Robinho shows pros and cons of choosing City over Chelsea
Robinho’s move to Manchester City was – in the short-term at least – neatly summed up in yesterday’s defeat to Chelsea. It is a well-known fact that the Brazilian could easily have been playing for the opposition in the Saturday evening match, but he chose Eastlands ahead of Stamford Bridge (Didn’t Madrid refuse to sell to Chelsea the moment City made their offer? – Ed).
And in the space of 90 minutes it was easy to see the pros and cons of his decision to shun Chelsea. First, as the big fish in a relatively small pond he was able to pull rank to claim the set-pieces on his debut, and scored from a free-kick. At Chelsea he would have had Deco and the sizable obstruction of Frank Lampard in his way, and would probably not have been entrusted with a 20-yard free-kick in the first 15 minutes of his first game.
Having nestled his free-kick in the back of the net, he most likely activated a hefty goal bonus on top of his £160,000-a-week wages. This was a timely reminder of arguably the biggest reason behind Robinho’s Manchester City move – they can afford to pay him more than Chelsea could.
The reaction of the Manchester City players and fans after the goal showed another positive side to his move. There is no doubt he will be idolised by colleagues and supporters alike during his time in Manchester in a way that he would not have been afforded by Chelsea’s star-studded squad. There was a genuine outpouring of emotion from his teammates as he celebrated his goal, although the ex-Real Madrid man’s badge-pointing celebration looked a little more stage-managed.
But there must have been downsides for the debutant too. Having given City the lead, there was nothing Robinho could do to prevent Chelsea going on to dominate the match. They were simply too good for Manchester City. No doubt Robinho will be the difference between City and many teams this season, but when it comes to games against the top clubs one man cannot do it all by himself. If Robinho wanted the title this season then yesterday’s match will have shown him the gulf that currently exists between the big four and the chasing pack.
The fact that he played the full 90 minutes was probably also a telltale sign of the comparative lack of depth in the Manchester City squad. Whereas Didier Drogba or Salomon Kalou would probably have relieved him from the Chelsea bench with 20 minutes to go, Mark Hughes decided the considerably less glamorous option of Ched Evans was not a suitable replacement for City.
Robinho will have seen by now that his new club has its upsides and its downsides. But the bottom line of his payslip remains the bottom line.
Topics: Chelsea, English Premier League, Manchester City
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Abromovich spent 200 million on players and then sacked Ranieri – he has probably spent 300 million more since then no wonder they have depth to their squad! Economic might got Chelsea silverware and when you think Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan is 10 times richer than Abromovich did Robinho make such a bad decision? Its rumoured funds of 500 million will be made available for transfers losing one match will be pretty insignificant in years to come.
September 14th, 2008 @ 13:32Half of citys team have had hardly any time to get to know each other. Robinho and Zabeleta only met their new team mates on Friday for christ sake. You need to give them a bit of time to settle down.
Has a City fan I did not expect a result yesterday. Apart from us being a long way off Chelsea at the moment you need to consider that there have been a number of new players come in this summer.
Give it a few weeks before you start judging Robinho and his teams mates Mr Slater
September 14th, 2008 @ 13:46but the pros definately outweigh the cons. At least for him he is starting every match and ‘given’ the chance to score. At Chelsea, they have Cole, Malouda on the wings and some times they dont even play any winger with Cole as a playmaker in a diamond centre midfield. And their strikers are target forwards not like Rooney who feed more to their partner then score themselves. Mind u Chelsea usually play one striker upfront.
I just wonder how he managed to displace Elano, i know Hughes want to DM to block out Chelsea’s midfield dropping Ireland would be better then Elano with Robinho on flank, IMO.
September 14th, 2008 @ 14:09One thing that was crystal clear was that Robinho, despite his sizable talent, is extremely raw and relies on his athleticism instead of his knowledge of the game. A lot like Cristiano Ronaldo when he first came to Manchester United. There were a number of plays where Robinho could have made the routine pass, but instead, tried to get fancy and do something to wow the crowd. As such, he turned the ball over a lot and rarely threatened in the second half. He’ll need a lot of work before he’s ready to become a dominant player in the Premiership.
If he were at Chelsea, he would have seasoned pros like Deco, Lampard, Ballack, and Joe Cole to learn from, as well as dominant alpha dogs like Terry to keep him in line. The problem with being the big fish in a small pond is that he doesn’t have to listen to anyone. After all, he’s the highest paid player and the biggest signing of all time. Is he really going to listen to Dieter Hamman, Steven Ireland, Elano, or Martin Petrov?
September 14th, 2008 @ 15:38@ Victor Li
Last paragraph going on about listening to other players.
Deco, Lampard, Ballack, Cole – seasoned pros (fair enough)
Hamman (champions league winner… retired German international), Ireland (crap lol – but still former international star for Ireland), Elano (current Brazil team mate who kept Kaka out of the side in the last Copa America), Petrov (seasoned international player). I don’t get your point.
That is City now too. Chelsea have spent over 400 million assembling that squad… give us one more year and we’ll probably catch up lol.
September 14th, 2008 @ 15:51Robinho could make an impact has he got the touch to do wonder. But… who will sign for City in the coming years ?
I mean Robinho was dubbed straight away a mercenary coming only for money, so who else want the same treatment ? There’s no doubt money would buy a decent squad but I just wonder if guys like Buffon, Fabregas, Van Nistelrooy, would like it.
Chelsea had some history before Abrahamovich take over, at least more than City. Let’s just wait and see if Robinho will be the first of the Super Citizens to come.
September 14th, 2008 @ 16:10@ dusonch77
‘Chelsea had some history before Abrahamovich take over, at least more than City’
Chelsea (before take over):
2 League Titles
4 FA Cups
2 League Cups
2 Cup Winners Cup
Man City (before take over):
2 League Titles
4 FA Cups
2 League Cups
1 Cup Winners Cup
Yeah…. loads more history.
September 14th, 2008 @ 16:19@ Millo
No doubt the City players are “seasoned pros” as far as service time and experience goes. But they don’t have the kind of clout, track record, or wages that compare to the likes of Lampard, Deco and Co. Sure, maybe Robinho will respond just as well to the City vets as he would to their counterparts at Chelsea. The problem is with the perception that, at City, Robinho is already at or near the top of the heirarchy (based on money, stature, and talent), whereas, at Chelsea, he would have no choice but to defer to the likes of Terry, Lampard, Ballack, and Co.
September 14th, 2008 @ 16:30how on earth do you come to the conclusion he choose city over chelsea, when madrid put a price on his head chelsea dropped out of the running, and so he had two choices stay at madrid or move to city, he was unhappy at madrid so he moved to city,so in fact he choose city over madrid not chelsea, unless you know something the rest of us dont
September 14th, 2008 @ 17:23Ok fine Millo, it’s quite comparable but Chelsea had more success in Europe, as they won twice the UEFA Cup and a Super Cup, that doesn’t make a lot more I agree.
September 14th, 2008 @ 21:22I would say that Chelsea had quite a number of home-grown/quality players when the takeover was there. Lamps was already there so was Terry(behind Desailly and Gallas in packing order) then there is Zola and JF Hasselbiank, Gudjohnsen. So at least the club was going to build around these players and if Man City can be in Europe more often then i think more players will come to City, slowly but surely. the backbone of the club is forming Hart, Richards, Kompany, Robinho, SWP and Elano(to a certain extent Ireland, Petrov and Jo), i am certain a new left-back in place of Ball will be coming and maybe a young CB to partner Richards when Dunne is ageing.
September 15th, 2008 @ 02:02compare history in the last 18 years then. history from 50 years ago does not make a club, look at nottingham forest
September 15th, 2008 @ 05:56It’s pretty clear that Robinho wasn’t entirely sure which team he’d “chosen” when he told reporters he was glad to sign for Chelsea. It had little to do with his choice and more to do with Madrid’s preferences. Still, good luck to him. He will need to improve his ball retention and decision making, though, if he’s to make a consistent difference at City.
September 15th, 2008 @ 09:33