Rodri doesnt like the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Nothing to do with the aesthetic (we dont think), its his record there that bothers him.
In the Premier League, played four, lost three, won one. Ballon dOr winners dont tend to lose many games, so to post three straight defeats versus the same team in the same stadium is unusual.
Some teams are the worst for you," Rodri explained to FourFourTwo, before Tottenham's 4-0 drubbing of City, in an exclusive one-on-one interview in Madrid where he's been rehabbing his injured knee. "Tottenham for us. When they had Harry Kane, Son and Lucas Moura, they had the perfect way to play against us.
Why can't I beat Spurs?
I never won there last season was the first time. I thought, Why is it so tricky?, but sometimes its like this. After parading his cherished Ballon dOr to the Manchester City crowd before their game at the weekend, the sense of deja vu must have been palpable.
Last season was such a tough season, Rodri says, remembering how Arsenal pushed City all the way. If you want to win the Premier League, normally it goes to the last day, and we really played to our limit and gave everything. Maybe thats why we didnt perform well in the FA Cup final, because in the last two games, we left everything on the pitch.
That showed the mentality of the team, though we won for all these years, but we had the desire to go again until the last day. Of course, people expect us to win again this year, then again. Its not easy, but well be there, well fight and the team will show character.
They are missing their best player though, that much is true. But specifically, what is it that the team are currently missing while their midfielder recovers from an ACL injury? It makes sense to ask the man himself.
Youre the guy who ensures everything works," he says, when asked to explain how he sees his own role on the pitch for club and country. "You dont have a specific thing to do, you just have a lot of things to do. Its about leadership and understanding the game.
Rodri has played centre-back as well of course, at the 2022 World Cup, and defenders have joined him in midfield at City. So which is more difficult?
Its more difficult to do what John Stones has done, Joao Cancelo in the past or Manuel Akanji when hes played that role," he says. "In midfield, were used to looking 360, being surrounded by players.
Defend, attack, its the most complete part of the field. At centre-back, you just have players in front of you its more chilled with the ball. I tell the centre-backs, Your job with the ball is so easy! Its demanding without the ball though the positioning is very tricky.
When I played there at the World Cup, Id watch clips of centre-backs, how they behaved, everything. You have to look at the people who really know that role.
Rodri, ranked at no.1 in FourFourTwo's list of the best players in the world right now, knows it inside out, back to front and upside down, which is a decent description of Manchester Citys recent form.
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