De Rossi

[The Italian Job]

Gareth Barry, Yaya Toure, James Milner, Nigel de Jong, Jack Rodwell....Daniele de Rossi?

Anyone else think we've got central midfield pretty much covered and then some without him?

A couple of points worth considering:

- I have the feeling that Mancini sees Milner on the wing primarily
- de Rossi can play as a CB & could be an especially viable option in that new back three system Mancini has been playing around with
- the same may apply to Rodwell
- African Cup of Nations
- another world class box to box midfielder would give us the option to push Yaya further forward on a more permanent basis
- de Jong may be on the way out fwiw

[Swales4ever]

Gareth Barry, Yaya Toure, James Milner, Nigel de Jong, Jack Rodwell....Daniele de Rossi?

Anyone else think we've got central midfield pretty much covered and then some without him?

Mate,
IF we land De Rossi is because Mancini has been entrusted to his way, hence:
a) Nigel will be sold before becoming a free agent. The Club won't sanction his OTT wages demand for renewal, he knows it and he's trying to run his path towards the free agent status.
b) Jack Rodwell will be coached to become a versatile CB.
c) My beloved Gaz Baz and his fitness status is a huge question mark

Nigel being sold I can see, he is hugely popular here and Bob probably got his name on the new shirt, condemning him to being sold. Rodwell I think would be the replacement for Barry eventually but as a CB in that 3-5-2 system maybe we should have bought a round peg, not like we're short on funds. And Barry I don't even think we can call underrated in our squad because a lot of us rate him very highly.

I certainly spelled it very poorly. sorry Slim.

I DO rate Gaz Baz, my beloved Gaz Baz, very high. Before the Yaya/Dave era, he simply was THE City midfield and still is in my heart. I just expressed concerns about his fitness. those kind of problems are very difficult to be sorted and he is not a youngster anymore.

the 3-5-2 system won't be the plan A of the season. particularly in the Prem. Bob has tested it to be able to swich to it in particular situations of a game and, imho, mainly for the European away games.

[Slim]

I am hoping it's a plan B, I hate to think of coming up against the width of someone like the filth using a 3-5-2.

I guess he could be deployed as the sweeper in that setup, but his primary role should be in central midfield. You don't buy a player of his ability and then play him out of position surely. Yaya and Rodwell and Micah could all fill the role as well from what we already have, again it's playing players out of position though.

I think for now, Kompany--Kolo--Klingon...wait, KKK....uh oh, should be our 3 centrebacks and we need to look at a centreback as competition for them, not a midfielder come defender.

[kinkylola]

i think rodwell has been a defender come midfielder and if bob grooms him for defence, then it's not going to be out of place at all. De jong being off seems to be a popular opinion, and I think it will probably happen as well. Thought he was excellent in the CS, but hey may want more game time and I dont think a setup with de jong is bob's favorite.

let's not forget that there have been plenty of rumours of kolo off, which i hope doesn't happen because I don't want to upset Yaya, but replacing kolo with rodwell doesn't seem so bad, let's also remember that lescott is aging and has dodgey knees.

In any of these situations, bringing in both de rossi and rodwell does not seem excessive to me ... and i'm salivating and the thought of having de rossi at city ... de rossi has been one of my favorite players outside of city for a very long time.

[Slim]

Fuck this yaya will be off shit, Kolo is a good player in his own right. I honestly don't get how he is in the Savic catagory just because he isn't the preferred choice anymore.

[Pretty Boy Lee]

Fuck this yaya will be off shit, Kolo is a good player in his own right. I honestly don't get how he is in the Savic catagory just because he isn't the preferred choice anymore.

My thoughts exactly!

[kinkylola]

Fuck this yaya will be off shit, Kolo is a good player in his own right. I honestly don't get how he is in the Savic catagory just because he isn't the preferred choice anymore.

is that in response to what I said? Because i don't think I ever put kolo in the savic category? All I mentioned was talk about kolo being off, which there was quite a bit of. I don't think he is a bad defender, but he's getting older and he's definitely not a starter anymore, so that means he's replaceable. Which might make sense if we have rodwell + de rossi coming in (obviously de rossi is just rumor). Yaya is not replaceable and has stated that he enjoys playing with his brother, I don't think, and never stated, that I thought yaya would be off if kolo left.

[DoomMerchant]

Would be a fucking brilliant signing. Where exactly would he fit though?

midfield perhaps.

cheers

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Gareth Barry, Yaya Toure, James Milner, Nigel de Jong, Jack Rodwell....Daniele de Rossi?

Anyone else think we've got central midfield pretty much covered and then some without him?

No. De Jong is probably off and Rodwell is just a kid who is coming back from injury. Also the point here is that De Rossi would be best player in that group. Yes, even marginally better than Yaya.

[Slim]

Fuck this yaya will be off shit, Kolo is a good player in his own right. I honestly don't get how he is in the Savic catagory just because he isn't the preferred choice anymore.

is that in response to what I said? Because i don't think I ever put kolo in the savic category? All I mentioned was talk about kolo being off, which there was quite a bit of. I don't think he is a bad defender, but he's getting older and he's definitely not a starter anymore, so that means he's replaceable. Which might make sense if we have rodwell + de rossi coming in (obviously de rossi is just rumor). Yaya is not replaceable and has stated that he enjoys playing with his brother, I don't think, and never stated, that I thought yaya would be off if kolo left.

Everyone's main concern about keeping Kolo is so we don't piss off Yaya, not just you. But I actually like Kolo, not his fault when he plays he is usually partnered with that donkey in some league cup match.

[bigblue]

Gareth Barry, Yaya Toure, James Milner, Nigel de Jong, Jack Rodwell....Daniele de Rossi?

Anyone else think we've got central midfield pretty much covered and then some without him?

No. De Jong is probably off and Rodwell is just a kid who is coming back from injury. Also the point here is that De Rossi would be best player in that group. Yes, even marginally better than Yaya.

You are mental. He is no where near yaya. Almost no one is. Yaya is the single most important player in our team... But what does he do?

[kinkylola]

Fuck this yaya will be off shit, Kolo is a good player in his own right. I honestly don't get how he is in the Savic catagory just because he isn't the preferred choice anymore.

is that in response to what I said? Because i don't think I ever put kolo in the savic category? All I mentioned was talk about kolo being off, which there was quite a bit of. I don't think he is a bad defender, but he's getting older and he's definitely not a starter anymore, so that means he's replaceable. Which might make sense if we have rodwell + de rossi coming in (obviously de rossi is just rumor). Yaya is not replaceable and has stated that he enjoys playing with his brother, I don't think, and never stated, that I thought yaya would be off if kolo left.

Everyone's main concern about keeping Kolo is so we don't piss off Yaya, not just you. But I actually like Kolo, not his fault when he plays he is usually partnered with that donkey in some league cup match.

I like Kolo, I just don't think he's a starter, and he's aging ... and he's probably and a fairly large wage. So, I have no objections with him staying, and a plus to that is that it might make yaya happy. Lots of rumours about him wanting to leave though, and I think even mancini said he can go if he wants? (don't know if there were quotes in that article, don't remember).

My original point was that if there was some truth to him going ... or some truth to de jong going (either/or) than having de rossi and rodwell come in is not excessive at all. Of course, non of this really matters because de rossi isn't a city player and most likely won't be.

[Ted Hughes]

Kolo, when fully fit some years ago, was imo the best defender around. He's never really had chance to settle into Bob's organised defence due to the quality of JL & Vinny & under Hughes, working on the attacking game was the priority, so he had a tough job adapting to that. If he's focused & fit, he's a better 3rd defender than most teams have available.

Back to DDR; if we pull this one off, it will be a gold medal job. He will be effective for a good five years imo, so the age is not as important as with a striker. Barry won't stay at his present standard for that length of time as he is already slow & I doubt he can get away with losing another half yard. He is on his limit now. He doesn't have the alround talent of DeRossi to see him through.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Gareth Barry, Yaya Toure, James Milner, Nigel de Jong, Jack Rodwell....Daniele de Rossi?

Anyone else think we've got central midfield pretty much covered and then some without him?

No. De Jong is probably off and Rodwell is just a kid who is coming back from injury. Also the point here is that De Rossi would be best player in that group. Yes, even marginally better than Yaya.

You are mental. He is no where near yaya. Almost no one is. Yaya is the single most important player in our team... But what does he do?

Best player =/= most important

The role Yaya occupies is one of the key jobs in our system and therefore he is extremely important for us. He is also one of the best box-to-box midfielders in the world. However I would se De Rossi is THE best in that role right now (excluding Iniesta and Xavi). That doesn't take anything away from Yaya or anyway disrespects him.

Besides all that is meaningless. They'd play alongside each other behind Silva and would give us best central midfield (where games are won and lost imo) int he world with Barcelona. This signing would probably be key in our Champion's league push as well.

I agree with Ted here. I think his age (he only turned 29 few weeks ago) is quite irrelevant here. He has had no bad injury history, has kept himself really fit so loss of yard in pace wouldn't affect his game all that much and seems really hungry. So I would say there's AT LEAST good five years in him. Probably even few more.

My ONLY worry with him is that he is facist little shit. But hey ho, I've learned to give it a blind eye. At least he is not a fucking rag.

[Ted Hughes]

I really hope they put us out of our misery if this is just a red herring & this geezer is over here for some other reason.

I would imagine that one of the clubs, the agent, or the player himself would say something pretty soon if this is a non starter though.

The longer it stays quiet; no news is good news imo.

[Mike J]

Christ i hope this is true. De Rossi is a nailed on world class centre midfielder.

[Mase]

I just love the fact he's an absolute animal. Not in the same bracket as Gattuso mind but I love those no nonsense run through a brick wall type players who don't take any shit.
People think de Jong is tough, he's not a patch on de Rossi in my opinion

[s1ty m]

Selling NDJ would be a huge mistake. Kolo is many levels above Savic, who is pathetic. De Rossi? Good addition but no need to sell Nigel.

[Ted Hughes]

I just love the fact he's an absolute animal. Not in the same bracket as Gattuso mind but I love those no nonsense run through a brick wall type players who don't take any shit.
People think de Jong is tough, he's not a patch on de Rossi in my opinion

Not sure about that.

DeRossi is a better footballer but I recon Nige would kick the shit out of him without even breathing heavily.

[Mase]

Not sure about that.

DeRossi is a better footballer but I recon Nige would kick the shit out of him without even breathing heavily.

What gives you that impression? Shar Pei's aren't that vicious.