Is he an upgrade?
Right everyone, I’m not trying to pile on or single anyone out, but this is just how I’m seeing it right now.
I feel like Martin Zubimendi has been a step down from Thomas Partey in terms of impact. And for me, he’s not an 6. There’s a reason players like Rodri operate the way they do at the top level, they control games, set tempo, and take responsibility in big moments.
Over the last month, I can only point to one solid performance, and that was the 0-0 against Sporting where, if we’re honest, not much really happened. Outside of that, it’s been sloppy at times, giving the ball away too easily and not offering enough progression. The City game summed it up for me. When you see him with 19 touches, while Bernardo Silva and Rodri are nearly doubling that, it tells a story. In the biggest games, your midfielders need to demand the ball and dictate play, not drift through it.
So the bigger question is this… is this player profile, from an identity and football IQ perspective, actually enough to get us over the line? Or are we at risk of continuing to bring in players who are good, but not quite at that elite, game-defining level? Happy to be proven wrong, but right now it feels like we’re just a level short where it really matters.