Manchester City drew 1-1 with Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium in a Premier League match last Saturday. The draw meant that they are in the third position in the league table with 53 points from 24 matches.
Rodri continues to excel for Manchester City
It is necessary for Manchester City to deal with counter-attacks
It is a three-horse race for the Premier League title this season, with only four points separating the top three teams. Manchester City, in fact, has a match in hand and are third at the moment with 53 points from 24 matches.
Thus, they are only four points adrift of Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool. Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal have also been in fine firm of late and will fancy their chances of winning their first league title in 20 years.
As the season enters into its final few months, the role of someone like Rodri, who is probably the best in the world in his playing position, becomes even more important. Guardiola will rely a great deal on him in vital matches, as the Spaniard has both the experience and ability to shine in them.
However, there is a conundrum there for Guardiola to solve. Manchester City is often likely to come up against teams with ultra-defensive approach, who will prefer to play for a point. In such a scenario, the Cityzens will have to become more aggressive in their approach. Hence, they will need Rodri to adopt a more advanced position in an attempt to score goals.
Moreover, Kyle Walker is also supposed to overlap in such a scenario, meaning that there will only be the two-centre backs inside their half to deal with any counter-attack. The two central defenders might find themselves vulnerable against such attacks.
Hence, the other defensive midfielder in City’s double-pivot in their formation of 3-2-2-3 will have to shoulder more responsibility in foiling the counter-attacks. Manuel Akanji partnered Rodri in the midfield against Chelsea, and should have been more cautious to deal with the Blues’ counter-attacks, one of which fetched them their goal.