HomeUnited KingdomRodri: “In my first year I was a disaster. I was like ‘I don’t even know what [Pep is] talking to me about, just let me play football’.”
Rodri had big boots to fill when he joined Manchester City with Fernandinho considered by some the best defensive midfielder to ever play in the Premier League.
However, Rodri has made the position his own and now has to be ranked along with the greats like Roy Keane, Patrick Vieira and Claude Makelele, but with more passing in the opposition half and less tackling and more Champions League final winning goals.
But it did not start off so smoothly, according to the Spaniard anyway – who said his first season at the club was a “disaster”.
“The holding midfielder is the guy on the pitch with more responsibilities,” he told BBC Sport in a recent interview – which you can watch on BBC iPlayer.
“You have to make sure team works and nobody is lazy or distracted. When the team doesn’t work it’s kind of your fault.
“You’re like a coach on the pitch. I’m not Pep [Guardiola] in the pitch in that sense because he overthinks the situation. I’m more simple.”
But Rodri admits it did not necessarily come naturally to him in 2019 when the club signed him for a then club record £62.8m from Atletico Madrid.
“Maybe if the teams change and go from five to four, I have to be ‘instead of three at the back we have to do two and one here’. It’s something I’ve learned.
“In my first year I was a disaster. I was like ‘I don’t even know what you’re talking to me about, just let me play football’.”
![Rodri: "In my first year I was a disaster. I was like 'I don’t even know what [Pep is] talking to me about, just let me play football'."](https://www.europesays.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/d69-qqN3iSAZ5DMGuUSeFzS-LZmm1qCGuae4SWdtKkg.jpg)
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Rodri had big boots to fill when he joined Manchester City with Fernandinho considered by some the best defensive midfielder to ever play in the Premier League.
However, Rodri has made the position his own and now has to be ranked along with the greats like Roy Keane, Patrick Vieira and Claude Makelele, but with more passing in the opposition half and less tackling and more Champions League final winning goals.
But it did not start off so smoothly, according to the Spaniard anyway – who said his first season at the club was a “disaster”.
“The holding midfielder is the guy on the pitch with more responsibilities,” he told BBC Sport in a recent interview – which you can watch on BBC iPlayer.
“You have to make sure team works and nobody is lazy or distracted. When the team doesn’t work it’s kind of your fault.
“You’re like a coach on the pitch. I’m not Pep [Guardiola] in the pitch in that sense because he overthinks the situation. I’m more simple.”
But Rodri admits it did not necessarily come naturally to him in 2019 when the club signed him for a then club record £62.8m from Atletico Madrid.
“Maybe if the teams change and go from five to four, I have to be ‘instead of three at the back we have to do two and one here’. It’s something I’ve learned.
“In my first year I was a disaster. I was like ‘I don’t even know what you’re talking to me about, just let me play football’.”
Plodri in Year 1. By Year 5 he’s Top 3 OAT.