1 day ago
34
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola spoke about the impact Rodri would have in his team but why he will not take risks
"Do you know what it means to play without the best player in the world two seasons ago? Our main player when we won the Treble, playing 70 games? During one and a half years without him, do you know what we miss?
"I want him back now, here. But he is suffering, struggling, he wants to come back but I want to protect him. I want to be sure right now to minimise the risk. It’s what we want. Tell me how one team does without the best player for a year-and-a-half? They suffer.
"Rodri is another level of player. Another level. If Rodri came the last 20 minutes against Fulham, put right in the middle, do you know the effect? Just his presence, not even touching the ball? The other 10 players feel safe, better. They play better even if he doesn’t touch the ball. Just the fact that he is there. And for one year and a half we didn’t have it.
"We want him. There are irreplaceable players, not just for how good they play, it’s what they do for the other ones. The others say, 'oh I have Rodri there' and they give him the ball and know he won’t lose (it). He knows when the space is free, to switch play, he’s unique. I want desperately for him to come back. In Madrid and the next one but then six more weeks out. It makes no sense. I want to be sure.
"When he comes back, he has to make a pre-season. He cannot play 90 minutes, 90 minutes, 90 minutes. When you injure your ACL, your body is completely different."
It was hard to settle on which part of Pep Guardiola's answer on Rodri was most revealing in the second half of his Manchester City press conference on Friday. That one answer was as long as he spoke with broadcasters for in total on Monday? That he was finally admitting what everyone has said about the team missing their Ballon d'Or winner? Or maybe the fact that his answer didn't even match the question.
This felt like a man unloading, with the amazing claim that Rodri alone would have stopped the Fulham fightback on Tuesday that Guardiola had spent the first 15 minutes of his press conference either ignoring had happened or suggesting tweaks could solve it. There, in two minutes of uninterrupted speech, was the frustration that the manager, the player and every City fan has felt over Rodri's absence - and the fact that it continues.
To the credit of the manager, he warned of the dangers for Rodri coming back early from his injury. But then he also played him on that dodgy pitch against Al Hilal where he picked up his first bad hamstring problem of the last six months, played him three times in a week in September only to see him get injured and then handed him consecutive starts in October that led to the hamstring injury that still plagues him.
City do not know how good a player they will have when Rodri returns - Guardiola does not expect him to be back to his best, if that is still possible, until near the end of this campaign. The effort to get him back is a long-term one. But as long as he remains sidelined, the ghost of the player he was when he won the Ballon d'Or clearly still haunts Guardiola as he tries to create another feast of a team at the Etihad.
The manager spoke of how strong Rodri has been mentally, yet it sounds - understandably - like it has also taken a toll on the team and coaching staff not to be able to call on a player who can make everything better. No wonder Guardiola does not want to talk about how his team stop their second-half collapses when he knows the easiest and best solution is currently unavailable to him.
City have obviously decided to take their time with Rodri since his injury at Brentford, and they are right that the season is long; it is over two months until the Champions League knockouts even start, and we are only a third into the Premier League season. The more he is lionised though for the elite player he was, the more he will be expected to make a difference when he does return.
English (US) ·