midfielder, at least until this season is out. He is up to speed with what is needed in this league and he won't go down without a fight, and is as near as anything we have to a De Jong type of player. He can't be any worse at this job than Fernando.

Probably Milner would be better in a makeshift role like this since he is more of a natural midfielder.

I still think Fernando would be better in a 3. It's what he's used to and hasn't adapted to a 2. If he was in Chelsea's team/system, I have a feeling he would look good as he has for us when we've tightened up our system (in European big games and vs. Chelsea). Our system could make Maldini and Cannavaro look bad at the moment. No team in the entire Premier League is more open in the defensive half than us and it's only because we have so much of the ball that we don't concede more. Opponents must not believe how much space they have. This isn't such an issue if you're near perfect on the ball like Bayern and Barcelona can be with their high lines, because then you're never losing it and gifting teams those awful 2/3 vs. 2/3 counter attacks that have our defenders in a panic.

 

[blue ranger]

he is a destroyer

You don't need a destroyer when you are playing against a 10 man defence. Against Chelsea he totally dominated Matic who has been their main man this season

I must have missed that one. Against Chelsea Zouma and Matic were there best players. The facts are he is shite.

 

[Shaelumstash]

Just had a look at our league form this season with Fernando starting vs not starting.

Win %
Fernando starting: 53%
Fernando not starting: 78%

Loss %
Fernando starting: 23%
Fernando not starting: 0%

Draw %
Fernando starting: 23%
Fernando not starting: 22%

It's also worth noting that the 2 games we drew where Fernando didn't start were away to Arsenal, and at home to Chelsea, two very tough games that we played very well in. We won all the other league games which Fernando didn't start in.

The games we drew which Fernando started in were QPR, Burnley and Everton.

The games we lost which Fernando started in were against Stoke and Arsenal at home, and West Ham away.

Thought it was worth updating our win percentage in the league:

When Fernando starts: 46%.

When Fernando doesn't start: 78%.

We're two thirds of the way through the season, this is not a statistically anomaly, it's a clear sign that his presence in the team has a detrimental effect on performances and results. Never thought I'd say this, but I'd start Milner in central midfield tonight.

 

[Goldenboy87]

Just had a look at our league form this season with Fernando starting vs not starting.

Win %
Fernando starting: 53%
Fernando not starting: 78%

Loss %
Fernando starting: 23%
Fernando not starting: 0%

Draw %
Fernando starting: 23%
Fernando not starting: 22%

It's also worth noting that the 2 games we drew where Fernando didn't start were away to Arsenal, and at home to Chelsea, two very tough games that we played very well in. We won all the other league games which Fernando didn't start in.

The games we drew which Fernando started in were QPR, Burnley and Everton.

The games we lost which Fernando started in were against Stoke and Arsenal at home, and West Ham away.

Thought it was worth updating our win percentage in the league:

When Fernando starts: 46%.

When Fernando doesn't start: 78%.

We're two thirds of the way through the season, this is not a statistically anomaly, it's a clear sign that his presence in the team has a detrimental effect on performances and results. Never thought I'd say this, but I'd start Milner in central midfield tonight.

To be fair Jimmy Milner is a solid Central Midfielder, would not be surprised if that is one of the reasons he may move to Liverpool when his contract is up as we don't give him a chance and prefer to stick him out wide!

Fernando at home is just a waste of time when in most cases teams are literally just set up to defend.

 

[Jack Wills]

It takes the piss that we risk losing Milner (and losing games!) because we play Fernando in central mid instead of him. Milner is a much better player; more reliable, more skilful and can put in challenges just as good if not better than Fernando.

If we lose Milner to Liverpool on a free and keep Fernando bumbling around and slowing us down offering nothing it'll be a travesty, not to mention Milner obviously is home-grown as well.