Alex Alejandro "A-Rod" Rodriguez Gorrin

I had never really paid a lot of attention to him before but also watched him closer because of this conversation.

He might not be the flare that scores the game winners but he is stability in the middle.  We need stability if we are ever going to become consistent.  

I hope we keep A-Rod.

One particular moment I can recall was in the first half. Dura got pulled out of position and missed the tackle, Sydney played a through ball to (I think) Smeltz around the edge of the box, and A-rod had got back to intercept the pass with a lunge. Otherwise Smeltz would have been through on goal.

Dont get it why do  imports have to be among our best players.If Ernie feels an import can fill a spot he dosnt feel a local can do then what is the issue.This BS about using an import spot is rubbish frankly if Ernie thinks its best for the team to be used this way then so be it. Seems some think just because someone has import beside them it means they are going to be good for the team.

Frankly given this is A-Rods 2nd season of senior football i think he has handled it well,dont think any of kiwi lads have shown enough to say we can just discard him as some seem to want to do.

Also I doubt that many of us have played football with a team that genuinely played a great possession style. I'm willing to be corrected, but any team I ever played in had one or two good play makers, and a few guys who could make quick runs and had quick feet- but no where near enough skill to play one touch across the paddock. 

So possibly we haven't seen many players who fill this gap and generally buzz around linking play. 

A theory.

You don't need to be spectacular to be bloody good.

We play with essentially two DM's at the moment and that has been Alex and Albert. On recent performances he has been not that far behind Albert.

Exactly. We have two locals who are deemed import quality by the other A-League teams in WeeMac and Kosta. So rather than saying our five imports should be our five best players, we should say our five highest paid players should be our five best players. The imports should just be used to fill in the gaps where we can't get exceptional locals.

Where Riera does it with raw, gut busting, tenacity. A-Rod does it with a good read of the game. At times he can look like he's not trying too hard, but running around at full speed, to get back into position isn't a good indicator of how well you are playing. 

Typical - he's always diving into tackles. Bloody liability.

;-)

I've changed my perspective a little on A-Rod. If Krishna and Riera are likely to become NZ'er's next year(?) then I do think that frames things up even better for A-Rod. 

Krishna isn't going to be a Kiwi next year. We don't know about Riera, if he got his paperwork in order when he first arrived then maybe.  I think the only way is probably if he wanted to be an all white and they fast tracked him wherever he is in the process. Krishna is still a couple of years away.

Would Krishna want to become a local?  I know he's super proud of his country, would changing his citzenship maybe not be on the radar?

Unless its a duel-citizenship deal.  Does someone smarter than me know if that would also allow for him to be a non-import?

Regardless loveing the A-rod love on this page.

Pretty sure he could have dual.

Yes dual citizenship allows you to be classed as a local. Even if Fiji didn't allow dual citizenship FIFA and the A-League wouldn't care and neither would the NZ government. Luckily for Roy they do.

But he only started the procedure when he joined the Phoenix.

Correct.

And also please keep in mind how many times Riera and A-Rod give each other cues and clues in Spanish while on the field. Heard them often enough over the din of commentators to figure out they got a little coded message sysytem between them going on.

Questions about A Rod:

If he wasn't an import, would you sign him ?  (me -yes)

If he wasn't an import and it came down to one of him or Lia, who would you pick ? (me A Rod)

Is he here to score or defend/link ?  (me - defend/link)

Sign him Ernie

What about $ spent by the council on grounds?

croud attedance is also a good stat, oh wait - that's a metric. My mistake.

If the narrow minded idiots out in Petone hadn't played the Nimbys card in regards to the Hutt Rec, they would have had a modernised facility that allowed football, Rugby Union & Rugby League to have a great facility, training grounds, employment and money coming into their local area. But wait, think of the children, think of the greenies, think of selfishness. Dickheads, they lost the chance for gainign something very worthwhile. But no, small mind New Zealand is alive and well.

If that had happened then this other place would not have.

I reckon Wellington Cricket would have ensured the money was spent on Karori Park anyway after the issues last cricket season...

I don't know if you can blame the nimby's for that one. WelNix, the council, and the club did not come to the party to promote it. They let the idea hang and the neighbourhood associations were allowed to fill the vacuum. It's fairly clear that it was only a pipe dream, perhaps to get better rates from Westpac, reguardless no one would have commited to that without a license for 10 years.

We have a licence for almost ten years, game on, try promoting it again and resubmit it.

I think we need to move this to a different thread - i came here to angst about A-Rod's contract, not the Petone Nimbys.

A Rods contract should alreadfy be extended. He is the sort of player you dont really notice but he is getting on with his job. Riera and Roly stand out because of their style of play, A Rod doesn't because he keeps it simple. His off the ball running and placements are good. Having said that, last Friday night, he tried a few long passes like thread the needle and if they had of come off, our attackers would have been away and racing two onto one. A Rod was unlucky with them. We could build a team around him.

The Petone NIMBY's are trying to prevent ARod signing a contract in their backyard

I appreciate that he is not a defender but one of his core tasks is that he is a defensive midfielder that protects our defence.

Our goals against stat is not that flash.

I think we could do better and need to if we are going to give the league a shake next season.

Agree that our midfield is the strongest part of the squad - we're lacking at the back; especially fullback - and up front.

Our defence was pretty good last year, A-Rod got plenty of game time last year. The issues this year is more that we haven't been able to put together a regular combination at the back and that we aren't retaining the ball further up the park.

Should probably get rid of Riera too then.

We should be defending from the front. Sack the whole starting XI. 

I'm a bit surprised we've not already confirmed A-Rod's re-signing.  I am sure there is a bit of a haggle going on but I am also wondering if A-Rod may be looking at some decent other options.  We might not get the choice to sign him.  Touch wood that's not the case.

he's probably read this thread and is holding out for marquee wages 

I lol'd

pleased. He will only get better

Just one more year though ...

hmmmm

so... hurry up and get even better!