During the press conference before Man City’s match against Luton in round 33 of the Premier League (9:00 p.m., April 13), coach Pep Guardiola revealed that key midfielder Rodri is unlikely to participate due to physical problems.
“If a player doesn’t want to play, he won’t play, it’s as simple as that. If Rodri is exhausted, another player will take his place. I haven’t spoken to him yet but he will rest. if necessary”, Pep said.
Pep Guardiola has a headache when Man City’s core team has physical and mental problems
After the 3-3 draw against Real Madrid in the quarterfinals of the first leg of the Champions League, Rodri affirmed that he needed to rest because he had to “plow” continuously: “I really need to rest. Every member of the team can do better, including myself, but honestly we need a rest.”
According to Pep Guardiola, in addition to physical problems, Rodri also showed mental deterioration: “I feel like Rodri plays better in the second half in matches where he feels tired, like the match against Crystal Palace.” or Real Madrid. He ran more and had more accurate moves than the first half. Above all physical strength, it is a matter of mental exhaustion when having to play at a density of 3 days/match.
“Watch Man City’s matches and you will realize. Rodri is very important but if a player doesn’t want to play, he won’t play. I also need to rest the central defenders but it’s up to John Stones and Kyle Walker were injured when they joined the England team, they couldn’t rest. We are in big trouble. I have the feeling that the whole team is tired during the past matches.
Currently, Man City still has a chance to win the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup. If they reach the finals of cup tournaments, they will play a total of 13 matches from now until early June (7 matches in the Premier League, 4 matches in the Champions League, 2 matches in the FA Cup). Not only that, many European stars can only rest for a few weeks before attending the EURO finals (June 14 – July 14).
