That one decision in the 41st minute from Luka Modric to lightly jog over to the corner flag to take the corner slowed that final five minutes of the half down. The experience to know how to slow down a game is what Manchester City misses without Rodri.

It felt like Real Madrid was on the verge of conceding before the half against Liverpool. The game was opening up, and Anfield was becoming restless with each counterattack, each loss of possession, each run by Kylian Mbappe, or burst of speed past Madrid’s defense from Darwin Nunez. Then Real Madrid wins a corner, and Modric slowly, almost comically, jogs over. He set the tempo for the rest of the half. The atmosphere turned to one resigned to the fact that the game would go into the half 0-0. The play became slow and awkward, like the way Modric ran to take the corner.

Players like Manuel Locatelli, Alexis Mac Allister, Florentino Luis, Tijjani Reijnders, Dani Olmo, Granit Xhaka, Nicolo Barella, and Martin Ødegaard all have that special quality to know when the team needs a break and how to break up play like Modric did. 

You saw that quality from Alexis Mac Allister when he came on for Liverpool in the 2nd half against Southampton on the weekend; he completely changed the game because he knows what buttons to push.

Manchester City probably wouldn’t blow a 3-0 lead against Feyenoord at home if Rodri was playing, not because of his defensive or passing abilities, but because he has the experience to know how to control the tempo of a game. The moment Manchester City concedes that first goal, City would be walking up the pitch. And this is the time you walk, not when you need a goal. Walk and kill the game. Maybe they concede one goal more but not three.

Every winning team needs a player like that because they have the experience. They know what gear to enter, and they have more than one gear, unlike the attackers and defenders who mostly just go. Some defenders, like Virgil Van Dijk, Alessandro Bastoni, William Saliba, or Pau Torres, have that quality, but it is more rare.

So when people say Manchester City is struggling due to age or a lack of physicality in midfield, I say no. It is a lack of tempo setting. Knowing when to play a direct pass forward, knowing what parts of the pitch to play the ball to alleviate pressure, and knowing when you can take a break to draw in the opposition defense or lure that defense into defending in their own end.