The tough tackling, play breaker upper, defence protector is sorely missed by Manchester’s finest side. Say what you will about our friend from the Netherlands, City are missing him.
The fact the reported fee was only £3 million received from AC Milan makes it even harder to bear. I’m sure City paid around £17 million for him in January 2009. In which time I would argue he got better and better. So did he really ‘depreciate’ by £14 million in the space of three and a half years? My mind says no.
What also appears to have happened on the evidence so far is that City has replaced Nigel with inferior players.
Prior to his injury Rodwell suffered a shaky start to his City career. Despite the fact he is still only young and playing at a higher level he is yet to really impress me. I appreciate he may be better going forward than De Jong although there has been no real evidence of that yet. His defensive play is nowhere near the level of Nigel as yet, which is one of the reasons the side is struggling.
At this moment in time I cannot see why Garcia was bought. For me he offers nothing to team above anyone else. I’ve yet to see him play a forward pass. He is not better going forward than Toure and is not better than Barry in the defensive role. £16 million is a lot to pay for a player who offers little to the side, especially with FFP looming on the horizon.
Perhaps those evaluations are a little harsh and I hope both players prove me wrong. As it stands, in simple terms; neither Garcia nor Rodwell offer the qualities of our much missed Nigel.
The defence seems to miss the Dutch master as opposition players are finding it easier to get at them. There are too many open spaces between the midfield and the back four to be exploited.
Nigel would have sat in these exact spaces and prevented those attacks from happening. I bet if you asked Kompany et al would they like De Jong back they would bite your arm off.
The defence has looked shaky and void of confidence at times this season. I never remember them looking like that over the past two seasons. De Jong was a major reason behind that.
If it was a contract dispute that forced his sale then so be it. I’m not privy to what goes on around the boardroom table. However whatever he wanted I’m sure it was more financially viable than the combined transfer fees and wages of Rodwell and Garcia.
In my book it was a mistake to let him go. Paying out £33 million to replace him was even worse.
Grant Mills
@mancinismarvels
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