Rodri - The 2024 Ballon d'Or Winner! (Pg 131)

Dribble said:
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In all fairness, Rodri's no Fernandinho, another of our underrated, unsung heroes. I recall his first match, where after two minutes he dwelled on the ball, had it taken off his toes & in the panic to retrieve it, he could have arguably had a penalty awarded against him.

He wasn't used to the frantic pace of the PL & during his first two seasons, he kept getting tackled believing he had more time than he did. However, with a 36 year old Fern on the wane, Plodri started to become Rodri.

Once fully adjusted to the pace of the PL, & now shouldering the responsibility of the No 6 role on his own after the depature of Fernandinho & the failure of Kalvin Phillips, Rodri truly came into his own. So much so, that the footballing world named his position after him. There can be no higher accolade or recognition of his talents.

Some may not rate him as City's best player, but over the last three seasons he's been by far our most important. It's just a pity his fears of physical, mental & emotional burnout came to pass, but that's on City, not Rodri.

The City greats of Yaya, Silva, Aguero & KDB all went before him & rarely even got into the PL team of the year, such was the cartel & the medias hatred of City. But last night proved to be better late than never for all Sky Blues.

We all know Haaland should've won last season, but for emotional reasons it was awarded to the brilliant, legendary but ultimately undeserving Messi. It's a vote that still grates with me if I'm being honest, as clearly the best player on the planet at that point didn't win because of football's sentiment toward Messi, who alongside Pelé & Maradona is in the top three players to ever kick a ball imo.

Watching Rodders win made me cast my mind back to Kaka bursting out in tears at the thought of leaving AC Milan for City. RVP opting for the Rags after we messed him about. Isco opting for Real which was understandable. Messi using us time & time again as a bargaining tool as he bankrupted Barça. Pogba, Sanchez, Fred & Maguire all opting for Old Toilet ahead of City, but last night must have made all bar Messi think what could've been in East Manchester.

This award & our recent success is the best advert ever for aspiring footballers, & none of this would have been possible without HRH Sheikh Mansour, Khaldoon, Soriano, Txiki & the man many labeled the Bald Fraud, Pep Guardiola. I thank them all for the best footballing times of my life.

What a fuckin time to be a City fan! We're well & truly blessed. )(
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A wonderful piece Dribble well said mate.
 
Frankie lad said:
I watched Pep today and I was screaming say “maybe they couldn’t afford the flights” or “maybe the hotels were full” it would have been clever and funny but after I thought about it it would have been wrong for the boss to say anything like that.
This is where PEP is a master not just in football but in life. It’s gone now and if he had have fuelled it would have rolled on.
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Exactly!

We left Real Madrid looking like the entitled tossers they really are. Well played Rodri. Well played Pep. Well played Manchester City Football Club.

Real refusing to attend highlights City for the terrifying behemoth we've become, against all FFP, PSR & APT odds. They tried to strangle us at birth, yet here we are. :-)
 
Dribble said:
Exactly!

We left Real Madrid looking like the entitled tossers they really are. Well played Rodri. Well played Pep. Well played Manchester City Football Club.

Real refusing to attend highlights City for the terrifying behemoth we've become, against all FFP, PSR & APT odds. They tried to strangle us at birth, yet here we are. :-)
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Everyone is sick of us.
We could but shouldn’t gloat.Rags did that when we were rubbish.
We don't want to ever be like them.
 
I'msingingingtheblues said:
For once, a good article in the Grauniad about Rodri - worth a read: https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...m_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=fiver_email

I think RM's pettulant and childish reaction has further enhanced the validity of Rodri's crowning as the best player in the world. His acceptance speech has made even some of our detractors pause for thought.
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To be fair Sid Lowe has been raving about Rodri since he was at Villarreal on his podcast and was absolutely certain that we got him for an absolute steal (I think he is also the person who first reported that Atletico were trying to raise his release clause before he’d even played a game for them).
 
Dribble said:
View attachment 136849

In all fairness, Rodri's no Fernandinho, another of our underrated, unsung heroes. I recall his first match, where after two minutes he dwelled on the ball, had it taken off his toes & in the panic to retrieve it, he could have arguably had a penalty awarded against him.

He wasn't used to the frantic pace of the PL & during his first two seasons, he kept getting tackled believing he had more time than he did. However, with a 36 year old Fern on the wane, Plodri started to become Rodri.

Once fully adjusted to the pace of the PL, & now shouldering the responsibility of the No 6 role on his own after the depature of Fernandinho & the failure of Kalvin Phillips, Rodri truly came into his own. So much so, that the footballing world named his position after him. There can be no higher accolade or recognition of his talents.

Some may not rate him as City's best player, but over the last three seasons he's been by far our most important. It's just a pity his fears of physical, mental & emotional burnout came to pass, but that's on City, not Rodri.

The City greats of Yaya, Silva, Aguero & KDB all went before him & rarely even got into the PL team of the year, such was the cartel & the medias hatred of City. But last night proved to be better late than never for all Sky Blues.

We all know Haaland should've won last season, but for emotional reasons it was awarded to the brilliant, legendary but ultimately undeserving Messi. It's a vote that still grates with me if I'm being honest, as clearly the best player on the planet at that point didn't win because of football's sentiment toward Messi, who alongside Pelé & Maradona is in the top three players to ever kick a ball imo.

Watching Rodders win made me cast my mind back to Kaka bursting out in tears at the thought of leaving AC Milan for City. RVP opting for the Rags after we messed him about. Isco opting for Real which was understandable. Messi using us time & time again as a bargaining tool as he bankrupted Barça. Pogba, Sanchez, Fred & Maguire all opting for Old Toilet ahead of City, but last night must have made all bar Messi think what could've been in East Manchester.

This award & our recent success is the best advert ever for aspiring footballers, & none of this would have been possible without HRH Sheikh Mansour, Khaldoon, Soriano, Txiki & the man many labeled the Bald Fraud, Pep Guardiola. I thank them all for the best footballing times of my life.

What a fuckin time to be a City fan! We're well & truly blessed. )(
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It certainly took him a while to adjust, but it was worth the wait.

I remember reading a quote about Busquets, something along the lines of "if you watch the whole game, you don't notice him; but if you watch him, you notice the whole game", and that's what Rodders is. When he's not banging in from 20 yards, a lot of what he does goes unnoticed, but he's vital to the way we play. If we retain the league without him, it will go down as Pep's greatest achievement; that's how vital Rodri is to us.
 
BlueAnorak said:
Peps response to Real Madrid throwing their toys out of the pram was so classy...
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It’s fine is my favourite expression. Covers anything you want. Someone says you house is on fire and you respond with its fine it couldn’t mean that the fire brigade is on their way and everyone will be safe. It could also mean you are comfortable with the whole world burning.
 
Blue and true said:
It certainly took him a while to adjust, but it was worth the wait.

I remember reading a quote about Busquets, something along the lines of "if you watch the whole game, you don't notice him; but if you watch him, you notice the whole game", and that's what Rodders is. When he's not banging in from 20 yards, a lot of what he does goes unnoticed, but he's vital to the way we play. If we retain the league without him, it will go down as Pep's greatest achievement; that's how vital Rodri is to us.
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That was the big fear we had & the biggest disappointment about Phillips. I doubt we could ever replace Rodri like for like, but the same can be said of Yaya & Fernandinho.

Rodders has been our most important player over the last three years, so hopefully him being recognised as the world's best player will give him some comfort & encouragement on his road to recovery.

We took a chance not replacing Phillips, but out of adversity comes opportunity. I hope Kova & Gundog can adequately fill in the gap for the season, & that we also make serious efforts to buy a player who can offer Rodri some competition & respite too.
 
Frankie lad said:
Everyone is sick of us.
We could but shouldn’t gloat. Rags did that when we were rubbish.
We don't want to ever be like them.
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This is what enrages them! They just don't get why I don't rub their noses in our successes & their failures, because if/when it was the other way around, that's why they lived for football.

A few years back, a rabid Rag mate of mine got seriously pissed with me because I didn't want to talk about ManUre.

I don't suppose telling him that I don't watch football on Thursdays, so couldn't really comment, helped matters, but still... :-)
 
Dribble said:
This is what enrages them! They just don't get why I don't rub their noses in our successes & their failures, because if/when it was the other way around, that's why they lived for football.

A few years back, a rabid Rag mate of mine got seriously pissed with me because I didn't want to talk about ManUre.

I don't suppose telling him that I don't watch football on Thursdays, so couldn't really comment, helped matters, but still... :-)
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I live in Newcastle.They like and know their football up here.
They battered us year after year.It never bothered me.I supported City.
Now we win here you get the occasional knob but they get City and appreciate the football and I never take the piss.
I say this if I lived in Manchester I may be different with a rag :-)
 
Has the English journalist that voted written their piece yet of why they voted thecl way they did?
 
Crikey, Tebas has had a brain transplant...

'I'm a Madrid fan. The important values of this club are to be a gentleman and to shake hands when you lose.

'I think Real Madrid lost that mentality a long time ago. They should have gone to the ceremony and not questioned the France Football system, which is transparent, with 100 journalists voting.

'Real Madrid's victimhood doesn't have to be and it is exaggerated. I don't know where they're going. We also experience this lack of elegance in Spain.'
 
Newman Noggs said:
Crikey, Tebas has had a brain transplant...

'I'm a Madrid fan. The important values of this club are to be a gentleman and to shake hands when you lose.

'I think Real Madrid lost that mentality a long time ago. They should have gone to the ceremony and not questioned the France Football system, which is transparent, with 100 journalists voting.

'Real Madrid's victimhood doesn't have to be and it is exaggerated. I don't know where they're going. We also experience this lack of elegance in Spain.'
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Fair fucks to him for that.

Real Madrid have made themselves look like total cocks over this, and everyone outside their fan base can see it.
 
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