I think Rodri's clearly a very good footballer. I genuinely like him. He's not however Fernandinho. Who is? Ferna was astonishingly good and probably the only player in the world capable of doing what he did sweeping up in that 17/18 system. Rodri doesn't have that dynamism.
And before anyone chimes in and says loads of people could do what Ferna could. No, they couldn't. He was everywhere, distributing exceptionally, winning headers in his own box against people taller than him, launching attacks, the master of the tactical foul, never tired.
Once again, I do think Rodri's a good footballer, but he simply can't replicate that exact same role as he doesn't have the engine and dynamism to do that. Not sure he reads danger quite as well as peak Ferna does either. Could learn that over time, but the engine? Not sure.
All of which to say is that we probably need a solution. Same setup clearly doesn't work. He needs someone alongside him, unless our press is absolutely perfect. Could Bernardo be that guy in time? Dunno, but either way we do need to be realistic to his strengths/weaknesses.
God, replacing four genuinely world class players is going to be exceptionally hard. Aguero, Kompany, Silva and Fernandinho are literally some of the best in their positions *ever* in the league. Literally all time greats... 🙃
You can follow @StevenMcinerney.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled: