The influence of Rodrigo, who scored the first goal in our 3-0 win over Bayern Munich this past week, has been felt all campaign.
The combative midfielder has played 43 matches – 3,515 minutes - this season across all competitions, the most of any Manchester City player this campaign.
He’s also top of the rankings for tackles (87), successful passes (3,281) and touches (4,075).
That’s 23 tackles, 869 successful passes and 1,232 touches more than the second place player in each category – Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias x 2 respectively.
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He’s bossed game after game in the central ground as we continue our quest for a trio of major trophies this season.
Guardiola is a huge fan of what the colossal star is offering his sky blue team.
Talking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Leicester game, he said of the midfielder: “Huge personality. Huge competitor.
“Every three days, every training session, he never rests. An incredible signing for us.
“I think he had the margin and space in his development as a football player to do better in some situations.
“But, he solved it with his incredible mentality. So important.”
Guardiola loves Rodrigo’s ability to ‘sense and smell’ danger in games.
And the boss says this is one of the key reasons for his constant involvement this term.
He continued: “He’s so important.
“He gives us a lot of things. [He’s been] many years with us and he understands perfectly what we need and is quick in the head. He’s reading [situations] much, much better.
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“In these balls and transitions he always wins the duels.
“If we lose the ball, it’s a chance for them and he has ability to sense and smell to win it.
“But I still have the feeling he can improve.”
