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Manchestercity 7mos ago
'I expect more': Pundit has just made a ludicrous claim about 'unbelievable' 27-year-old Man City player
Source:Manchestercity

Manchester City fans cannot speak highly enough about Rodri - but pundit John Giles has made a rather bizarre claim about the Spaniard.

Rodri made headlines at the weekend for scoring an equaliser for City in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium.

Raheem Sterling had given the visitors the lead in the first-half, and City spent the second 45 knocking on the door.

The pressure told with around 10 minutes to go, with Rodri lashing in from the edge of the area.

With the game finishing 1-1, it meant that Rodri extended his own personal unbeaten run to 55 games - which certainly signals his importance to the team.

Rodri is world-class, but pundit John Giles believes there's an area of his game that is lacking...

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City probably should have come away with three points given how many chances they had, with Erling Haaland having a rare off day.

There were also a couple of slightly controversial decisions that did not go City's way.

The result was what it was, but thankfully Rodri had his shooting boots on.

It is strange then, that Giles has spoken about Rodri's goalscoring. He said: "He's a good player. But you can go on stats all the time. If you look at his goalscoring record... it's just his general play. He's a very, very good player, but I expect more of him when he gets on the ball. I expect him to score more goals.

"His stats will always be good because instead of trying to put somebody through, the first thing he does is knock it sideways. I think he should be scoring more goals in that team.

"A lot of times I watch him play, when he gets the ball in the middle of the field, looking to put someone through, not at the time, but it seems to be he's passing it sideways, so his stats are going to be very, very good."

This is really quite something from Giles, who has it totally wrong about Rodri.

First and foremost, Rodri is a defensive midfielder. He is there to provide protection for the backline above all else.

Despite this though, Rodri - whom Pep Guardiola called 'unbelievable' and the best midfielder in the world after the game with Chelsea - does contribute a huge amount for City in the middle and final thirds of the pitch.

So far this term, Rodri has seven goals and seven assists to his name across all competitions. 14 goal contributions from a defensive midfielder - especially one who does so many other things - by mid-February is exceptional.

Rodri is obviously a brilliant passer, and does play a lot of short sideways balls. But to make out this is whole game is ridiculous.

Sky Sports reported earlier today that Rodri has actually played 1301 of his passes while under pressure this season. That is almost 300 more than anyone else, and is very important context.