Craig Burley has made a claim about one Barcelona midfielder in comparison to Rodri.
Hansi Flick is fortunate to be managing a Blaugrana side that has a plethora of top-class midfielders.
One of them is Ilkay Gundogan, who Rodri played with for four seasons at Manchester City.
Pedri has been reputed as being one of the most prodigious talents in world football since joining Barcelona from Las Palmas.
As for Frenkie de Jong, he has been one of the best midfielders in Europe since his time at Ajax.
However, Manchester City maestro Rodri is a different kettle of fish when it comes to midfielders around world football at the moment.
- READ MORE: Who is Rodri? Get to know Man City’s modest midfield maestro who won a Champions League final
Craig Burley says Rodri is a much better passer than Frenkie de Jong
The £62.5 million man has operated at such a uniquely high level for both City and Spain that it would not be a stretch to suggest that he is already a legend of the game.
In recent memory, the only midfielders to have dominated proceedings for both club and country are Luka Modric and N’Golo Kante — two players who are widely viewed as all-time greats.
As a result, it has become second nature for many to liken other midfielders to the 28-year-old — who is becoming slowly but surely the gold standard.
Craig Burley feels that if Barcelona deploy De Jong as a holding midfielder, his profile is unlike that of a player like Rodri — pointing out the gulf in class between the pair as passers of the ball as well.
Burley said via ESPN FC: “Now, Frenkie de Jong is a good player. But physically, I don’t think, he’s not like a Rodri, he can pass the ball, can’t pass it as well as Rodri, he can get about the field, can’t get about as well or physically defend as well as the likes of Rodri.”
Frenkie de Jong should study how Rodri plays
If De Jong is tasked to play as Barcelona’s number six next season, as Burley stated, his passing not being as expansive as Rodri could emerge as a problem for his side.
The Dutchman’s short passing is exquisite, which enables him to allow the Catalan giants to escape the opposition press with aplomb.
But unlike Rodri, the 27-year-old perhaps cannot pick out runners as adeptly; less due to the inability to execute such passes and more due to a potential lack of the vision that the former has in abudance.
However, the Spanish international is widely considered the best defensive midfielder in the world and to further improve his game when tasked to anchor the back four, De Jong should study his game.
Not only in terms of how Rodri passes the ball but studying his positioning, understanding of tempo and timing of challenges would help the Barcelona technician develop his game as a top-class holding midfielder.
