By Samuel Timothy
The 28-year-old was effective in his team’s and his nation’s victories last season, and his outstanding contribution has been duly recognized.
In February 2021, Pep Guardiola stated, “The best holding midfielders don’t appear on the front pages of newspapers.” “They hide behind the team, but they are the reason the team performs well.” Rodri, who had only been with Manchester City for a season and a half at the time, was the player the coach was referring to.
Those remarks followed a rare slump for City, who had fallen far behind Liverpool in the previous season’s title race and had started the 2020–21 season with a dismal 16-point record from their first 12 games. However, they have since returned to their unstoppable best, defeating Liverpool 4-1 at Anfield to win the league for the tenth time in a row. And a major factor in that had been Rodri.
Although Guardiola appreciated his work, the Spaniard’s impact on City was minimal at the time. Guardiola, who benched the Rodri for Chelsea’s Champions League final loss at the end of that season, may not have fully appreciated him either.However, Rodri has been on the front pages of newspapers all over the world for the past four years. Although he may not receive as much recognition as teammates Phil Foden and Erling Haaland, his impact on Manchester City and Spain is now widely acknowledged.
He doesn’t “hide behind the team”; he plays a key role for both club and country, and he won two of the most coveted football awards last season: the European Championship with Spain and the Premier League title with City. He also won the 2024 Ballon d’Or on Monday, which gave him the real recognition he so richly deserves.
Before, Rodri was a strong candidate for the 2023 Ballon d’Or. He would have earned it after winning the treble with City and scoring the lone goal in the Champions League final against Inter, which was the ideal reaction to being benched in Porto the previous two years.
Haaland’s 52 goals in 53 games, however, somewhat overshadowed his contribution; he finished fifth behind the Norwegian, not even the highest-ranked City player.
Instead, while still basking in the glory of winning the World Cup with Argentina, Lionel Messi won his eighth Ballon d’Or. However, Messi’s stifling hold on the trophy is finally over, and Rodri is now the player with 74 games without a loss.
This year’s Ballon d’Or, which is determined by accomplishments in the 2023–24 season and summer tournaments, did not include Rodri’s contribution to the treble. However, he was in even better form the previous season, so that didn’t really matter.
All three of City’s losses occurred while he was suspended, and he finished the Premier League season undefeated. It was in February 2023 that he last suffered a league defeat.Even though Real Madrid eliminated City in the quarterfinals on penalties following two draws, Rodri didn’t lose a Champions League match the previous season. His only loss came against Manchester United in the FA Cup final, which put an end to City’s record-breaking 475-day and 74-game unbeaten streak across all competitions.
His season was unaffected, though, as City became the first team in 135 years of English football to win the league for the fourth time in a row. Although Haaland remained City’s leading scorer and Foden trailed him by a slim margin to win Premier League Player of the Season, Rodri’s role in this momentous occasion was just as significant.Although goals and assists have never been the focus of Rodri’s game, he scored eight goals during the league season, including in City’s opening match against Burnley and their championship-winning triumph over West Ham. He also assisted on nine more goals.
He accounted for 17 percent of City’s total Premier League goals, which was two more than Bernardo Silva’s and three more than Kevin De Bruyne’s. We cannot emphasize this enough: He is a holding midfielder, and as a result, he became the 21st-largest contributor to goals in the league.
Running the show from the first whistle to the last, Rodri’s primary responsibility was to lead City through games, and he did it flawlessly. It wasn’t a coincidence.
For the first time since Matthias Sammer in 1996, the football community has listened and awarded the biggest individual award in the sport to a defensive midfielder. Football has for far too long prioritized goal scorers and flair players over the midfield lynchpins, the players who keep everything running smoothly.
However, City and Spain’s top attackers could not succeed as they do without players like Rodri. Paul Dickov, a former City forward, stated on BBC Radio 5 Live that “He’s the one who lets De Bruyne, Phil Foden, and Bernardo Silva do what they do because he’s so good.”
Haaland is also free to roam the box in pursuit of objectives thanks to Rodri, and his altruistic efforts .
