Pep Guardiola has revealed that he doesn’t mind one potentially bad habit that Manchester City midfielder Rodri has had this season.
The Spaniard has been in terrific form once again for City, after playing a crucial role in last season’s Treble win.
Rodri has been a force as usual in the engine room, turning in top performance after top performance.
His importance to the team has been crystal clear once again. He recently went one year unbeaten in a City shirt, and also for his country.
Alongside Phil Foden, he has been City’s best and most important player this term and his form will be absolutely crucial now at the business end of the season.
But there’s one slightly concerning thing about Rodri this term – although it doesn’t hold too much significance for Pep Guardiola…
Pep Guardiola says he hasn’t spoken to Rodri about his yellow cards for Manchester City
One of the biggest parts of Rodri’s game is to break up play.
He is a defensive midfielder, and is there to provide the backline with protection, first and foremost.
it just so happens that he is also absolutely incredible on the ball and recycles possession amazingly well, making him the best in his position in the world.
Rodri’s position demands that he gets stuck in, and also stops transitions from the opposition.
This has therefore led to the £63 million player picking up a number of yellow cards this season – eight in the Premier League to be exact.
Rodri currently runs the risk of getting a two-game for City. As per the Premier League, If he picks up two more bookings before (and in) City’s 32nd Premier League game, then he’ll be suspended.
He has already served a one-game ban earlier this season, which came in the reverse fixture against Aston Villa.
And before that, he got a red card for violent conduct against Nottingham Forest, meaning a three-game suspension.
On Rodri’s yellow cards, Pep said (via HaytersTV): “No, we don’t think about… I don’t remember talking about that. I think it’s one or two left (until another suspension), but it doesn’t matter. We don’t talk about that, he knows it, they know it. And the guys want to be involved in the games, and sometimes it’s yellow card, sometimes it’s not. I think he got less lately than in the beginning of the season.”
Rodri must be careful
Pep has said publicly that they don’t think about Rodri getting booked, and that it ‘doesn’t matter’ about him potentially being suspended again.
But there is surely no way he hasn’t told Rodri to watch his step a bit.
Pep cannot afford to lose the Spaniard. We have seen what happens when he doesn’t play, so to lose him for two more games would be a major blow.
The 27-year-old simply has to watch his step in the next few Premier League games. He cannot be replaced in the starting XI, and a suspension for him could have disastrous consequences for City in terms of the league title.