Pep Guardiola Drops Devastating Bombshell About Rodri's Injury Status
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola disclosed that his key midfielder Rodri confessed he was experiencing too much discomfort to feature against Burnley on Saturday afternoon following complications with his ongoing knee problem.
The Spanish orchestrator in the heart of midfield was absent for most of the previous season due to a ruptured ACL. Guardiola has been careful to slowly bring back the influential player, who has faced an inconsistent start to the current season. Before this weekend's match, he needed to assess his physical condition.
"Rodri told me yesterday during training, 'I'm unable to participate. My knee is causing me significant pain, I can't play, I just can't play'," the City manager explained. "I responded: 'If you can't play, then you won't play. Someone else will take your place.'"
Nico González took his position in front of City's defense for what became a comfortable 5–1 victory over the newly promoted side on Saturday, but the Spaniard—whom Guardiola quickly dubbed 'mini-Rodri' last season—has found it challenging to bridge the gap left by his fellow countryman's unavailability.
Man City's Struggles Replacing Rodri
The challenge in substituting for Rodri lies in the fact that, when performing at his peak, he contributes far more than any other defensive midfielder globally. Beyond intercepting attacks and distributing the ball forward, Rodri essentially serves as the intelligence and pulse of City.
"I attempt to provide movement to our play, energy, tempo," he describes. "To link with the players ahead of you as quickly as possible, to help the match 'develop,' to read it, guide it where you want it to go." Mastering these subtle elements is exactly why he claimed the Ballon d'Or.
It required the thoughtful midfielder at least twelve months of rigorous Guardiola coaching to even start understanding the position. Nico has had slightly more than half a year, but the former Barcelona youth product who was considered expendable in Catalonia is far from certain to ever achieve such levels. Whether Rodri can return to that standard also remains uncertain.
The 29-year-old experienced a recurrence of the identical knee issue during this summer's Club World Cup, which caused him to miss City's Premier League season opener away at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Following a substitute appearance in a 2–0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur, Rodri completed the entire match as City crumbled against Brighton & Hove Albion in late August, experiencing his first Premier League loss as a starter since February 2023.
The initial year following recovery from an ACL injury is seldom smooth, and the Spaniard's efforts to restore stability aren't helped by Guardiola's growing tendency toward more direct tactics.