Being a successful team means all of its parts working in synergy to achieve maximum performance and, for so many years, that is the mantra Guardiola’s Manchester City have worked towards - and central to the Blues’ engine is Rodrigo.
Yet, outside the reverence bestowed on him by our Club and supporters, it’s fair to say that while Rodrigo is universally respected and admired by the outside world, his contribution still gets nowhere near the recognition it perhaps should.
The consummate holding midfielder for what is officially the best club side in the world, Rodrigo is simply irreplaceable.
To illustrate that statement, Rodrigo was unavailable for just three Premier League games last season, all due to suspension.
City lost all three games.
That’s not to say that there weren’t other factors at play, or the team cannot win without him, but it certainly underlines the fact that he is absolutely integral to our team.
Season on season, his influence grows, and he has become the beating heart of how this City team plays its football and his reputation as the best holding midfielder in world football is one that is both well-earned and thoroughly deserved.
CHAMPIONS MAGAZINE | PRE-ORDER NOW
The well-worn phrase that special players can walk into any team on the planet is particularly true of Rodrigo – but our Club and supporters know exactly what we have and while that wider appreciation of his work might not be at the levels they perhaps should be, they are gradually getting there.
2023/24 saw yet another outstanding contribution from our Spanish anchorman.
His consistency has been incredible, so much so, that on the rare occasion he makes a misplaced pass, there is almost a collective gasp of disbelief.
His standards are that high.
Rodrigo sets the team’s tenor, and he is the dynamo that sparks the engine.
Humble, intelligent, and respectful, he is also a powerful tour-de-force on the football pitch and a wonderful ambassador off it.
The bad news for every other club in the Premier League and Europe is he is getting even better.
At 27 and having just completed his fifth season with City, his stats for 2023/24 are his best yet and evidence that he is only now reaching the peak of his powers.
In all competitions, his 13 assists and nine goals represents an outstanding contribution.
And he has become ‘the man who can’ when it comes to crucial games over the recent past – his leveller against Aston Villa in May 2022, Champions League final winning strike and his vital strike against West Ham on the final day of the Premier League season just gone are perfect examples of his uncanny knack of scoring big goals at optimum moments.
And but for the FA Cup final loss to Manchester United, he would have completed an entire season without losing in City colours.
He is currently on a 50-match unbeaten run of Premier League games and by the time the new season begins, it will have been 18 months since the Blues lost a league game he was involved in.
He needs seven more to surpass Sol Campbell’s record of 56, and would anyone bet against him achieving that notable milestone?
City have had very deserving winners of the PFA Player of the Year, Premier League Player of the Season, and the Football Writers’ Footballer of the Year award in recent times – but Rodrigo is yet be awarded any of those prestigious awards.
It can, surely, only be a matter of time before he does.
Highlight
His carefully swept home goal against West Ham last month, easing the growing anxiety in the stands and restoring City’s two-goal cushion.
2023/24 Stats (all comps)
Games played: 50
Games started: 50
Minutes played: 4326
Games won: 38
Games drawn: 11
Games lost: 1
Passes successful: 4935
Passing accuracy: 92.33
Chances created: 81
Big chances created: 9
Goals: 9
Assists: 13
Tackles won: 66
Duels won: 286
Interceptions: 37
Aerial duels won : 77
Rodrigo view
“I am very proud of the way I’ve grown in this league and this team from the first year to now. The way I build my winning mentality. I am very proud of myself, my family, my team-mates. We deserve it because of all the effort we put in right until the end.”
Pep on Rodrigo
“He’s an unbelievable player. He’s the best midfield player in the current world by far.
“It’s because he’s able to do everything. So the tempo he has, especially his character when the situation is going wrong, he steps forward to arrive to the box, go backwards, the ability to play short and long. He’s always ready.
“What a signing. Manchester City signed a player that is difficult to understand what we have done in recent years without him.”
