Rodri's absence was clearly felt against Newcastle as City were left with too much space in midfield. The Spaniard was a giant shield, able to block almost any attack from the opposition from all sides.
Man City's second half against Newcastle was a rare moment of uncertainty for Pep Guardiola's side. Newcastle suddenly had a chance when Joelinton played a through ball into the path of Anthony Gordon. The England striker was one-on-one with Ederson and the Citizens goalkeeper was forced to foul. Penalties of this type are rare for Man City.
Kyle Walker made a mistake in positioning that allowed Gordon to break the offside trap. However, the notable point was the space in front of Manuel Akanji - an area Rodri often occupies. Normally, Rodri would be in the right position to block the pass rather than directly intervene like Mateo Kovacic did.
A draw away to Newcastle is not a bad result for Man City. However, this creates opportunities for competitors to rise. Besides, a notable statistic is that since October 2022, when Rodri was absent, Man City have only won against Luton Town in the Premier League.
It is absurd to think that Man City depend on any one player, because it goes against Pep Guardiola's philosophy of team cohesion. However, the "Blue Half" of Manchester has been confused at times without Rodri. With his passing ability and especially his intelligent positioning, Rodri is the one who creates the connection in The Citizens' squad.
At Man City, the Spanish star has many different tasks such as holding the ball, carrying the ball, intercepting or even creating opportunities. The EURO 2024 champion is always the most influential person on the pitch simply by being in the right position and shaping the game around him.
There is no one else who can be as complete as Rodri in the defensive midfield position. As Pep Guardiola recently said, when a player becomes a strong candidate for the Ballon d'Or, it is because they bring something special that others find difficult to do. All Man City can do against Newcastle is try to replicate some of Rodri's impact through a combination of other players.
Luckily for the Etihad Stadium team, they made the wise decision to bring Ilkay Gundogan back from Barcelona a week before the transfer window ended. Although the German star is no longer in the same form as before, Man City having Gundogan to replace Rodri is still an acceptable option.
Against Newcastle, Gundogan played on the left and as the highest midfielder. Mateo Kovacic took on Rodri’s role in the deepest position, while Rico Lewis balanced out on the right. All three finished with a pass completion rate of over 90%, but not as high as the 93.4% Rodri has been achieving all season.
Pep Guardiola always wants his team to control the game and no one has done that better than Rodri over the years. The draw against Newcastle showed that the Man City captain has not yet found a solution to the "no Rodri" problem.
