At La Masia, Pep Guardiola was an idol. The Spaniard has played at Barcelona long enough, leaving enough mark to form a role model for young players after his time. Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta or Cesc Fabregas have been trained and are expected to become the main player in Guardiola’s position and role at Barca.
Xavi once said: “Before Frank Rijkaard came to Barcelona, I was a holding midfielder for 6-7 years”. “Guardiola has always been my idol since I was little,” Iniesta said. Meanwhile, Fabregas was once given a number 4 shirt by a Barca youth coach with the message: “Dear Francesc Fabregas. I waited a few more years to see you wearing the number 4 shirt at Camp Nou. Good luck, Pep Guardiola.”
But in the end all of the above players played in a higher position in their peak. And the person who resembles Pep Guardiola and plays in the position of former Barca captain is Sergio Busquets. The Spaniard once said: “If I could return to play and be any player, I would like to be Sergio Busquets.” If you watch the game you may not see Busquets, but if you watch Busquets you can see the whole game, coach Vicente Del Bosque’s quote has become a classic description of Busquets’ influence. There is no “standard” tall body for a holding midfielder, but Busquets still does his job well.
And like his old teacher, Busquets again became a role model, and later there was someone who was and still is compared to him, Rodri. Like the elder, Rodri is working with Pep Guardiola. As someone who has always loved working with intelligent midfielders, it is not difficult to understand when Guardiola was determined to recruit Rodri. And entering the third season playing at Manchester City, Rodri increasingly asserted his position and position.
Pep Guardiola commented on his player: “When he has the ball, he knows exactly where the space is to attack and the pace we need. The holding midfielder sometimes needs 5 touches, sometimes 1 touch, sometimes 3 touches and now he plays the ball in that rhythm.” Once a top-class holding midfielder and also coached other top-class holding midfielders, Guardiola knows what to expect from Rodri.
Rodri is playing extremely stable at Man City. Photo: Getty Images
Rodri is gradually reaching that level. According to FbRef, the 25-year-old midfielder is in the group of midfielders who move the ball forward (pass or go forward) and have the most defensive action in the top 5 European leagues (respectively 11). ,5 and 18 situations every 90 minutes). According to Sky Sports statistics, Rodri ranks third in terms of successful passes to the last third of the field. Obviously, Pep Guardiola needs midfielders who are sensitive enough in timing as well as able to launch passes through the line to disturb the structure of the opponent’s squad. Meanwhile, Rodri is the player who won the most ball in the opponent’s third of the field at Man City.
In his third season playing for the Etihad team, Rodri increasingly proves his importance with constant progress. According to Guardiola’s explanation, one of the reasons for Rodri’s sublimation this season is that he has become more calm. The Spaniard said: “Last season, he moved too much. Midfielders must stand still, not move. Like if you’re driving and get out of the back seat, you’re just going to crash. The driver must sit first.” This comment also coincides with what Javier Calleja, the former Villarreal academy director, once said of Rodri: “Initially, Rodri wanted to do more than we expected, he ran too much. Gradually, he became more balanced and learned to be in the right position.”
We often say that running a lot makes a strategy, but there are times when you don’t need to run but just act in the right rhythm, that’s enough. But perhaps another reason for Rodri’s stable performance is that this season he does not have to manage a large space when defending. In previous seasons, Rodri has shown he is not suitable as a holding midfielder in a midfield three when the other two central midfielders have a tendency to rise and reveal many spaces that Rodri alone cannot. offset.
Pep Guardiola then had solutions, such as switching to a 4-2-3-1 formation, placing Ilkay Gundogan next to Rodri to fill in the spaces that the Spaniard did not deserve. This season, Man City returned to a 4-3-3 formation, but in reality, the attacking system always had Joao Cancelo from the left flank or a central midfielder who stepped down to kick next to Rodri. Like Johan Cruyff once taught Pep Guardiola a classic lesson: “If I have to defend the whole space, I am a very poor defender. But if I defend one area, I’m the best defender.” That lesson was passed on to Busquets by Guardiola and now he seems to be applying it to Rodri.
Rodri is perfecting himself and is quietly sublimating with Manchester City. “The best holding midfielders don’t appear in the press, they hide behind the team. But the team plays well because of their excellence,” said Pep Guardiola more than ever about Rodri.
