When Rodri got injured, Manchester City fans knew the coming weeks would be tough.
The Spain international has become Manchester City’s most integral player in recent years, which was underlined by his recent Ballon d’Or win.
Rodri has revolutionised the defensive midfield position, and it’s widely accepted now that he’s the best in the world in his position.
But Rodri is out for the season after suffering an ACL injury, meaning Guardiola has been left with the extremely difficult task of trying to replace him.
Manchester City have just dropped points against Crystal Palace in the Premier League – and Gary Neville has admitted he’s been really surprised about Guardiola’s response to not having Rodri.
Gary Neville shocked by Pep Guardiola’s response to losing Rodri
Pep Guardiola, Manager of Manchester City, arrives at the stadium prior to the Premier League match between Crystal Palace FC and Manchester City F...
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Everyone knew it’d be a struggle for City without Rodri.
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We saw last season how the team fared when he was suspended, and has proven to be the case once again that City have struggled in his absence.
For Gary Neville, it’s been a huge surprise to see the ways in which Guardiola has responded to Rodri’s injury.
The pundit believes the Manchester City manager has just tried the same unsuccessful things over and over again.
He said in a video for NBC Sports: “When Rodri got injured, I didn’t expect him to go… he obviously went with Kovacic originally, but then that has stopped because he’s injured.
“I expected him to come up with something different. I expected him to come up with a different solution, I expected to see something that would be innovative.
“We’re just seeing the same things every week. We’re seeing Gundogan and Bernardo Silva in central midfield. I don’t care whether you’re playing a top team like Liverpool or against one of the lower teams in the league like Palace this week.
“You’re going to fancy your chances if your (Ebere) Eze or (Ismaila) Sarr. If you’re those players in midfield. Because they’re just not the best defenders in the world.”
Neville is actually right about Guardiola
Some will probably share this verdict that Neville has about Guardiola.
In recent weeks, we seem to have been seeing the same kind of approach for the manager, and it hasn’t been working.
Now, the injury to Kovacic hasn’t helped matters – the Croatian is the next in line to play in the Rodri role.
And John Stones also hasn’t been fit and he’s another player who can operate in there.
The persistence with Gundogan and Bernardo has been odd to see. They have both been brilliant players for City, but they don’t particularly work well together as holding midfielders and are certainly vulnerable to counter-attacks and players with pace and athleticism.
In an ideal world, Guardiola will sign a new holding midfielder in January, and the player that comes in will have both technicality and mobility.
A number of players have linked recently and one new name has been doing the rounds recently. Manchester City apparently been watching Valencia star Pepelu, and there have also been links to Martin Zubimendi, who’s a player Rodri has advised City to pursue.
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