Julien Laurens has said that while Rodri let himself down by getting sent off against Nottingham Forest, he is one of the best of the best.
Speaking on ESPN FC, the pundit gave his two cents on the £63 million (ESPN) man’s rash red card on Saturday.
Julien Laurens believes Manchester City midfielder Rodri was reckless in his reaction but also lauded him as one of the finest players on the globe.
Julien Laurens says Rodri is one of the best players in the world
Branded as ‘truly elite’ by Breaking The Lines, the Spanish international is widely heralded as the best defensive midfielder in the world.
In fact, Jamie O’Hara went as far as to say that the 27-year-old would already make the cut in a Premier League all-time XI, whilst also claiming that he has surpassed N’Golo Kante.
Now, Julien Laurens has had his honest say on the sending off faced by Rodri against Forest whilst also praising him.
“There’s no need to do that from Rodri”, he said.
“I don’t know why he’s so angry. I think it’s very disappointing from somebody who is one of the best in the world to do that, to let your team down like that.”
Rodri should be on the Ballon d’Or podium
Julien Laurens is spot on and on Rodri as a player, it is hard to disagree that he remains in the upper echelon of footballers in the world.
So much so that while Erling Haaland and Lionel Messi have dominated the discourse around the Ballon d’Or, the former Atletico Madrid lynchpin should also be on the podium with them.
A fair case can be made that after Haaland, Rodri was City’s best player last season.
Add to that the fact that the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. suffered dips in form, unlike him and his case only gets strengthened.
Lastly, Rodri’s decisiveness in the biggest games, be it his belter against Bayern Munich or the Champions League final only add to the countless reasons why he should have a real chance of being in the top three contenders to win the Ballon d’Or.
