What has Robinho done at Manchester City to get so ‘tired’?
Mark Hughes has today defended his decision to rest Robinho for the home game against Fulham yesterday. Sparky claims that the Brazilian star needed a break as he is one of those players who “carry the vast majority of the workload.”
Is this really the case however and considering the astronomical amount of money that the Man City millionaires are getting paid should we as fans expect more?
Robinho has so far appeared in 26 of City’s 32 league matches bagging 11 goals, not a bad ratio of goals per game by any means.
It’s nearly as good as Fernando Torres’s 11 in 19. However could you really argue that the former Madrid star has the same impact as the Liverpool hit man? Does he strike the same fear into defenders? I think not.
The idea of resting the fatigued Robinho makes me even more sceptical when he only played 70 minutes of Brazils recent 3-0 victory over Peru. Was it more a case of the City boss thinking his side were good enough to beat Fulham without their talisman?
Man City boast an impressive record at home having won 10 of the games hosted by their illustrious stadium so far and Fulham only winning two on their travels at this stage in the campaign. If this is the case then Sparky failed to do his homework; this is a Fulham side that not long ago stunned Manchester United and very nearly nicked a point off of Liverpool.
Furthermore Roy Hodgson’s boys are pushing for a place in Europe – they cut a fine figure at the City of Manchester Stadium yesterday and look set to grab a place in next season’s EUROPA League.
With City trailing 3-1 to Hamburg in the UEFA Cup lets hope Hughes does his homework before the return leg, or else he’ll be the next manager to be sacrificed at the altar of unrealistic expectations in football.
Topics: English Premier League, Fulham, Manchester City, Mark Hughes
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Well done… you’ve compared someone playing left midfield to two strikers. A goal every other game playing from midfield is not ok… it’s brilliant. As for ‘only played 70 minutes of Brazils recent 3-0 victory’. It wasn’t exactly a trip down the M6 was it?
April 13th, 2009 @ 15:29it amazes me that people who claim to have an interest in football still do not understand the intensity of the premier league and the effect it has on players coming here from the continent. 32 million or not, the lad is 24 in his first 8 months in england, damn right he deserved a rest!!
he has had to play every single game, sometimes injured with his ankle, because our other 2 left sided players have been injured. and he does so with a massive weight of expectancy from the great british press that love nothing more than to make a villain out of a hero
maybe they should be greatful that a mercurial talent such as robinho is gracing the english game… or would they rather have it flooded with average english players with poor technique?
April 13th, 2009 @ 15:31He wasnt the only one that had a long trip during the international break, Mascherano was playing 90 minutes in the Bolivian mountains and he put in a man of the match performance against Blackburn.
Its not just an attack on Man City, lots of players complain of being too tired, to me this doesnt make sense. These athletes have dieticians physios personal trainers and hardly travel economy class after playing a game nearly all players have the next day off to recover and it just strikes me as odd that a young man at the peak of physical fitness cant play more than 90 minutes of football a week.
April 13th, 2009 @ 16:07Have you seen his recent pics?,looks shall we say a bit “doughy”
April 13th, 2009 @ 17:37Fulham’s team have remained pretty much unchanged throughout the entire season. The 11 players you saw yesterday were close to the 11 players that have started every single match. I know you guys have had a few European games to play, but Danny Murphy (for example) has played 36 games this season (including cup matches) without a break. Not bad for a 32 year old is it? I feel sorry for the young Robinho if he’s knackered after 33 games (including Europe)!
April 13th, 2009 @ 19:22but danny murphy is a seasoned professional who has played football at the top level in england since he was 16. he knows the pace of the game and has probably learnt how to look after his body after all these years.
and no disrespect to fulham, they have done remarkably well this season, but the weight of expectation on his shoulders and number of eyes watching his evry move is minimal compared to robinho
everyone knows what robinho is about, he is an enigma and is going to have fluctuations in form. thats what u get with these type of players. the one criticism i can maybe level, is that he is not the type of player we needed right now… but is that his fault?
April 14th, 2009 @ 00:29Tim Vickery mentioned in his column that he heard Brazilian journos comment that Robinho is more used to playing in support of other star players as opposed to taking on all the responsibility himself, and that has had an affect on him in away games and as the season has worn on.
Makes sense – he had a star studded cast at Madrid to work with and if his temperament is anything to go by, he’s not someone who is comfortable with too much stress placed on him, especially if no one else in the team is doing much either.
April 14th, 2009 @ 17:19