Sorry Sven but....

[LCFCmonkey]

There was the one incident where be came out and punched the ball at the edge of the box, and the Sheep player looped the ball over him. Everyone was saying that he should have caught the ball, whereas clearly he would have been penalised for handling outside of the box.

 

[Merlynov]

His distribution was quality, Bamba should learn how to pass from him!

 

[dpjfox]

If im honest i wasnt overly impressed, however the guy has pedigree, maybe a couple of easy "bedding in games" like yesterday and next week will see him shine in the "bigger games" ie QPR Cardiff Norwich Trust Sven, look how Mee has turned out ( Ricardo hasnt played a league game for 2 years, clean sheet! people forget what Weale did on that ground last year!

 

[Brown Nose]

One of the most annoying things about Weale is the fact that he slows the play down all the time because his passing/throwing out is so poor.

It was no surprise that the great possession and team goal yesterday involved Ricardo twice.

Not once did Ricardo aim a pointless 80m punt at nobody in particular yesterday. Not once did any player look furious as he hesitated before getting the ball to a colleague. Not once did he distribute quickly and put a player under immediate pressure as Weale often does.

This is a much more significant part of a keepers game than catching versus punching. Frankly the obsession in this Country with keepers catching the ball has always been daft. Catching it creates a risk (dropping) that punching doesn't.

I'll take Ricardo over Weale every time even if the former is rusty and a tad eccentric. As with a number of Sven's additions, he will grow into the team and become a valuable part of it, adding an extra dimension to our game. Weale just has no presence.

Sven knows best.

 

[TornadoShaunUK]

That's what I liked about Ricardo, even from goal kicks there was a fair bit of building from the back. We are not strong in the air anywhere other than the back 2 so using long balls is to our own detriment. His 'open play' kicking was pretty poor though and his decision making was bordering on pretty crazy at times and it frightens the life out of me to see the goalkeeper passing the ball around as part of the back 4 outide the area! Then there's the old addage of 'foreign goalkeepers can't catch' which seemed pretty apt.

I'm not convinced personally and he could have cost us against better teams but as people say, first game, let's not be too harsh and hope he improves a bit in a few areas where he was a bit lacking last night.

 

[Mawsley]

The first 25 saw Bamba as the most involved player and Ricardo as the second-most.

Each one of Ricardo's passes found their mark's feet.

 

[sparky79]

Weale's a good shot stopper but has no box managment. Ricardo is an international class shotstopper with massive experience. His footwork was like an eleventh player and his punches always went a distance. In one instance the ball got lobbed back over him - but he was already back on his line. There can be no criticism of him with any basis. The only player who had a bad game yesterday was Vassell. Abe v Oakley and Bruma v Mee are two other interesting challenges for the coming weeks. I'm thinking that Mee will be shifted to holding midfielder as he can clearly play the ball

 

[sparky79]

Also the playing of the ball by bamba and mee into wellens and king was that of a premier league team. Players taking the ball under pressure and shifting it left and right creating space, as opposed to chipping it into the channels. You could see the beginnings of a proper team there. The best tv performance I've seen from city since the last time we were on tv v derby.

 

[Uncle Connolly]

The only key thought I took away from Ricardo's inclusion is his use with his feet.

There were a number of times in the first half where we started passing moves from Ricardo.

Weale is not a good 'footballing' goalkeeper so that's probably one of the reasons why Sven has brought Ricardo in.

 

[Blue Maniac]

I'm thinking that Mee will be shifted to holding midfielder

:icon_lol: When was this meeting you had with Sven anyway?

 

[gregs_y2k]

His distribution on the whole was excellent! There were one or two occasions where he fluffed his kicks but I put that down to having not players a league game for two years.

Must admit I was a little nervous with balls being pumped into the box second half and his tendency to punch but he was never tested and so no one can judge him negatively on yesterday's performance.

The added bonus of being able to distribute from the back quickly and more effectively is going to reap its rewards in the final 15 games.

 

[beaumontfox]

Yeah, til he has to face a team which isn't as toothless as the sheep then tbh we can't really pick fault with him.
It's just nice seeing a keeper 'playing' football instead of hoofing it the pitch.

The scenario of moving into second spot after we whup the Trees is becoming more possible.:icon_bigg
Though if that does happen, I think being locked in the ground for a couple of hours afterwards would be worth it!

 

[Miles Away]

Look, with the combination of Bamba, Ricardo and Gallagher in the side I have absolutely no doubt that before the season is over we will see one or two clangers dropped...becaus all three are ambitious, creative, ball playing footballers....and players like that can do daft things on occasion.

That said....they are also the creative catalyst of our side and for whatever they give up in dodgy goals they will more than make up for in driving the team forward. Ricardo, and his desire to play the football, will be central to our performances the rest of the year.

 

[spionfox]

The issue of whether it was right to drop Weale or if Ricardo is better or worse is frankly irrelevant. The fact is that Sven made the decision and I trust his judgement far more than that of anyone moaning on here.

Incredible.

 

[beaumontfox]

But you know what our fans are like- never happy unless they can whinge about summat!

 

[The Old Fox]

Whether Ricardo becomes our first choice keeper, or not, I do not know - he was not pressurised enough to make a decision upon that match and I have not been privileged to see him in training - but, against a poor Derby team, it was a master stroke to allow a new 'keeper to get some English match time under his belt.

Were Weale to break a limb in the next game (heaven forbid), we will be grateful that Ricardo has been given a taste of first team football.

 

[4-4-2]

Were Weale to break a limb in the next game (heaven forbid), we will be grateful that Ricardo has been given a taste of first team football.

Yeah, that was my thinking too.. :icon_lol:

 

[H T B]

With a few minutes to go in the first half, winning 1 -0 away from home, Sol & Ricardo play keep ball for a few passes, loved it.

Whether he punches or catches, frankly, so long as he prevents the opposition from scoring, I couldn't give a shit.

What I want to see from a goalie, is that when he has the ball, to set us on the way with intelligent use of the ball.
Particularly in the first half, Ricardo demonstrated this by the bucketful.
This is something that I'd say has been missing from a City keeper in along while.

A few training sessions with his new team mates and communication will improve.

Some posters on here seem to have "broadcasters views against Leicester". What I mean is they don't wish to give City the credit they deserve, rather the opposition were poor. Maybe Leicester City made them look poor because the rams couldn't handle us?

 

[alli]

i noticed ricardo in his warm up for the barnley game and he was punch punch punch ,,no faith in him sorry,(could have had blisters on his hands (but i dont think so )bring wheale back fast.

 

[Macky]

I care not how he performed on the pitch. For me, Ricardo is the greatest player ever to wear a City shirt purely because of his post match interview when he started speaking in Portuguese to Stringy.
The Stringster didn't have a ****ing clue what was going on, I think somebody had to turn him off and on again to force his brain to reboot.