Gary Lineker has said that Manchester City midfielder Rodri plays in a similar way that Pep Guardiola did during his playing career.
The midfielder is currently in the middle of his fifth season at the Manchester club and on the hunt to regain the three trophies he helped them win last term.
Having completed the full 90 minutes in City’s recent Champions League match against Copenhagen, the 27-year-old quickly found himself on the end of some significant praise from Lineker, who even compared him to a former midfield player who has a big connection to the Manchester club.
Lineker says Rodri plays just like Guardiola
Speaking in a recent edition of The Rest Is Football, Lineker had this to say about Rodri.
He said: “Just a perfect holding-midfield player. He’s brilliant off the ball, exceptional on the ball, he just manages everything on the field, probably like Pep did when he played, he was that kind of player as well.”
During his playing days at Barcelona, Guardiola racked up 384 senior appearances for the Spanish club, scoring 11 goals and providing 52 assists.
In terms of what his playing style was like, Jordi Cruyff had this to say about the former midfielder.
He said: “Guardiola was a master of angles; he was very good in playing in two touches; control with the left, passing and trying to find players between the lines. He always had a vertical pass.”
Then with Rodri having made more progressive passes (206) than any other City player in the Premier League this season, this highlights one area where the two Spaniards mirror each other in terms of their style of play.
With Rodri starting all of the 30 games he’s played this season, this highlights how important he is for Guardiola, who could well see the similarities between how he used to play and how the current midfielder now goes about his business on the pitch for the Citizens.
