Manchester City and Spain midfielder Rodri has been collecting trophies in huge numbers in recent seasons and is key man for club and country, writes Mark Gleeson.
The FA Cup final at Wembley at the end of last season was the first time in more than a year that Manchester City had lost with Spanish midfielder Rodri in the line-up.
This is evidence of the pivotal role that he plays for the English champions and solidifies the fact he is one of the world’s top players.
Success at the European Championship in July crowned a brilliant season for the midfielder who has been described as ‘irreplaceable’ to City’s cause.
If he keeps up his performances, surely, he will eventually have his statue near the Etihad Stadium, alongside those of former club legends, David Silva and Sergio Agüero.
Principally for having scored on 10 June 2023 in Istanbul against Inter Milan 1–0, the most important goal in City’s history as the one that gave the club its first Champions League.
“Rodri is by far the best midfielder in the world because he is capable of doing everything,” his coach Pep Guardiola says.
His stats are significant on recovery (7.3 gleaned per match in league last season), winning duels (60% on average), involvement in the game (126 balls touched per match last season, his record since arriving at City in 2019) and significant goals.
Javier Calleja, who coached Rodri at Villarreal in the U19s and in the first team (2017–2018), remembers that his simple presence freed up his teammates: “He brought incredible confidence and security. They said to themselves ‘it’s good, we’re calm, because today Rodri plays’. He allowed the full-backs or other midfielders to project themselves much more forward for example.”
Rodri says of his own role for both club and country: “It’s an important position, especially the way [City and Spain] play. I try to give movement to the play, a dynamism, a rhythm. To connect to the players in front of you as soon as you can, to help the game mature, to interpret it, take it where you want it to be,” he explains.
“That’s what most defines the role of the pivot: when to accelerate, when to brake, when to press higher, when to move deeper.
Those thoughts are always going through your mind. When the ball comes to me and we need to apply a pause, I’m not going to accelerate the play.”
Looking back on Rodri’s first season in England, former teammate Ilkay Gündogan recalled how he would stay behind 30, 35 minutes every day, often more, at Manchester City training. Not to practise freekicks or bulk up in the gym, but to talk: “He was always discussing, learning, and he perfected his game.”
This is still the case today, as evidenced by the Netflix documentary that went behind the scenes of City’s 20222023 season. Rodri motivating his teammates in many of the scenes.
But his captain at Euro 2024, Álvaro Morata said Rodri lacked marketing and could have won the Ballon d’Or last year. “But I don’t play football for that,” was Rodri’s response.
“Maybe people would like me to be more marketable, but I understand football differently. I know how it works so I don’t get frustrated if I get overlooked. If one day someone wants to reward the work, that’s welcome, but it doesn’t bother me at all.”
