Arsenal handed significant boost as the ‘asterisk’ hanging over Man City’s Premier League title challenge is made clear

The prolonged absence of injury-plagued star Rodri could prove costly for Manchester City in their quest to topple Arsenal in the Premier League title race, Citizens expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has told Sports Mole.

After missing the majority of last season with an ACL injury, Rodri has found it challenging to return to full fitness this term and has already missed 10 matches across all competitions, playing the full 90 minutes in just two of his eight appearances.

The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner was not involved in Man City’s disappointing 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United last weekend, a result which has seen Pep Guardiola’s men slip to third in the Premier League table and seven points behind leaders Arsenal.

McInerney is still of the opinion that the Citizens’ title aspirations hinge on the availability of Rodri, while the loss of experienced players in the summer, coupled with an “undercurrent of naivety” in the current squad, is impacting City’s ability to perform at a high level on a consistent basis.

Speaking to Sports Mole, McInerney said: “I feel the same as I did at the start of the season. I think City's best chances of winning the league probably do still lean on Rodri being available. He's our best player and he's the best player in the league when he's fully available, but he's not, he's just simply not. 

“I think it's very obvious that he won't be fully available for a long time, and when he is, his best form is probably still a while off. That's not a complaint. It's just the reality of the situation, we didn't really know that until we experienced it.

“At the start of the season, you hoped he would be firing at this point, but he's barely got going yet and it's about to be December. You’ve got to presume it's going to be February/March before he's looking like himself. Who knows? It might even be longer than that.

 

 

Why Man City are feeling Rodri’s absence as they chase down Arsenal

“Bearing that in mind, that was always the asterisk for me about City's title challenge. When looking at my own season predictions, I felt City was second with an asterisk next to it saying ‘if Rodri plays 35 games, starting, we probably could win the league’, but that's not happening.

“The reason Rodri is relevant is because he's Rodri! He's absolutely brilliant, but he's also the heart of this Manchester City side, he's also the steel of this Manchester City side, he's also the best player that we've got, especially after [Kevin] De Bruyne left.

“If Rodri doesn't play much, you've lost De Bruyne, you've lost Rodri, you’ve lost [Ilkay] Gundogan's experience, Kyle Walker's moved on... you start to list all the names that have left, and I know Rodri is still here, but if he's not playing, he's not really there. Maybe it’s just too much (to compete for title this season).

“While obviously Nico Gonzalez is getting better and [Tijjani] Reijnders will adapt, games like [against Newcastle], they're the ones that you have to win to maintain a challenge. That's what we did in previous years, and that's what you need a Rodri there for.

“You needed him in there for the Aston Villa game (1-0 defeat). You need them there for the Spurs game (2-0 defeat). We can't rely on Rodri yet and it does feel like a lot of the season will be defined around his fitness.

“That sounds quite dramatic, but it's how I feel. This is a really talented bunch of players and a lot of them are winners, but I would say there's an undercurrent of naivety still to this Manchester City side...a lot of them are experienced, but I wouldn't say they're experienced in the way that City have been in the past 10 years.

“Even though I think they've got a lot of potential, potential is the word. There is a lot of ability there, a lot of promise and a lot of talent, but it still needs time. It still needs knitting together and it still needs a Rodri, the glue in the centre of the pitch, someone like that.

“I think if we have people of his qualities out, we're going to notice it quite a lot, whereas previously, Gundogan would step in and we’d be absolutely fine. I feel that this is what this City side is missing.

 

 

“I think they're very capable of doing something very impressive, maybe doing something special, and who knows they might do something wonderful, but I think it's too erratic right now, and I think Guardiola would probably say the same.

“It doesn't mean City can't catch Arsenal, it doesn't mean they can't win the Champions League. It's just not as likely as previously. Having said that, who knows where we could be by March. This side could evolve massively. It's already so much different, in my opinion, than it was at the start of the season.”

Gonzalez vs. Rodri: Why Man City still depend on their ‘world-class metronome’

In the absence of Rodri, Nico Gonzalez has predominantly operated at the base of Man City’s midfield and has impressed in recent weeks, but McInerney still believes that Rodri possesses greater qualities in every department.

“It's not that Gonzalez has done anything wrong, it's just he's not as good as Rodri,” said McInerney. “You think of the attributes of Rodri: he's supremely gifted creatively, that's one aspect that we miss. He's an absurd creative talent. He could be a world-class number 10, I maintain that, he could play as a No.6, No.8, No.10 at a world-class level.

“He's a scorer of great goals, he's a great creator, he's a wonderful passer, he will smack it into the top corner for 20 yards, he can skip past people and dribble as well, and his pass selection is perfect. He's also a metronome. The one thing City are missing is a guy who has 100 passes every single game, and Rodri is that. That's what Guardiola still wants, very obviously.

“Nico Gonzalez has done a cracking job, but when we've got a goalkeeper like [Gianluigi] Donnarumma, who isn't even close to the level of Ederson on the ball, you probably need Rodri, who is the absolute fulcrum, the metronome, the ticking heartbeat of this Manchester City side. You need that.

 

 

“Rodri is just a little bit better at everything Nico Gonzalez does”

“The difference between what Rodri does and what Nico Gonzalez does, and Rodri at his very best, is just the little fundamentals. His positioning, his strength, his experience, his knowledge of the league, his pass selection and variety is better, he uses his body better, he slows things down better when he needs to, he speeds things up better when he needs to.

“Rodri is just a little bit better at everything Nico Gonzalez does, while adding more going forward as well. Occasionally, you see Nico Gonzalez still get caught on the ball a little bit more. Rodri at his very best just doesn't get caught on the ball. It very rarely happens.

“When you're playing against a team like Arsenal or Newcastle, Rodri doesn't get bullied by anyone, and that is a combination of his physicality, his mentality and his experience. A lot of getting bullied off the ball is just poor positioning and you're not anticipating the press or the challenge coming in. 

“That's what Rodri brings. Also, aura and experience is a big thing in football. When you see Donnarumma in goal, Haaland up top, Rodri in the middle, you can do anything. You feel 6ft tall, even if you're 5ft 7in because you're surrounded by giants, and I think that genuinely helps.

“And as much as Nico Gonzalez is going to be a cracking player, he just isn't one yet. He's a very good player. And Rodri is the best of the best. The best way to be a world-class player is train alongside world-class players and play alongside them.

“They drag you up to their level because they are win or die kind of people. The more people you have like that in your squad, the better you're going to be. Right now, Rodri was the best in the world. He's just not there. There’s no way that it won’t have a negative effect on the side.”

McInerney has also shared his thoughts on leaders Arsenal, a team “absolutely desperate to win” the title with “no obvious weaknesses”, and why it is now ‘their title to lose’, even at this stage of the season with only 12 matches played.

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