Gabby Agbonlahor has said that in his opinion, Rodri has taken a dig at Pep Guardiola by complaining about his excessive game time last season.
In an interview with The Athletic, the £62.8 million (Independent) man admitted that he cannot continue to play as many matches as he did in City’s treble-winning campaign as it could affect his career.
Now, Gabby Agbonlahor believes that Rodri may have taken a swipe at Pep Guardiola with his comments, while speaking to talkSPORT.
Gabby Agbonlahor says Rodri has just taken a dig at Pep Guardiola
With Kalvin Phillips being injured at points last season, whilst not being handed many minutes, the Spanish international, branded as ‘phenomenal’ by Danny Murphy made the most starts out of any player under the Catalan boss (52) after Lionel Messi (57 in the 2011/2012 campaign), as per Opta Joe.
Considering the Englishman looked miles off his usual best in the occasional start and cameos, the ex-Bayern Munich manager decided to keep him on the bench for much of the campaign.
As Rodri admitted that his playing time during the 2022/2023 season was simply far too much for the best of his career, Gabby Agbonlahor believes he was sending a veiled message to Pep Guardiola.
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“Isn’t that a little dig at Pep saying, ‘you bought Kalvin Phillips. Give him some game time. I’m playing all this football, I want a rest and in certain games where you can play Phillips, you’re not having him.’ It’s a little dig at both Phillips and Pep for me.”
Rodri was simply speaking his mind
Gabby Agbonlahor seems to be making a mountain out of a molehill as Rodri was simply expressing his honest view on the matter and is known to be a Pep Guardiola favourite.
Being at the elite level and having the desire to continue to succeed, the three-time Premier League winner simply realises that excessive playing time could shorten his career.
That is a concern for every top footballer and Rodri is no different.