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pep guardiola insists that he is certain of this rodri will be back to his best but he said Manchester City will have to be patient until the Ballon d’Or winner is ready to play every game again.
The midfielder has made only a brief substitute appearance against City last month bournemouthAnd Guardiola is waiting to see whether he will be able to face Liverpool On Sunday.
Rodri has started only seven matches for City since suffering a cruciate ligament injury last September and Guardiola believes he will have to be cautious of his fellow Spaniard this season.
“I’m 100 per cent confident he’ll come back and play – it’s just going to take him a while to get back to the level he was at. But we’ve got to make sure he’s there [physically],” He said.
Rodri last started at Brentford on October 5 when he limped off and Guardiola reflected on the midfielder’s busiest week of the season when he started the Manchester derby and then started in quick succession against Napoli and Arsenal.
“Arsenal, three days ago [that] ‘Napoli, then United, so believe me Rodri can play one game a week, but if we play Sunday after Tuesday, Wednesday after Saturday – then go to the national team – it’s another type of competition,’ said the City manager.
“Playing at that level is another competition, it’s another way. You play one game a week so you’re completely fine. The problem is every three days. When there’s a long injury the history says you have little problems the following year – we try to avoid it, we’re desperate to avoid it, but it happens, the statistics say that – for a year you get stuck. [playing],
“As a manager, when I look at Rodri and the doctor and physio say ‘Rodri is ready’, he is going to play. We have to be careful from now on and make sure there are no setbacks.”
Guardiola praised Rodri, saying he could be “the best teacher” for Nico Gonzalez as he has been filling in as City’s defensive midfielder in the Champions League winner’s absence.
He said: “I just want Rodri to be happy, to start smiling and start having fun again. It’s hard. He’s one of the best footballers I’ve ever met in my career and the way he gets his teammates going is incredible.”
“I wanted him to enjoy the process of being out for a while. The hardest time has passed, the third month, the fourth month, the fifth month, the sixth month with a long injury. Now it’s the end, he has to try to be ‘okay’, I will come back and be with the team to do that.”
“But being out there when he’s involved and with us he’s always incredibly positive with Nico, so that helps him a lot. I think Nico was the best teacher in that position.”