Manchester Metropolis followers acquired the information that they had been dreading on Monday afternoon: Rodri is about to overlook the remainder of the 2024/25 season attributable to damage.
The problem occurred throughout Metropolis’s mammoth, bad-tempered Premier League conflict with Arsenal on the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, when the midfielder’s knee buckled after colliding with Thomas Partey whereas attacking a nook.
Rodri acquired prolonged medical consideration on the pitch, along with his involved teammates trying on, and was finally withdrawn by Pep Guardiola as soon as it grew to become obvious that he could not proceed.
Sadly, it seems that Rodri has torn his ACL – an damage that’s prone to rule the 2024 Ballon d’Or contender out for the rest of the season.
All consideration now turns to what Guardiola will do to cowl his absence, given Rodri is broadly considered the very best participant on this planet in his place…
It is price remembering that, previous to this week, Rodri had really not began a single recreation for Manchester Metropolis this season attributable to a hamstring damage picked up within the Euro 2024 ultimate.
In his stead, Mateo Kovacic began all 4 of Metropolis’s Premier League video games initially of 2024/25.
The consequence? 4 wins on the bounce, and Kovacic was one of many membership’s best-performing gamers in August – 90min’s participant scores for the month attests to that.
That spate of excellent type whereas Rodri was out of motion, whereas a small pattern dimension, could possibly be sufficient to persuade Pep Guardiola that Kovacic can fill the void for the remainder of the season.
If Guardiola just isn’t absolutely aboard the Kovacic prepare, then dipping into the switch market in January might be mandatory.
The obvious alternative for Rodri that could possibly be available on the market is the person who changed him at half-time within the Euro 2024 ultimate: Martin Zubimendi.
Zubimendi was incredible when he got here on for the injured Rodri within the ultimate, offering each the defensive would possibly – successful 100% of his duels – and offensive prowess – finishing 92% of his passes – that we’re accustomed to seeing from Metropolis’s famous person midfielder.
Having been closely linked with a transfer to Liverpool in the summertime, Metropolis will doubtless not be the one membership enthusiastic about his providers come January. However the assure of minutes at a membership who ought to problem on all 4 fronts this season – regardless of his loyalty to Actual Sociedad – could also be arduous to turned down.
The Rodri position within the coronary heart of Pep Guardiola’s 4-1-4-1 tactical set-up stands out as the most demanding in world soccer.
Because the pivot upon which the entire of Metropolis’s defensive and offensive form is constructed round, the standard on and off the ball wanted by a participant in that position could be very, very arduous to seek out – therefore why the midfielder who performs the position successfully is a Ballon d’Or stage expertise.
And whereas Kovacic has proved he can do a job in there for a brief interval, and the expectation is that Zubimendi might do the identical, there could also be a necessity to modify issues up tactically for the rest of the 2024/25 season whereas Rodri is out injured.
Including a number of further our bodies deep in midfield by reverting to both a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1 formation might alleviate the stress on Metropolis’s midfielders shifting ahead – evenly distributing the burden of changing the Spanish famous person.
That brings Rico Lewis and John Stones into the dialog – two gamers you’d think about might do a reasonably respectable job if that they had a smidge extra assist than what Rodri is accustomed to having.
