[limerickcitykid]

Rojo never overlaps, its nothing new. He offered nothing going forward last season and other than the assist he didn't really attack much against Everton either.

 

[ZDwyr]

Thought he was our worst performer. Lucky to have not given away a penalty with that attempted header.

 

[Akshay]

Poor overall. CSKA got joy down his flank a few times, including for the penalty incident, and he offered absolutely nothing going forward. It might be partly tactical, but he'd often pass forward to Martial and then himself retreat as if to tell the CSKA defence, don't worry about me, all you need to be focusing on is Martial there. If he'd even feinted some forward/inside runs it would have helped.

 

[11101]

Rojo never overlaps, its nothing new. He offered nothing going forward last season and other than the assist he didn't really attack much against Everton either.

Hes naturally a centre back, so hes never going to attack the way Shaw does. Blind doesnt do it much and neither did Smalling/Jones when theyve played there. Theyre all reluctant to go forward beyond a certain point.

 

[devilish]

Rojo is a squad player. Unfortunately we are already well stocked with average defenders who aren't first team level.

 

[limerickcitykid]

Hes naturally a centre back, so hes never going to attack the way Shaw does. Blind doesnt do it much and neither did Smalling/Jones when theyve played there. Theyre all reluctant to go forward beyond a certain point.

I disagree on Blind, he got forward plenty last season and demonstrated a great crossing ability. Even from deeper he offers much more attacking threat through his ability on the ball and being able to pick out better options in the middle and through balls. Similar to Smalling and Jones, that is exactly the point, neither of them are good fullbacks and neither offer any attacking prowess from fullback. You combine that with Valencia on the other side and it just isn't good enough.

 

[Devil may care]

Rojo is a squad player. Unfortunately we are already well stocked with average defenders who aren't first team level.

Yeah, Rojo and Jones are fine as squad players but we miss Shaw badly and we need a top CB partner for Smalling.

 

[kr0nix]

He's in for a tough game against City, if he starts in place of Blind. I don't think LVG was too impressed by his performance against CSKA, so I wouldn't be surprised if Blind got the nod ahead of him. That said, if I were Pellegrini I'd be looking at Rojo as the weak link in that back four and look to utilise Navas's pace on that side as often as possible. With the obvious threat of a breakaway in mind, I can't imagine that Rojo will be offering much support to Martial beyond the pass to feet and cover for loss of possession. Being caught upfield whilst on an overlapping run is a massive risk against the pace of De Bruyne, Sterling and Navas. We'll need to be compact when City are in possession. If Rooney wasn't undroppable I'd play Young on the left and Martial in a CF position, and hope that Rojo's weaknesses might be mitigated by having him tuck in closer to the centrebacks. I imagine that in the absence of Silva and Aguero, City will be happy with a point at Old Trafford, so it's as good an opportunity as any for us to capitalise. I fancy Smalling against Bony, Aguero is a different animal altogether.

 

[JB08]

Brilliant work there.

 

[UnofficialDevil]

Brilliant

 

[FujiVice]

He's been great so far.

 

[Sunny Jim]

What the hell has happened to him. Fort Knox on the left.

 

[JB08]

MotM for me so far.

 

[thejtrain]

Brilliant so far. Shaw-esque.

 

[LeChuck]

Wow who knew he'd do well in his natural position?

 

[Santos J]

Wow who knew he'd do well in his natural position?

It isn't his natural position.

 

[LeChuck]

It isn't his natural position.

He plays there for Argentina and Sporting, no?

 

[Santos J]

MOTM so far for me, been great.

He plays there for Argentina and Sporting, no?

For Argentina he has but that's more due to them not having the best options there, he played CB at Sporting and wasn't very convincing when he played left back for them.

 

[Cheesy]

Superb first half. Gave De Bruyne very little time on the ball and was putting in some excellent challenges. Very impressive.

 

[JackXX]

Been brilliant today. De Bruyne is the player I've been worried about but so far he has nullified him.

 

[chriswt]

Excellent first half. De Bruyne is in his pocket at the moment.

 

[sizzling sausages]

Very good so far, probably our best player.

 

[saivet]

Good half from him. The guy's delivery in comparison to Valencia is a joy to behold.

 

[villain]

Thought he'd be our weakest link today, he's been excellent hope it continues

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

Not really put a foot wrong yet, but I was worried by how much space De Bruyne had on that attack near the end, which he picked out Yaya for on the return. 9 times out of 10, Yaya strokes those in. Fortunately he scuffed it. Apart from that, De Bruyne hasn't really been able to have an impact. He's had him susses pretty sharpish.

 

[kouroux]

Very good first half.

 

[Hernandez - BFA]

KDB on lock down so far.

 

[Cheesy]

Not really put a foot wrong yet, but I was worried by how much space De Bruyne had on that attack near the end, which he picked out Yaya for on the return. 9 times out of 10, Yaya strokes those in. Fortunately he scuffed it. Apart from that, De Bruyne hasn't really been able to have an impact. He's had him susses pretty sharpish.

Yeah, that was one instance where De Bruyne was in all that space was very worrying. Had no one near him.

 

[limerickcitykid]

De Bruyne is playing into his hand really. Trying to stand him up and take him on 1v1 isn't going to work. Rojo's weakness are interchanges and runs in behind and City aren't doing either which is great for us. Rojo and Valencia for that matter will always do great in 1v1 scenarios.

 

[Sied]

I was concerned about him vs KDB but he's doing very well indeed. Stark contrast to his performance midweek.

 

[Eugenius]

Good half from him. Keep it up.

 

[FC Ronaldo]

Has been absolutely fantastic so far. Controlled aggression, energy and discipline too. Please carry this on lad!

 

[Unlikely lad]

Our best player with Martial.

 

[VanGaalEra]

Feel sorry for the fella, he has to carry an ugly ginger bastard in his pocket with him for the next few months.

My MOTM he was brilliant.

 

[Mark_GrumpyLion]

Had a great match!

 

[JackXX]

Probably my MOTM. He was excellent.

 

[Godfather]

Had De Bruyne almost crying. What a beast he was today.

 

[izec]

Very risky at times and today he got the rewards. There will be games were he will look totally shit because of that.

 

[Di Maria's angel]

Magnificent performance. Shut that side down. I actually think he's been very good since he became a regular starter.

 

[kouroux]

Was so good defensively that De Bruyne didn't exist.