Manchester City thought they had a 'mini Rodri' on their hands but it doesn't look that way six months into the rebuild.
Nico Gonzalez hasn't featured much for months for Manchester City
Nico Gonzalez hasn't featured much for months for Manchester City
Pep Guardiola spent the winter months chastising anyone who thought Manchester City were back after one match. The manager knew that the faultlines were too deep for a single performance or result to transform anything.
So perhaps he should have known better, because there was nobody who hyped Nico Gonzalez after his midfield masterclass against Newcastle more than Guardiola. The statistics looked great, all of the eyes enjoyed it, and the City manager built on that by adding some of the highest praise going.
“I think the presence of Nico helped us a lot because of 10 balls, the 50-50s, he wins seven and you can run. When you lose seven, they will run," he said after a 4-0 win that proved critical in them qualifying for the Champions League.
“I have the feeling the club bought an incredible player for the future, in terms of mentality. He’s so young, 23 remember, like a mini-Rodri.
"That’s a big compliment – but there’s this feeling for the big presence, the duels.
"Of course, he’s miles away from Rodri. Rodri is the best. But I had the feeling, everyone had the feeling, that he’s going to help us in the last part of the season.”
Gonzalez never played as well again, but a large part of that was that he strangely disappeared midway through the season. Having started eight of the 11 games in all competitions after Newcastle - coming off the bench in the FA Cup games against Plymouth and Bournemouth while watching the Manchester derby from the bench - he was then benched for six consecutive games before a start on the final day at Fulham.
His absence was long enough that Guardiola was asked about it in a press conference, and while the answer was broadly positive it did not reflect in more appearances. Add in City's summer signings and Gonzalez appears to have gone backwards, with Tijjani Reijnders making as many starts for the club in two-and-a-half weeks and Gonzalez has in two-and-a-half months.
As City crashed out against Al Hilal in the last-16 of the Club World Cup, Gonzalez was an unused substitute as City lost too many duels and couldn't control their opponents. Reijnders started, Rodri came on before being taken off again, and the £50m January signing watched on.
Settling into City always takes time, and there was an acceptance from all parties when the move was made that Rodri's position was not the best way of using Gonzalez. Much like Ilkay Gundogan, he can play there but it doesn't suit his skillset.
The concern for the 23-year-old is that, even with Rodri back and even with City losing costly duels, there wasn't the thought to turn to Gonzalez at the Club World Cup after six months of getting used to what Guardiola wants. The only one of the four matches he started was against Al Ain, where he was hooked after an hour and Guardiola criticised how slow the team played.
If Gonzalez is to be an incredible player for the future, as the heady prediction after the Newcastle game foretold, City are going to have to find a way to get the best out of him because at the minute he looks like he has already been overtaken in the squad.
Kevin de Bruyne - special edition ON SALE NOW
Kevin de Bruyne is one of - if not the - greatest players to play for Manchester City.
He leaves the club having won six Premier League titles, two FA Cups, five League Cups and a memorable Champions League victory!
To mark his amazing time at the Etihad Stadium, this special edition has been produced - KDB The King - to celebrate Kev's career with the Blues. We look back at his 10 best games in Blue, celebrate his title wins and hear from the City boss and a host of team-mates and football elite who give their views on what makes him so special.
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