Rodri says he owes his evolution from a good player to best in the world to Manchester City’s staff and outlined what he plans to do to get even better. Speaking exclusively to FourFourTwo magazine in a one-on-one interview at a location in Madrid where he's been rehabbing his ACL injury, we are curious: how does the best player in the world plan to get even better?
“To be colder,” he says. “Less passionate, and be a better leader every day. The final third is also something I’ve paid attention to – to be involved in goals and assists. Controlling myself when I’m tired, too – don’t move that much, try to stay.”
Rodri’s game doesn’t have a lot of weaknesses. He’s defensively brilliant and has played as a centre-back at a World Cup, he can thread passes, set tempo, sit deep and protect his defence, or operate higher as a ball-player.
And the winner is...
In recent years he’s added goals to his game (scoring a pretty important one in the Champions League final) and his long-range shooting is notably strong. Lastly, his physicality is exceptional, he’s tall, strong, yet quick and has an engine that can easily carry him beyond 90 minutes.
But when he arrived in England, five years ago, he believes he was a vastly different player. "In my first year at City, I used to jump forward a lot, pressing high," he says. "Sometimes that’s good, many times not, because if they then play around you, the team is naked.
“In my first year, the coaches were really strict with me about it – ‘pow, pow, pow’ with clips. They watch you going to the side and say, ‘Why are you going there? You must protect over here?’ It’s something I’ve had to improve, identifying when to go, when to stay.
“The moment you lose that position, you lose the heart of the team, and most goals come from the central area. If you’re there, it’s harder for opponents."
In FourFourTwo's opinion the 2024 Ballon d'Or winner's vow to return ‘colder’ will be interesting to observe when he steps back onto the pitch. Being colder in Manchester eh? If he can apply that mentally, it will be proof the best player in the world hasn’t quite reached his ceiling.
