Rodri is the current gold standard among defensive midfielders. He does not promote himself or have any presence on social media, and he does not partake in many substantive interviews, so when he spoke in more detail with the Guardian we have to listen.

Rodri on his position as the ‘architect’:

It’s an important position, especially the way [City and Spain] play. I try to give movement to the play, a dynamism, a rhythm. To connect to the players in front of you as soon as you can, to help the game mature, to interpret it, take it where you want it to be. That’s what most defines the role of the pivot: when to accelerate, when to brake, when to press higher, when to move deeper. Those thoughts are always going through your mind. When the ball comes to me and we need to apply a pause, I’m not going to accelerate the play.

‘To connect to the players up front’ is the key part for me. I don’t care if you are the ball winner or a pure passer; a basic requirement for a holding midfielder should be that they will always look to connect play to the players up front.

If, like in most top teams, they play with two or more attacking midfielders in the half-spaces, or especially if they float around, not playing forward to feet would make possession suffocating. And not suffocating for the opponent, suffocating for your team.

Rodri, on watching games back after the match:

I always watch games back, whole. Especially if I think there are things that can be done better. I watch them alone. You see lots of things you didn’t see on the pitch. The feeling you have watching it is different to how it felt at the time. I often find there are things I don’t even remember having happened. I like to analyse the game, not just mine, but the rest of the team.

I could not imagine why a professional player would not watch the match back, especially with how accessible match footage is.

From July 11, 2023, until today, Rodri has played 5,181 minutes for club and country. That is 57.56 full matches in total. He said, “I reached a point where I can’t [do it] any more,” and then went on to say that the players need to take a stand:

Yes, yes. It is going to have to be like that. In fact, over this past year, there have been situations in which we have spoken, that we have to do things, although it is complicated because we’re dispersed. We’re at different clubs, it is not easy to generate that [collective voice]. But someone has to put their hand up. And the people who have power, the big organisations, have to say: “Look, this is all well and good but we have to take care, especially of this generation of players, boys like Lamine [Yamal] who is 16 …” No one can play 60, 70 games a season. Over a couple of seasons, maybe, but not 10.

The Premier League season starts on August 17th, thirty-four days after the EURO Final against England on Sunday. Manchester City’s first preseason match is on July 23rd.

Something has to give. He does seem to be hinting at a player strike for the upcoming season. The players can’t keep going like this all year: 365 days, two to three days of rest between games, no rest.