Roy Keane said on Saturday that people can actually be ‘so disrespectful’ about one Manchester City player.
Euro 2024 is now officially underway and it is a chance to watch several City players in action out in Germany.
Germany kicked things off against Scotland on Friday night, winning in style 5-1.
Then on Saturday, we saw the first City players in action. Manuel Akanji featured for Switzerland in their 3-1 win over Hungary.
Then, Rodri was in action for Spain, against Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol for Croatia. And it was a solid start for Rodri’s side as they won 3-0.
Ahead of the game, Rodri came in for some very high praise from Roy Keane on ITV Sport…
Roy Keane says it is ‘disrespectful’ to call Man City star Rodri a holding midfielder
Rodri has just finished another fine season for City, in which he was integral once again.
He made 50 appearances across all competitions, and his influence was crystal clear, with him not losing a single game in the league.
The only game he lost in 90 minutes was the FA Cup final against Manchester United.
City fans watched how Rodri added more strings to his bow in 2023/24. Not only did he continue to dominate games from the base of midfield, but he also added a goal threat.
He scored a highly impressive nine goals and laid on 14 assists.
Rodri arrived in Germany in great form, and ahead of Spain’s 3-0 win over Croatia, the ITV Sport punditry team waxed lyrical over the City midfield general.
Roy Keane said (ITV Sport): “It’s so disrespectful when people label him that when you look at what else he brings to the team in terms of going forward and assists. The goals he gets, the job he does on set-pieces, he’s a big strong boy.
“It took him a while to get up to speed at City, the first year or two you’re thinking ‘Is he going to be up to it?’ He looked a bit leggy.
“When he got up to speed, my goodness. He’s certainly one of the most important (players) particularly for Man City. When he;s out of that Man City team, my goodness they look a different team.”
Rodri is incredible
Rodri – who was described during the game with Croatia as ‘a centre-back’s dream’ by pundit Lee Dixon – was a focus for the ITV Sport team ahead of yesterday’s game between Spain and Croatia and it was great to hear him coming in for the praise he deserves.
The £63 million star is just top drawer, and has become a massively important player for City for everything that he brings.
Keane is kind of right. It is verging on ‘disrespectful’ now to refer to Rodri as a holding midfield. Because that suggests he is only about defensive work.
But we have seen that he simply does everything you could want from a midfielder, and City are tremendously lucky to have a player like him in their team.