Manchester City are a machine made up of many vital cogs.
Over the years, Pep Guardiola has built a truly outstanding squad with the help of Txiki Begiristain and the recruitment team.
Lots of money has been spent. But Manchester City have splashed the cash wisely, and have been a dominant force in English football as a result.
For a lot of people, midfielder Rodri has been City’s most important player.
This is because the Spaniard performs to incredibly high levels and does things that most other defensive midfielders cannot.
His consistency is remarkable, and we have all seen what can happen when he is unavailable. Fans will now have to hope that City can cope without him, after he suffered knee ligament damage.
Ian Wright is one person who thinks Rodri is City’s most important player, but Jamie Carragher disagrees.
Jamie Carragher explains Erling Haaland has become Manchester City’s most important player
This season, Erling Haaland has been on fire.
The Norwegian has banged in 10 goals already across all competitions and appears to have benefitted immensely from not playing over the summer.
Norway did not qualify for Euro 2024 and so, Haaland had the chance to completely rest up.
For Carragher, Haaland is now City’s most important player. But Wright reckons it’s Rodri.
Carragher said on Stick To Football: “I think Haaland. They have no back up for Haaland.”
Wright added: “I think Rodri, there was a time where they have done it without De Bruyne, they have taken all of their top players out and still done it. But you take him out. And you look at how many games they win when he is playing. That’s a massive blow for them.
Carragher: “I think it’s more of a blow for the Champions League than the Premier League. I think those quarter-finals and semi-finals, the role of the sitting midfielder, when you go away from home and controlling the game.
Haaland is City’s most important player
Certainly now that Rodri is out for the foreseeable, Haaland is City’s most important player.
But there was also a case for him being the most important player when Rodri was fit, purely because of that incredible output in the final third.
Ultimately, goals win football matches. And Haaland has made goalscoring look absolutely easy.
Haaland – who left Wright annoyed after throwing the ball at Gabriel last weekend against Arsenal – has 10 to his name so far and it is not even October yet, so it’s difficult to argue against him being City’s main man.
Carragher makes a good point. Following the sale of Julian Alvarez, there is now no back-up for Haaland which only increases his importance.
That said, Rodri will be a major miss in these coming months and fans will hope the likes of Mateo Kovacic, Ilkay Gundogan and John Stones can step up.
