Rodri of Manchester City
Rodri of Manchester City
If there is an argument for how good a player Rodri is then you need look no further than Manchester City right now.
The Blues are going through a tough patch that Jamie Carragher labelled a 'massive crisis' after a 2-0 Champions League reverse to Juventus extended their poor form to one win in 10.
The stats do not make great reading. City are shipping goals, short on confidence and low on points. No team in Europe's big five leagues have conceded more goals across all competitions than City's 20 since the start of November while they are without a clean sheet on the road in eight matches. Next up is a derby day Etihad encounter with Manchester United where both sides will be desperate to spark their seasons.
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City's problems are far bigger than Rodri's absence. Clearly the Spaniard, the best player in the world and the Ballon d'Or winner, is a major miss but he cannot fix these issues on his own. An ageing squad, missteps in the transfer market and injuries have all contributed to the slump.
Carragher, speaking on CBS after the defeat in Turin, said Pep Guardiola is struggling to find a solution for City's current problems.
"You can't believe what you're seeing," said the former Liverpool defender. "I mean, this is a massive crisis. This was a crisis two or three weeks ago.
"The greatest and most successful manager, possibly, of all-time... he's got no answers for it right now. He's tried different systems, players in different positions..
"He's never gone through this before, so he's got no experience in this situation. Nothing to fall back on, because he's been so successful in the past. I think there's a lot of coaches around the world looking at Pep with a wry smile and thinking: 'Finally. Pep Guardiola is going through something that we've all been through at some stage in our career."
But only a matter of months ago this side were commanding champions, unlucky to be knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid and beaten FA Cup finalists. Phil Foden was the Premier League player of the year, Erling Haaland was scoring goals game after game and the likes of Josko Gvardiol were showing the route to the future.
All three of those have been shortlisted as City's Fans’ Footballer of the Year for 2024 alongside Rodri but the past couple of months have seen all three seemingly slip behind the Spaniard despite Rodri not having kicked a ball since September.
It's why Rodri is among the favourites for the overall award, where Foden and City women's star Khadija Shaw are also among the 12-player shortlist that also includes Jude Bellingham, Cole Palmer, Mohamed Salah, Bukayo Saka, Virgil van Dijk, Martin Odegaard, Anthony Gordon, Andre Onana and Ollie Watkins.
Liverpool and Arsenal supporters can make strong cases for one of their stars to take the top honour but are any as important to the functionality of the side as Rodri? You would suggest not.
Who do you think should be the Man City Fans’ Footballer of the Year for 2024? To cast your vote, simply select your chosen winner and submit your vote using the widget below. If the widget is not loading, click here for the mini-site.