On Tuesday, the doors of the Etihad Stadium opened again to host the English League Cup match between Manchester City and Watford, two days after the Premier League match against Arsenal. The match was due to be played on Wednesday, but that day was scheduled for Manchester United-Twente in the Europa League and the Manchester police did not allow the two teams from the city to play on the same day. Football calendars are a headache even for the security forces. City was offered to play on Thursday, but on Saturday the team coached by Pep Guardiola has a date in Newcastle and the following Tuesday in Bratislava to play in the Champions League.
The footballing wheel does not stop as Rodri, the player with the fewest replacements at the English champions, traces a journey through various medical consultations to find the best solution for his right knee, which, without an official diagnosis yet, is said to have a torn cruciate ligament. “He will be out for a while,” Guardiola said without further details on television, which was broadcasting the match against Watford. “We are still waiting for the doctors’ decision to see exactly what he has. When we know, the club or I will announce it,” said the coach, who formed a starting team with Kaden Braithwaite, a 16-year-old boy, at the centre of the defence.
Manchester City could end up playing up to 75 official matches this season, which ends with the unprecedented coda of the Club World Cup, a competition that will begin on June 15 and end on July 13. Rodri had raised his voice last week against the drift of some calendars non stop. Few serve as an example like him: since he came under Guardiola’s orders in August 2019, he had barely missed seven games due to injury, just a couple of minor muscle ailments; in nine more games he was not called up by the coach and in 26 more games he remained on the bench without participating. He did play, however, 260 games, more than 20,000 minutes on the pitch. This summer, after finishing the Euro Cup injured in which he missed the second half of the final, City considered looking for something like a doppelganger for Rodri. Not only did they not find one, but it was decided to give him an exit again through the formula of a loan to Kalvin Phillips, England’s starting midfielder at Euro 2021 who is preparing for the newly promoted Ipswich Town.
Two summers ago, City paid Leeds United just over 50 million euros for Phillips, who only started four meaningless games, just two of them in the Premier League. It doesn’t seem like the option of negotiating a buy-out will be put on the table now to find a new midfielder for the team. Rodri’s injury gave Kovacic a chance last Sunday, who is not exactly a positional midfielder. Neither is Phillips and much less is Stones, who has been used several times by Guardiola in midfield. The young Rico Lewis is seen more as a full-back than a midfielder. Nico O’Reilly, a talent from the academy citizen He still seems too green, although he took on a leading role against Watford on Tuesday. Gündogan could take over Rodri’s role, but at City he has always performed as a closer attacker to the opposition’s area.
The Catalan coach has a problem to solve: replacing the man he considers (and not only him) the best midfielder in the world and doing so in a context of uncertainty while the trial that could condemn his club for alleged financial irregularities takes place.
