Stephen Tudor on Fernandinho

cant access that site from work  (

it's the same link.. to a betting site, so work has it blocked  

Yeah good article. Dino has been fantastic so far & is perfect for Peps system. He is 32 though so who will take over his mantle? Gundogan?

How Fernandinho has become everything to Manchester City
BY STEPHEN TUDOR 3 HOURS AGOSHARE

THE international break may be as welcomed as a lingering fart in a lift but it at least affords us the opportunity to take a few steps back from the all-consuming Premier League and view it objectively. 

From this short distance Manchester City look mightily impressive so far, their highlights reel choc-a-block with goals and exquisite build-up play as they time and again conform to a template for breaking down opponents that appears convoluted at both first and second glance yet is executed with simple efficiency. On occasion it has amounted to a masterclass and from every angle the replaying of six wins – four of which have been comprehensive in nature – and a singular draw delight.

Revisiting these games is to be blown away once more by the devastating talents of De Bruyne and Silva and marvelling anew at their instrumental weaving of picturesque patterns. It is impossible not to be hypnotised. It is impossible not to be enamoured.

Yet soon enough another pattern emerges: that they are never alone on screen. Behind them, in the background unheralded, getting up from the turf after winning the tackle that placed the ball at their feet; or blocking off passing lanes lest the move break down; or positioning himself in space to provide a fall-back option to start again, is a 32-year-old Brazilian. If they are instrumental he is everything. If they are this potentially great side’s celebrated architects Fernandinho is the set builder.



Taken at face value there is nothing new to report here. Since Fernandinho’s arrival from Shakhtar Donetsk in 2013 for £34m he has provided omnipresence on the pitch, grafting and ferreting; putting out fires and starting and finishing attacks while covering every blade of grass. 

Like so many of his team-mates though in Guardiola’s second season when school is out and the uni years begin it is not what he’s doing differently now but rather what he’s doing the same but in a completely different manner. This is still vigorous endeavour but when the situation demands it he drops between the centre-backs creating a back three to allow the full-backs to venture forward.

In the second phase he prowls into the vacant midfield space ready to switch in a heartbeat from protective screen to auxiliary attacking threat. In a side designed to interlace and freely express he has become a hub of considered restraint.

Yet if this is a disciplined curtailment of his previous box-to-box adventures it has conversely seen his influence grow. Only four other players in the top flight have had more touches of the ball this season while an 89% pass accuracy reveal it’s consistently being used astutely.

Better yet, his distribution is not stat-padded with meaningless retention boasting as it does an average of 17m with 75% of them played ahead of him. Off the ball too has seen a dramatic refinement. Where once he was the grit in the oyster and clearly relished his role as destroyer – so often proverbially taking the shirt off opponents and regularly giving the ref a dilemma - now his policing is tempered and measured by risk versus reward. Just two yellow cards from 792 minutes of constant combat is testimony to that.

Comparisons have been made in recent weeks of Fernandinho’s new role and that of Sergio Busquets’ at Barcelona and though a direct comparison between the two would leave the City player flailing a quote from Vicente Del Bosque rings true for both: “You watch Busquets, you see the whole game”.  That’s what the midfielder has become at City and in a short space of time to boot: Guardiola’s blueprint made manifest. It’s no coincidence that a former team-mate once nicknamed him ‘The Director’.

Being entrusted with the keys to the kingdom makes perfect sense given his attributes and especially now that those attributes have been ironed of compromising flaws under the Spanish coach’s tutelage. Fernandinho’s top trumps are boundless energy, game intelligence, and versatility, the holy trinity of pluses required to orchestrate a Pep team at full tilt.

If the first two are relatively commonplace the latter is precious with Guardiola stating last term that his Brazilian could play in ten positions then subsequently proving himself half right by deploying his criminally under-rated star at right back, right midfield, holding mid, attacking mid, and in the centre of defence. It is this flexibility that led Igor Duljaj – Shakhtar Donetsk’s assistant coach and former colleague of Fernandinho – to say recently: “It’s not a surprise to me that he got along with Guardiola so well. Every coach would like to have this soldier of a player, ready to play wherever he is needed.”

If Ferna’s elevation was not satisfying enough for Blues it is made all the sweeter by virtue of the high regard in which he was already held. From the off his committed displays cemented his status as fan favourite, an endearment that only strengthened when it became clear that he was embracing life in the north-west and – anecdotally at least – treats supporters as equals. Leading by example these traits are now being drilled into his Brazilian compatriots not least Gabriel Jesus in a mentoring role that is invaluable to both the teenage phenomenon and club. 

Soldier. Pivot. Big brother. These are weighty tasks for such slim shoulders. Thankfully Fernando Luiz Roza is ten times bigger than his frame.

cheers blistering,, good read....

Thanks Scott. I'm overseas and on my phone, so couldn't copy all the text etc and post it on the move.

Great read and very true, one of the much underrated players in the PL. Along with half the City team actually, if they dont play for one of the Sky 4 or Tottenham then they dont exist on the radar of the press or pundits