Rodri’s Manchester City role shows holding midfielders are key to success

T he holding midfield role is a bespoke one; you need to be technically very good, not just a destroyer, have a high-level understanding of the game and be able to drop into the backline but also break forward, depending on what team you are in. Simple enough.

Manchester City have one of the best in the business in Rodri. He has been an incredibly consistent performer since his arrival from Atlético Madrid in 2019 and City are reaping the rewards. The importance of his role is shown by Saturday’s opponents, Liverpool, who have been constantly linked with midfield players because they have struggled in this position. Rodri, on the other hand, has provided stability.

He has played more minutes for City than anyone else this season, including the goalkeeper Ederson, a sign of his value to Pep Guardiola. To have someone that consistent at the base of the midfield is extremely important because their reliability feeds into the rest of the players.

Rodri has made the most passes in the Premier League this season, 189 more than Lewis Dunk in second, and 546 more than the closest midfielder, Pierre-Emile Højbjerg. He has also had more touches than anyone in the league. Leading his peers on these statistics is a sign of Rodri being indispensable in City’s challenge for trophies.

Guardiola said of the position, one he knows well from his playing career: “What is important to be a holding midfield is to be always stable: seven, eight, seven, eight. It’s not nice to have a big 10 performance and then a two or three. Maybe wingers or strikers can do it but for a holding midfielder it’s not good.” Rodri ticks all those boxes.

When managing Barcelona, Guardiola had Sergio Busquets and at Bayern Munich it was Xabi Alonso, two of the