How do you solve a problem like Robinho?

By Blue Moose in Manchester City Fans Blog

Published 14:28 18/01/10

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He can’t play when it’s cold, he can’t play when it’s wet, he can’t play when it’s away from home, he can’t play when it’s a little bit brutal and he doesn’t seem to be able to play when it’s dark.

Give him the balmy fields of the City of Manchester stadium on a blue September afternoon and he might just play. If the vibes are right. If the Moon is in Uranus. If the winged beasts fly west at sunset. And if every blade of grass is pointing in the right direction.

A flibbertigibbet, a will-o-the-wisp, a clown. But the frustrating thing for every City fan is: The little guy can be a genius

Even last week against Blackburn he produced a rasping shot and a couple of lovely touches. Who will forget his free kick goal against Chelsea last season which in a second seemed to sum up everything about the City renaissance? Even though we lost 3-1 that day, people went home buzzing. And the little scoop, without breaking stride, to make it 2-0 against Arsenal? Startling brilliance.

But so many times, too many times, he's gone AWOL. Which is why it was bizarre of ManCini to lob him on into that cauldron at Goodison on Saturday. Every single City fan could have told him it was a bad idea. Suddenly we were down to 10 men.

At least, having realised his mistake, ManCini had the balls to haul him off before any more damage was done.

Having said all that, I’m not one of the get rid brigade. Why should we? We don’t need the money. Might as well try to rebuild him. Robinho is crushed and he needs somehow to get his swagger back because he’s useless without it.

And ManCini needs to answer the question: How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?

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