Pep Guardiola has to make one major selection change to Manchester City team ahead of new season

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The Manchester City manager needs to find a way to rest and rotate one player next season.

“Rodri, Ballon d’Or now, please, he’s the best in the world,” cried Spain manager Luis de la Fuente as his side celebrated winning a record-equalling European Championship on Sunday.

Ten years ago, the thought of a holding midfielder winning the biggest individual prize in football may have seemed fanciful, but now, in the eyes of many, Rodri is the standout nominee for 2024. Only once in the last 15 years has a non-attacker won the Ballon d’Or, and of the 44 previous winners, only four can really be considered players more concerned about preventing goals than scoring.

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In many ways, Rodri’s status as one of the leading contenders shows the general direction of football over the last two decades, a salute to Pep Guardiola’s pervasive footballing doctrine. The use of a midfield pivot has been integral to many of the Manchester City manager’s tactical approaches and Rodri - a Spanish holding midfielder who reads the play, dictates the flow of games and rarely wastes a pass - is his ultimate disciple.

He was the star man at Euro 2024, a deserved recipient of the Player of the Tournament award. That Rodri has managed to repeat his club form on the international stage is perhaps the highest praise he can be offered.

The 28-year-old is City’s most influential player and with him in the side the Blues didn’t lose a single Champions League or Premier League match last season. It was in the latter that his authority really showed - and of the four league matches he missed last term, City lost three.

Unsurprisingly, Guardiola has come to the conclusion that his no.16’s selection is imperative in almost every game and no-one in the City ranks made more starts or played more minutes than the former Villarreal man in 2023/24.

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Over a marathon season, his constant inclusion had one inevitable consequence and in April, either side of the double header against Real Madrid in the Champions League, Rodri admitted he ‘needs a rest’. The response from Guardiola wasn’t exactly one of unequivocal support.

"Today we will speak and I’m pretty sure Rodri will be ready for tomorrow," Guardiola said ahead of the Premier League clash against Luton Town. "I know him because after the game he was tired because it was tough the game against Real Madrid, he came from Crystal Palace and it was really tough as well.

“Of course he’s tired, playing a lot of minutes. Rodri is so important for us and we’ll decide tomorrow what we have to do.”

The midfielder was ultimately given the afternoon off - the only league game last season City managed to win without him, while Guardiola was again asked post-match if Rodri was happy to be rested. “Absolutely,” he replied sarcastically. “He is going to rest on Wednesday [against Madrid] as well.”

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But the Luton game proved to be the final rest for Rodri, who played 829 of the remaining 840 minutes of the season for City. That he played six games at the Euros this summer should, therefore, be a concern for a player who has made 50+ appearances in each of the last two season and has played in 24 of Spain’s last 28 matches dating back to September 2022.

“There comes a moment when it all comes together and it’s too much,” Rodri said in an interview with the Guardian during Euro 2024. “You need your physical condition to play but the head is important as well.

“People only see the game but there’s the pre-game, the preparation, the travel, the time away in the hotel, in which you’re ‘in’ the game. Sincerely, something needs to be done.

“There are moments … it’s not necessarily in the games, it can be when you’re away preparing for a game. Sometimes your head says ‘enough’. Or you want to stop. But in the end, there is a huge motivation. You always find the energy, the strength.”

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But Rodri couldn’t find the strength to continue against England in the final of Euro 2024, as he was forced off at half-time due to injury. Whether it was a serious problem or a minor knock, his withdrawal was a timely reminder to City that there is a limit to his endurance.

Should Guardiola follow the same course in 2024/25 as he’s repeated in previous seasons, there’s every chance his on-field protagonist may succumb to further injury. He might have sardonically dismissed Rodri’s concerns in April, but the City boss will need to listen to them now, especially ahead of what could be the longest campaign to date with an expanded Champions League and Club World Cup.

The obvious solution is to finally sign a worthy replacement for Fernandinho - the Kalvin Phillips experiment hasn’t quite panned out over the last two years. Alternatively, training Mateo Kovacic, Rico Lewis or youngster Mahamadou Susoho to become a reliable deputy could suffice - maybe Phillips even deserves one final chance. Either way, a new, less Rodri-dependent formula is required for the upcoming season.

“My role, I think is to tell them that if you’re tired, you’re wrong,” Guardiola said in May 2023 as City closed in on the treble, but that’s a stance, in the case of Rodri, that will need to change over the next 12 months. Last term showed that Guardiola simply can’t afford to have his star man break down and another 50+ game season could have dire consequences for both Rodri and City.

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