Mark Hughes has today defended his decision to rest Robinho for the home game against Fulham yesterday. Sparky claims that the Brazilian star needed a break as he is one of those players who “carry the vast majority of the workload.”
Is this really the case however and considering the astronomical amount of money that the Man City millionaires are getting paid should we as fans expect more?
Robinho has so far appeared in 26 of City’s 32 league matches bagging 11 goals, not a bad ratio of goals per game by any means.
It’s nearly as good as Fernando Torres’s 11 in 19. However could you really argue that the former Madrid star has the same impact as the Liverpool hit man? Does he strike the same fear into defenders? I think not.
The idea of resting the fatigued Robinho makes me even more sceptical when he only played 70 minutes of Brazils recent 3-0 victory over Peru. Was it more a case of the City boss thinking his side were good enough to beat Fulham without their talisman?
Man City boast an impressive record at home having won 10 of the games hosted by their illustrious stadium so far and Fulham only winning two on their travels at this stage in the campaign. If this is the case then Sparky failed to do his homework; this is a Fulham side that not long ago stunned Manchester United and very nearly nicked a point off of Liverpool.
Furthermore Roy Hodgson’s boys are pushing for a place in Europe – they cut a fine figure at the City of Manchester Stadium yesterday and look set to grab a place in next season’s EUROPA League.
With City trailing 3-1 to Hamburg in the UEFA Cup lets hope Hughes does his homework before the return leg, or else he’ll be the next manager to be sacrificed at the altar of unrealistic expectations in football.
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