Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has warned it could take most of the season for Rodri to get back to his best as he backed understudy Nico González to keep improving.
Rodri played an hour of Wednesday’s 2-2 Champions League draw in Monaco after sitting out City’s two previous fixtures, with Guardiola having to carefully manage his star midfielder who missed almost all of last season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Guardiola has indicated the 29-year-old will be fit for Sunday’s trip to Brentford but the process to get him back to the player that won the Ballon d’Or last year will take much longer.
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“Rodri has been and is an outstanding player,” Guardiola said. “Everybody knows it. But I said to Rodri, and maybe he struggled to understand: it’s not about six months or seven months [after the injury]. ‘Ah, [after] eight months I’ll play and be the Rodri of before.’ No.
“Rodri will be good at the World Cup with Spain [next summer]. In the World Cup it will be the best Rodri and next season will be the best Rodri. This season will be how we handle it, step by step.
“It’s normal, it was one year on the massage table. The body changes, the rhythm changes. It’s a question of time. If he’s healthy and works with what he has to do, he will be back.”
Rodri has returned from injury but is yet to hit top form. Alex Grimm/Getty Images
Rodri was replaced by González, a £50 million ($67.38m) signing from Porto in February, on Wednesday night, but the 23-year-old was then guilty of conceding the disputed late penalty which Eric Dier converted to deny City victory.
González has yet to fully establish himself in City’s midfield since arriving on the final day of the winter transfer window last season but Guardiola took issue with a suggestion that his introduction in place of Rodri might have contributed to City’s failure to win.
“Nico in those [last] 30 minutes [against Monaco], he was the player that won more balls recovered, and we concede less in the transition than when Rodri was playing in the first half,” Guardiola said.
“I’d love to tell you, yes, because Rodri wasn’t on the pitch we conceded the goal but I can’t prove that because if I felt it, Rodri would be on the pitch.”
González has started in four of his eight City appearances this term, three in the Premier League as well as the 2-0 Carabao Cup win at Huddersfield, after which Guardiola called him over for some post-match coaching on the pitch.
“He is so young,” Guardiola added of the Barcelona academy product. “Rodri has been with us seven years. He is not [here] even one year and in a tough period. There are many things that step by step he is going to take, because he is open-minded and incredibly coachable.
“Not all the players are. He is and he will get it…
“Even Rodri — in the first season — struggled. It’s normal. New environments and you need a process to understand it. Nico is Nico. He has to use his talent as Nico. He can improve a lot.”
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