16 - Rodri

Trickykid said:
I completely forgot what it's like to have a proper DM in the team. Feels good, man.
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"Proper" is good. In form he's still the best in the world.

We missed someone like him desperately under Flick, who can stabilze the defense, who can help keeping the ball in our ranks, who can anticipate, win duels, is impossible to press himself. By far the most important transfer in the last 3 years. Deco should get a statue to have pulled him away from Madrid.
 
I tell you what is so great to me about Rodri and why he is a difference maker. Once normal players are pressured, their field of vision gets boxed in to the point that they pick the easiest escape pass, which is often what opponents want. With Rodri, the fact he sees players pressuring him does not affect his ability to be lucid and operate normally. It is simply a matter of knowing before hand "ok, so if I ask the ball here, I will for sure draw increased attention from opponents, but if they do this, X player gets more free and I can access him instead". All that gets processed very fast by midfielders of a certain class. That's all there is, this is the secret of unlocking pressing scenarios. Not being intimidated by it and being confident enough to punish it. Sounds easy, but in big games, it is tremendously hard and only 3-4 midfielders really had this in my 30 years of watching the game nearly.

Xavi had it, Busi had it, Rodri has it, Pedri doesn't have it (yet). When you try to press Pedri, you get the result you want as a pressing team. When you try to press Rodri, it can backfire. The 3rd goal vs Sevilla is a proof of that. And this is Rodri with minimal adaptation.

Pedri is great at facilitating the ability of Rodri to obtain a bit more time to deal with pressure, but Rodri is the orchestrator, there is no doubt about this. Rodri is the one deciding when to circulate the ball more to make the opponent overcommit in their pressing attempts. You can even see him scanning for forward passes, and when he sees the opponent still have proper structure, he circulates the ball more. And when they finally have gaps do to having to chase the ball too long, trying to cover left, right, left, right again in succession, that's when the splitting pass comes.

Pedri can pass quickly, he can have a great touch, a smooth dribble, and that is valuable also. Think about commander in chief in midfield and 2nd in command, right hand man.

Pedri is going to struggle a bit because the role he thought he had, is no longer assigned to him, because we brought in a superior midfielder at this task. This is going to help Pedri a lot, because he was never supposed to be a true deep lying playmaker. His ideal position is what he can become with Rodri.

Rodri is not perfect. We got him older, after some injuries, but it can still be the missing piece because neither of Pedri, much less De Jong, have his vision, calm on the ball, and range of passing.
 
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Rodri had to do a lot of cover work for Pedri yesterday.
And you could see the difference between Rodri and Frenkie not the pitch. When Pedri had a day like yesterday, especially first half, these were the games Barça lost or had to make some incredible comeback.
 
I only caught the 2nd half, but Pedri looked fine to me in the 2nd half. It is a question of them finding the proper chemistry, that's all.
 
Danie7 said:
Rodri had to do a lot of cover work for Pedri yesterday.
And you could see the difference between Rodri and Frenkie not the pitch.
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That's because Frenkie is a lot more similar to Pedri than to Rodri. His strength at Ajax was always to carry the ball forward dynamically. Unforgettable where he leaves half of Madrid's team behind him and dribbles past Modric like he was training cone. With Pedri at his side, he had to play the more defensive role and that took away his strength.
That's also the reason, why Pedri and Frenkie never really stabilized our game, they're too similar in their urge to go forward. Rodri suits much better to pair with either of them.
 
And if De Jong comes back strong, what do we do with Pedri? Push him into a 3 way competition with Olmo and Fermin? Use him as a sub like De La Fuente did? Signing of Rodri puts enormous pressure on Pedri imo.

Rodri if fit starts either way, and then we choose one out of Pedri and De Jong for the biggest games.
 
I'd like to see him alongside Frenkie.
Anyway, he'll be crucial to our CL stint. I bet you his mind already there whenever we concede these stupid goals. His demeanor is like "this will bite us when it counts the most".
 
serghei said:
And if De Jong comes back strong, what do we do with Pedri? Push him into a 3 way competition with Olmo and Fermin? Use him as a sub like De La Fuente did? Signing of Rodri puts enormous pressure on Pedri imo.

Rodri if fit starts either way, and then we choose one out of Pedri and De Jong for the biggest games.
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Well dejong is kinda of finished (MaTS like) after the injury stint he pulled. He will have to accept his place as simply rotational for Pedri/ Rodri's rest or covering for injuries. Pedri is untouchable, imo.
 
Jamque said:
FdJ could end the season as our LCB if he fully recovers. In possession we would be godly.
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Said it before

Only way I can see FDJ coming back to starting 11 is on CB

The midfield is working well. Flick is not gonna force anyone out just to fit in a player coming from injury. That's entirely unlike him
 
Stunning Frenkie might play better with the best Midfielder of his generation beside him.

Hot take Frenkie might play better if he has a midfield daddy. Where have we heard that before and his fans saying no he can be a leader in Midfield?.
 
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Problem with Frenkie and Pedri is that they aren't DMs(lots of ugly running, pressing and bullying). On the contrary they need a player of that exact profile so they can have the freedom to do their magic upfront. Rodri isn't exactly that either but he does take off a lot of the defensive burden.
 
Rodri played his best match and it was against toughest opponent so far.


Expect him to show his best against beat of them next month.
 
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