Manchester City take on Arsenal in the Premier League today – and Declan Rice has been speaking about Rodri ahead of the clash.
Pep Guardiola‘s side have the chance to make a big statement today at the Etihad Stadium.
City are in fine form at the moment and are favourites to win today. But Pep will be without Kyle Walker and John Stones, after both picked up injuries on England duty.
That is a blow, but fans are still hoping to see a convincing performance.
Key to any success today will be the form of Rodri, who is a player Declan Rice greatly admires, and the Arsenal star has revealed what some of the City England players tell him about the Spaniard…
Declan Rice says Manchester City players feel differently when Rodri doesn’t play
Rodri has a major influence on City.
The 27-year-old just makes everything click, and he always dominates games at the base of midfield.
He recently went a whole year unbeaten for both club and country, which is a truly extraordinary achievement, and a clear demonstration of his quality and influence.
We have seen this season how City struggle when he doesn’t play.
This is actually something the players admit, with Rice telling the Telegraph: “He is a monster. When you speak to the City lads at England, they say when Rodri doesn’t play they feel the difference themselves. Visibly, you can see that, too.”
This season, Rodri has been unavailable for four games through suspension. City lost all four of those games.
Rodri the best bar none
There is little doubt at this point that Rodri is the best holding midfielder in the world.
He is someone who Rice has praised a few times already in the past, and his importance is clearly not lost on the other City players.
The £63 million former Atletico Madrid star just helps City to have the thing Pep craves the absolutely most in any game of football; control.
He completely dominates in the middle of the park, and it must be a joy to have him as a teammate, but a total nightmare to play against him.