The Spanish midfielder has seen huge success during his spell in Manchester, being the conductor for the engine room for arguably the greatest Premier League team of all time and has led the blues to treble success in the 2022-23 season and a 4th premier league title last season.
Rodri, who used to dominate the pitches of Spain in La Liga for Atletico Madrid had familiarised himself with the mindset and mental strength needed to win titles after clutching the UEFA Super Cup with Madrid in the 2018-19 season, which led Manchester City scouts in to recommending him to blues boss Pep Guardiola as a potential star. Clearly his talents shone through as Rodri is now considered as the best holding midfielder in the world. He also provides a very high clutch factor, seemingly popping up with goals that have won Manchester City a Champions League title and multiple Premier League titles.
Rodri also showed his talents on the international stage as Spain went on to win their first European Championship since 2012, beating favourites England in the final. With resistance from the English with a momentum changing strike from Chelsea’s main man Cole Palmer, a dominant defence from the Spanish and a quick goal from substitute Mikel Oyarzabal proved enough to see Spain over the line and be crowned champions of Europe.
However, many pundits and ex-players have always spotted that during Rodris absences, City often struggle to control the game and noticeably lose a higher percentage of matches without their star man than with. This has been more than apparent with City dropping 6 points across two competitions in their last 3 matches, with draws in the Premier League to Arsenal and Newcastle and on the road to Internazionale Milan in the new and revamped Champions League.
The main question on peoples’ minds is how will Man City move forward knowing their record is ultimately worse without their main midfielder? We could see City’s depth play a factor with players such as Rico Lewis, Matheus Nunes and former skipper Ilkay Gundogan looking to fill the gap and boost City’s chances of retaining their title for a 5th consecutive year. This news will perhaps boost the confidence of their up-and-coming opponents Fulham who look to go one better than their defeat at Craven Cottage last season during the run in which we saw Man City win 10 straight matches to see themselves over the line. Fulham will look to cement their position as European football contenders this season with a hot start mainly thanks to their star duo of former Arsenal men Emile Smith Rowe and Alex Iwobi, leading many to believe Marco Silva’s men could be in the hotseat to take the Cottagers back to Europe for the first time since 2012.
Rodri’s absence could play into favour for future matches and potentially could be the reason Man City look back and ponder where the season went wrong if they are to lose out on silverware this season, ending their historic run of 5 straight tiles and their first trophyless season since 2010.
