Guardiola: Rodri Will Need Time to Regain His Best Level
Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola has warned that Rodri may need most of the season to regain his best form, and backs Nico González in his development. Rodri played for an hour in the 2-2 draw against Monaco in the Champions League, after missing City’s previous two matches. Guardiola has had to carefully manage his star, who was out for almost all of last season due to an ACL injury. Guardiola has indicated that the 29-year-old player will be fit for Sunday’s match against Brentford, but the process for him to become the player who won the Ballon d’Or last year will take much longer.- Rodri felt “a lot of pain in his knee”.
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Guardiola also added: “Rodri will be fine at the World Cup with Spain (next summer). At the World Cup he will be the best Rodri and next season he will be the best Rodri. This season will be how we handle it, step by step.” “It’s normal, he spent a year on the massage table. The body changes, the rhythm changes. It’s a matter of time. If he’s healthy and works with what he has to do, he’ll be back.” Rodri was replaced by González, signed for 50 million pounds from Porto in February, on Wednesday night, but the 23-year-old player was guilty of conceding the controversial late penalty that Eric Dier converted to deny City victory. González has not yet fully established himself in the center of City’s midfield since he arrived on the last day of the winter market last season, but Guardiola disagreed with the suggestion that his entry in place of Rodri could have contributed to City not winning.“Rodri has been and is an outstanding player,” Guardiola said. “Everyone knows it. But I told Rodri, and maybe he found it hard to understand: it’s not about six or seven months (after the injury). ‘Ah, (after) eight months I’ll play and I’ll be the Rodri of before’. No”.
Pep Guardiola
“I would love to tell you, yes, because Rodri wasn’t on the field, we conceded the goal, but I can’t prove it because if I felt it, Rodri would be on the field.” González has been a starter in four of his eight appearances with City this season, three in the Premier League, as well as in the 2-0 victory in the Carabao Cup against Huddersfield, after which Guardiola called him to give him some instructions after the match on the field. “He’s very young,” Guardiola added about the product of Barcelona’s youth academy. “Rodri has been with us for seven years. He hasn’t even been here a year, and in a difficult period. There are many things that he will take step by step, because he has an open mind and is incredibly adaptable.” “Not all players are. He is and he will get it…” “Even Rodri, in the first season, had problems. It’s normal. New environments and you need a process to understand it. Nico is Nico. He has to use his talent like Nico. He can improve a lot.”“Nico in those (last) 30 minutes (against Monaco), was the player who recovered the most balls and we conceded less in the transition than when Rodri was playing in the first half”, Guardiola said.
Pep Guardiola
