{"id":296367,"date":"2023-10-19T19:25:08","date_gmt":"2023-10-19T19:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=296367"},"modified":"2023-10-19T19:25:08","modified_gmt":"2023-10-19T19:25:08","slug":"rodri-hails-pep-guardiola-for-making-football-easier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/rodri-hails-pep-guardiola-for-making-football-easier\/","title":{"rendered":"Rodri hails Pep Guardiola for making football EASIER"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Rodri hails Pep Guardiola for making football EASIER and elevating him to a &#8216;level he didn&#8217;t know he could reach&#8217; at Man City as he bids to be even &#8216;better than Sergio Busquets&#8217; in defensive role<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Man City have been missing out on their football &#8216;brain&#8217; in his red-card absence\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>The player captained Spain to successive international wins during the break\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport&#8217;s podcast &#8216;It&#8217;s All Kicking Off!&#8217;\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Rodri has shared that working under Pep Guardiola has elevated him to a &#8216;level he didn&#8217;t know he could reach&#8217;, and that he now sees football as &#8216;easier&#8217; in a new interview.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The midfielder has been a lynchpin for his Catalan manager since he arrived at Manchester City in 2019, but the 27-year-old has been at the height of his powers over the last two seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Spain captain played a vital role in helping the English champions secure a historic treble at the end of last season, and had a starring role in the Champions League final &#8211; which saw him score the only goal against Inter Milan in Istanbul, and later named Player of the Tournament.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Rodri&#8217;s enduring importance to Guardiola&#8217;s side has been particularly heightened in recent weeks after he picked up a red card against Nottingham Forest and received a three-match ban.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Man City have failed to win any of their three domestic ties without the midfield powerhouse, losing to Wolves and Arsenal in the Premier League, and exiting the Carabao Cup against Newcastle.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/18\/10\/76698245-12643881-image-a-1_1697620003264.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Rodri has hailed working under Pep Guardiola (left) at Manchester City for elevating his game since his move in 2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/18\/10\/76698283-12643881-The_midfielder_has_been_a_lynchpin_for_Guardiola_s_side_and_was_-a-1_1697621383079.jpg\" height=\"425\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The midfielder has been a lynchpin for Guardiola&#8217;s side and was instrumental in securing treble<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/18\/10\/76698255-12643881-Man_City_have_badly_missed_the_27_year_old_after_he_picked_up_a_-a-2_1697621383080.jpg\" height=\"437\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Man City have badly missed the 27-year-old after he picked up a red card against Nottingham Forest in September<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p>But speaking to El Partidazo de Cope, Rodri was keen to stress that Guardiola has given him just as much in return.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;He is the most influential coach of my career,&#8217; Rodri said of the former Barcelona boss. &#8216;He has elevated me to a level I didn&#8217;t know he could reach.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;When you get used to being with him, I say &#8220;why don&#8217;t they (the opposition) do this&#8221;, I see everything easier. He gives you a toolbox and you have more tools than the rest.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I highlight the ability that one has to make better use of spaces by moving less. There are few players he hasn&#8217;t taken to the top.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>But the player also reserved praise for his former coach Diego Simeone, who the midfielder featured for at Atletico Madrid before his move north.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Rodri highlighted the Argentine head coach&#8217;s ability to unlock &#8216;a competitiveness, a hunger&#8217; when elevating his play.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I grew a lot alongside him as well,&#8217; Rodri added. &#8216;They propose different football styles, but that is the beauty of football.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Naming his ambition to be &#8216;better than (Sergio Busquets)&#8217;, the Spanish captain took some time to reflect on a successful international break.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In both of their European championship qualifiers, Spain beat their opposition to nil, scoring two at home against Scotland, and keeping team-mate Erling Haaland at bay in a 1-0 victory in Oslo.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Rodri joked that he had shared insight into how to subdue the goalscoring behemoth with his national team-mates and that keeping him quiet had been &#8216;to his credit&#8217;.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/18\/10\/76698301-12643881-Rodri_also_reserved_praise_for_his_former_Atletico_boss_Diego_Si-a-3_1697621383081.jpg\" height=\"412\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Rodri also reserved praise for his former Atletico boss Diego Simeone for inspiring &#8216;hunger&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I talked to the people who were going to cover him&#8217; Rodri continued: &#8216;(Aymeric) Laporte already knew him and the rest I gave some guidelines. We did very well.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;In the national team side, there are no friends, you have to look for where he is not so strong. He doesn&#8217;t have many weak points.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>After his enforced rest, Rodri will likely rejoin City&#8217;s starting XI for their first tie after the international break, which sees them host Brighton at the Etihad.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Four days later, Guardiola&#8217;s side will travel to Bern and face Swiss side Young Boys in their third Champions League fixture.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>IT&#8217;S ALL KICKING OFF!\u00a0<\/h3>\n<p><span>It&#8217;s All Kicking Off\u00a0is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football, launching with a preview show today and every week this season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube , Apple Music and Spotify<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12643881\/Rodri-hails-Pep-Guardiola-making-football-EASIER-elevating-level-didnt-know-reach-Man-City-bids-better-Sergio-Busquets-defensive-role.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rodri hails Pep Guardiola for making football EASIER and elevating him to a &#8216;level he didn&#8217;t know he could reach&#8217; <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296366,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Rodri hails Pep Guardiola for making football EASIER - Sportstons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/rodri-hails-pep-guardiola-for-making-football-easier\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rodri hails Pep Guardiola for making football EASIER - Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rodri hails Pep Guardiola for making football EASIER and elevating him to a &#8216;level he didn&#8217;t know he could reach&#8217; 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