Shaun Wright-Phillips confidently stated that he would pick Rodri ahead of Roy Keane in a combined XI of Manchester City and Manchester United players.
The former City winger was filming for Premier League Productions along with Michael Owen, covering last night’s game with Brighton.
City stand to become Treble winners this season.
The Premier League is already in the bag, and the FA Cup final is a week tomorrow.
And then the following weekend, it’s the Champions League final against Inter.
Only one other team has won the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Champions League in a season. And that’s United.
There is now a chance for City to achieve the same feat, and finally make an awful lot of United fans go quiet.
With City on course for the Treble, some people and also pundits have been making their combined XIs of players from this current City side and the United side of 1998/99.
Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville both gave theirs on Monday Night Football.
Wright-Phillips has now given his, but he was making his choices based on head-to-heads he was given.
Perhaps the most interesting selection he made was when he picked Rodri ahead of Roy Keane. He believes Rodri would give a team more control than Keane.
On making this choice, Wright-Phillips said: “Rodri. I just feel like it’s the way I want to play. I think for the team I’m building here, I need control. Good control and possession. And a dictator. I think Rodri does that better than Keane. If I needed an enforcer, I would have gone Roy Keane.”
A bold selection from Shaun Wright-Phillips, but Manchester City star Rodri is a better footballer than Roy Keane was
Many United fans will undoubtedly be mocking Wright-Phillips for this if they catch wind of it.
But Rodri – who cost City just shy of £63 million – is a sensational footballer and deserves his place in a combined XI of City and United players.
Rodri is certainly a better footballer than Keane ever was. The Spaniard’s positioning, defensive work and passing is all superior to Keane’s when he played
Keane was obviously an incredible leader and did inspire United to many trophies when he was there.
But he can’t hold a candle to Rodri in terms of actual footballing ability.
Certainly, if City did win the Treble this season, and Rodri maintain this kind of level for at least another couple of years, then there would be no debate about who goes in a combined XI at holding midfield.
