Gary Lineker has claimed that Manchester City have a player who does something just like Xabi Alonso.
The now-Bayer Leverkusen boss is widely considered one of the best midfielders in the history of the game.
The Spaniard was a metronome in the middle of the park, famed for his spells at Liverpool and Real Madrid in particular.
Lineker says £62.5 million City star is like Xabi Alonso in one way
The retired midfielder’s passing range and ability to control a game was up there some of the best of the best.
The former Real Sociedad hero won two Champions League titles, one La Liga, three Bundesliga trophies, the World Cup and two European Championships.
The player Gary Lineker was referring to who is similar to Xabi Alonso is Rodri on The Rest Is Football podcast.
Initially, Lineker lauded the £62.5 million man for his displays this season: “I don’t think anyone would have a Team of the Season without Rodri in it. What a player.”
Lineker joked about his impact at Manchester City: “I think it was 1986 the last time Manchester City lost a game with Rodri playing.”
“34 games, he played for them in the Premier League without losing any of them, 70 tackles, eight goals, nine assists. Here’s the one, right? We know [Declan] Rice has played every single game this season, had 38 games and made 2027 passes. Rodri, how many?”
“3,633 in four fewer games.”
Lineker added: “I mean, that’s 1,400 [more], more or less more than Declan Rice. The thing is as well the vast majority of those passes were pretty much all of them will be accurate.”
Gary Neville feels just like Xabi Alonso, Rodri has also mastered the art of making cynical fouls.
“He’s also a bit of a master at the old naughty foul to stop the play when they break, which Spanish players do tend to be, ala [Sergio] Busquets and Xabi Alonso.”
Gary Lineker concluded: “He’s intelligent and he always chips in with vital goals in big games!”
Rodri has a key trait every defensive midfielder should have
In March, Fernandinho revealed that the 27-year-old told him that he has learned how to tactically foul players from him.
Xabi Alonso also shared this trait with Rodri — a habit Gary Lineker should not associate with Spanish players but all great holding midfielders, in our view.
At Real Madrid, Casemiro had a reputation for making such challenges very often.
Rodri is seemingly aware of when to make such challenges that lead to fouls to either stop the opposition team’s momentum or extinguish a potentially dangerous attacking sequence.
However, the four-time Premier League winner does not lose his head and get sent off constantly due to this habit.
Rodri, just like Xabi Alonso and Fernandinho, as Gary Lineker stated has mastered the art of tactically fouling players and not getting in the referee’s ear to potentially risk a red card for dissent.
As a result, the former Atletico Madrid midfielder is able to get away with such moments during games.