Pep Guardiola has a significant number of key players in his Manchester City squad.
With one of the smallest squads in the Premier League, Guardiola has to rely on pretty much all of his players to do a job when called upon throughout the campaign.
Having picked up four consecutive Premier League trophies over their four previous seasons, it’s clear that the players in City’s ranks are some of the best in the world.
This is backed up by the fact that the Blues had more players (14) picked to represent their countries in the 2024 European Championship than any other top-flight side.
One of those players has now found himself the topic of conversation, with one pundit sharing his praise for him and his verdict on how significant he is for the Manchester club.
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Andy Townsend says Rodri is City’s most important player
Speaking ahead of Spain’s 2-1 victory over France in a video shared on the talkSPORT YouTube channel, Andy Townsend had this to say about Rodri, including what he does on the pitch and how important he is for City.
He said: “I think what he also adds, every now and again, Rodri steps forward and scores some right important goals, massive goals.
“He strikes beautifully from the edge of the box, left foot and right foot, he scored some really important goals for his team as well.
“He is an incredible player, he’s brilliant at the role, understands it totally for club and for country, he’s pivotal, crucial all of those words.
“I remember when Fernandinho was really at his best, again, another player that really, really understood that role.
“There’s an article in the press today with Rodri about when to pick the game up and accelerate the game, when to drop off the gas, when to keep it. From that position, that’s the only position on the field where you can actually I think influence all of those. The speed of the game, I think he does that brilliantly.
“You’ve got to know when to foul, you’ve got to know when you have to take a card, take one for the team. You’ve got to know when somebody dare not go past you. You have to recognise all those things and I think you have to be very, very cute sometimes with the way you tackle to get away with things.
“He does that as well. Lots of players are too blatant in that position. They immediately go to ground, they foul, they’re on a yellow card after five minutes. Don’t often see that with Rodri, he’s so smart in the way that he plays.
“I would probably say he is the most important player because he gives everybody else in the team, he gives them a platform to go and just do what they do best knowing that he’s always there.
“He’s always available whenever anyone’s in trouble with the ball, invariably he’s there to have it off of them and keep them moving forward again. He probably is the one that they can’t replace.”
Rodri is vital for City
Looking back over the previous Premier League campaign, City only lost three games, which happened to be the three games that Rodri, who Paul Merson recently said was on a different level to the likes of Toni Kroos and Declan Rice, was unavailable for due to suspension.
The Spaniard, who is picking up a weekly wage of £220k-a-week, ended the campaign with the highest combined total of tackles and interceptions (96) in the City squad.
With all of that in mind, we agree with Townsend about how impressive Rodri is as a defensive-midfielder and how important he is for City and Guardiola.
