Pep Guardiola’s upcoming decisions at Manchester City will determine Rodri’s role – Simon Bajkowski

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As Pep Guardiola prepares for four weeks of very difficult matches, the midfield position he holds is going to occupy some time.

The Manchester City boss, in a call that would live on poorly for many disbelieving fans, opted to go without one to the Champions League final in May – after using one in 60 previous games that season.

It seemed an odd call at the time and it was played that way when Chelsea lifted the trophy.

At least in part, the decision was made due to Rodri’s inability to impress in the big matches. The Spaniard has been uncharacteristically volatile in European knockout matches, leading to a disqualification in favor of veteran Fernandinho in the second leg of the semi-final against Paris Saint-Germain.

Now in his third season at the club, doubts remain about the 25-year-old’s suitability for the team and whether his strength is enough to invalidate parts of his game that he does not do like Fernandinho. Having been hailed as his replacement on arrival, it was known that the Brazilian signed another contract extension this summer to extend his stay in Manchester.

Rodri had an encouraging start to the season though.

Fernandinho started playing at Spurs after a full season under Guardiola, but got rough as the match progressed as Spurs enjoyed more happiness on the counter-attack. Since then, Rodri has been playing for Norwich and Arsenal and has shown his admiration.

It shows how low the Gunners have been that the midfielder still can’t be considered to have faced a decent contender yet, but no one in the Norwich match has regained more possession than Rodri. He then took the initiative to shoot and score against Arsenal – something the manager was trying to encourage his players to do more of, in the absence of a recognized striker.

The next few weeks will be a useful test of where Rodri is in Guardiola’s plans.

A tough match at Leicester starts next week, and while Fernandinho may return for that match after not traveling during the international break, Rodri won’t be too tired of Spain’s schedule.

Four days later, City achieved a tough group in the Champions League by hosting the dangerous RB Leipzig side in the Etihad. More comfortable home games against Southampton and Wycombe, but then comes the week of Chelsea, PSG and Liverpool before the next international break.

The first challenge Rodri will overcome will be to start in those matches, to show that he has his manager’s faith in the confidence to take on the best opponents City will face. Then he must play well enough to pay back that belief.

It won’t define his career with the club, but these upcoming matches will be a useful sign of Rodri’s place with City.

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