Are Man City football’s biggest one-man team? Stats lay bare the misery for Pep Guardiola’s side without Rodri

MANCHESTER CITY'S caller illness has coincided with the lack of their cardinal talisman.

But conscionable what bash the stats accidental astir the value of Rodri?

The Spanish midfielder, 28, was agonisingly ruled retired for the play aft injuring his ACL against Arsenal successful September.

The harm required country and the lengthy betterment volition support him retired of enactment until the 2025-26 campaign.

And that means helium volition person to relinquish the Ballon d'Or trophy helium collected successful Paris past period arsenic helium was crowned the champion footballer connected the satellite acknowledgment to his exploits for City and Spain.

Asked astir being the world's champion footballer, Madrid-born Rodri told Esquire: "It's hard to explicate and erstwhile you enactment it successful those words, it's adjacent much astonishing, it's scary. I ne'er thought astir it.

"Life surprises you and it's an illustration that dreams tin travel true.

"Never looking beyond, but surviving time by day, trying to grow… successful the extremity you realise that a lad similar me, from a mean neighbourhood, tin go the champion successful the world."

The midfield metronome's spell connected the sidelines is being felt harder than adjacent the astir devout Rodri fans and Pep Guardiola could person expected.

City limped to a 1-1 gully with Newcastle and - aft unconvincing one-goal wins against the likes of Fulham, Wolves and Southampton - person lost their past 5 matches successful each competitions.

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The nightmare tally started astatine the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium successful the Carabao Cup earlier Bournemouth secured a 2-1 triumph connected the southbound coast.

Ruben Amorim's Sporting stuffed City 4-1 successful the Champions League and past Brighton won 2-1 astatine the Amex.

Then connected Saturday, Spurs thumped Guardiola's men 4-0 successful a jaw-dropping result.

And that effect added further clout to the reliance connected Rodri's relation successful the team.

This season, Rodri has featured successful conscionable 3 matches - coming connected astatine half-time successful the 2-1 triumph implicit Brentford, the 0-0 gully with Inter Milan and past went disconnected aft 21 minutes aft sustaining the fearfulness genu wounded against Arsenal.

It means helium has missed 16 of City's matches this play - and they person won nine, drawn 2 and mislaid 5 of those astatine a triumph complaint of 56 per cent.

But looking backmost to the commencement of the 2022-23 Treble-winning season, erstwhile the Rodri Rolls-Royce genuinely started rolling astatine caller levels, the stats laid bare marque for astonishing reading.

From February 12, 2023 to May 19, 2024, Rodri was unbeaten for Manchester City - a staggering 74-match streak that was yet ended by rivals Manchester United successful the FA Cup last astatine Wembley.

Of course, helium scored immoderate hugely important goals successful that time, excessively - including against Bayern Munich and Inter Milan connected their mode to lifting the Champions League past versus West Ham connected the last time of past play to clinch yet different Premier League crown.

Across each competitions, Rodri has started 103 times for City successful that time.

Of those matches, City person won 75, drawn 23 and mislaid conscionable five.

They mean 2.5 goals scored and 0.8 goals conceded with a triumph complaint of 73 per cent and a nonaccomplishment percent of conscionable five.

However, of the 35 matches helium has not started crossed the aforesaid period, City person mislaid 11 - much than treble contempt a illustration astir a 3rd of the size - arsenic the nonaccomplishment complaint soars to 31 per cent.

The 35 matches besides diagnostic 22 wins and 2 draws arsenic the triumph complaint falls to 63 per cent.

City besides people less (2.3 goals per game) and concede much (1.2 goals per game) erstwhile Rodri does not start.

And the Premier League figures wrong that clip archer a akin communicative with the triumph complaint dropping from 75 per cent to 58 per cent - portion the nonaccomplishment complaint jumps from six per cent with Rodri to 37 per cent without.

The goals scored tally takes an adjacent bigger hit, too, from 2.6 per crippled to conscionable 1.8.

And the points per crippled complaint is simply a staggering 2.4 with Rodri and 1.8 without.

All successful all, the facts are clear.

City endure without Rodri and suffer six times much matches erstwhile helium is not successful the starting XI.

Guardiola is reluctant to marque sweeping changes - backing up his stance with a trophy furniture overflowing with medals.

Speaking up of the Champions League clash with Feyenoord, helium said: "What should I change? What should I change? If I had changed successful my archetypal play erstwhile I was asked to alteration we would not person won six Premier Leagues successful 7 years.

"Now I'm not going to change. We are large believers successful the process and the fundamentals we person to do. Injured players person to travel backmost to their champion form, players who person played a batch of minutes due to the fact that of the injuries request rest, 1 bully effect tin alteration our mind.

"When we were winning a batch I was reasoning this excessively shall walk and close present this excessively shall pass. Nothing is eternal. 

"What we person to bash is insist. 26 [shots] is not enough? Create more, and effort to concede fewer. One time we're going to triumph a crippled and our caput volition beryllium clear. I anticipation Tuesday, if not Sunday. The tendency is determination and we are going to try."

But with Rodri not coming backmost into the squad anytime soon, Guardiola needs to fig retired his midfield minefield - and fig it retired accelerated - to get backmost to winning ways consistently earlier the season wholly collapses.