By Louis Nixon

Guido Rodriguez has been subjected to a large amount of criticism from fans since joining , but is it as warranted as people make it out to be?  

Across his stint in the Premier League so far, he has played 26 games, in which he’s achieved the record of 9 wins, 6 draws and 11 losses, which on paper doesn’t seem to bad, but these stats do include substitute appearances, in which he’s made a total of 8.

Meaning, that to have made a mere 18 starts in just over a season and a half for someone who was initially signed as a midfielder week in and week out, it’s likely a leading reason as to why the Argentine is so criticised for his performances. 

As well as this, I do personally beleive that the holding midfielder does have talent, but it’s more that it’s not Premier League standard, and given the option’s that we have in the club at the moment, it’s extremely difficult for him to get ahold of a game, albeit an occasional rotational game, as such with Brighton on Sunday, in which he achieved a 6.4 rating, just winning half of his aerial duel’s and accumulating a yellow card before being hooked off in the 64th minute for Freddie Potts. 

Under Lopetegui, it was believed that he could mount the pressure and become a ‘heart of the midfield’ esc player, but from minute one, it all came crashing down. Lopetegui recognised that, despite having the ability, Guido wasn’t suited to the Premier League, but due to the lack of midfield options, he felt the need to start him right up until he was brutally axed for Graham Potter. 

Potter ultimately managed to make the midfield look even weaker, with fans often comprehending that it was our biggest downfall last season, whilst attempting to survive, which we had managed to do simply because other teams had been significantly worse than us and throughout that struggling squad, Rodriguez had been the punching bag and when his name was on the line-up it became an imminent feeling of a loss towards fans… not something you want to feel about any player.

Overall, it would be ludicrous to say that Gudio Rodriguez has no talent or isn’t a good player because he’s been playing on a big stage in La Liga for nuerous years before joining us, but due to his past performances, his picture has been tainted in a way that’s unable to be recovered, hence why he’s being heavily linked with a move away this January, and I think the pair could agree that it’s time to close this overdue chapter.