Press Conference, Part Two: Pep Guardiola insists on future of Rodri in Manchester City line-up | OneFootball

Pep Guardiola has insisted that Rodri will return to his consistent best, albeit requiring longer to return to fitness following a muscular setback in recent weeks.

The Spaniard has returned to training alongside his Manchester City teammates having recovered from a hamstring problem sustained in a narrow 0-1 victory away to Brentford earlier in the Autumn.

However, despite his return to the City Football Academy pitches, Rodri was left out of the side that dismantled Borussia Dortmund in European action via a 4-1 win at the Etihad Stadium, raising question marks over his ongoing status.

With Guardiola revealing during the open section of his pre-match press conference this week that Rodri would be unlikely to be risked against Liverpool this weekend, much of the follow-up questioning centred around the midfielder and his return.

Manchester City take on Arne Slot’s squad this weekend full of confidence, while the Merseyside club have also retained some good form coming into the clash off the back of a 1-0 win against Real Madrid at Anfield.

Here is every single word from part two of Pep Guardiola’s pre-Liverpool press conference from the City Football Academy on Friday afternoon!

On whether he can be more patient with Rodri amid Nico’s good form, and what has Nico done in recent weeks and months to get to this level: “Yeah, we have continuity, yeah, absolutely. But don’t misunderstand me; I want, we want Rodri back, yes or yes. As quick as possible. But I don’t want him back and after a while he has to make a little bit of a step back.

“This is a small thing but we don’t want that. Of course, in that process, with Kova [Mateo Kovacic] now – we don’t have him for the next time as well – so we have three holding midfielders proper, and just we have one. But yeah, it’s massively important that, you know, without Nico it will be more difficult.”

On whether Rodri has helped Nico at all whilst on the sidelines: “Yeah a lot. Only I want from Rodri is to be happy. Always Rodri is start to smile, enjoy again, and now it has been tough because he’s one of the most competitive football players I’ve ever met in my career.

“How he pushes his mates is unbelievable. And I want him to have to even enjoy the process of being out for a while right now. The toughest period is gone, it’s the third month or fourth month, fifth month, sixth month, seventh month with a long, long injury.

“But now he’s at the end and we have to try to say, ‘OK, I’ll be back with nothing, around the corner. And I will come back and enjoy with the team to do it’. But being outside when he’s involved with us, always he’s incredibly positive, and with Nico helped a lot. And I think Nico has the best teacher, you know, that can be taught in that position, like with Rodri.”

On James French and Pepijn Lijnders time at Manchester City so far: “It has been an incredible impact with us. It’s so pleasant to work with him. I’m learning a lot, a lot. It’s a process that makes me feel like I’m a better manager.

“Of course he knows individual qualities of the players at Liverpool, most of them, because they’ve been working [together] a lot. And it’s not necessary to tell me how highly they speak about all of them, but the way they play [with] Arne [Slot] comparing that maybe they did slightly different things.

“And definitely in the end, of course, you have to see what they do with Arne, not what they have done when he was with Jürgen [Klopp] in Liverpool.”

On whether there is a concern that Rodri’s setbacks could continue through the season: “I’m 100% convinced he will be back and he will play. Maybe it will take a little bit of time to reach the level that he had. But to play the game, game, game, he’s going to do it. It’s just we have to be sure the moment is there.”

On how he can be absolutely sure he will be back: “Arsenal came three days after Napoli and four or five days before [we played against Manchester] United. It’s always I say the same; you believe me Rodri can play one game a week. You’re looking at 70%, 75% of the games in the Premier League.

“The problem is you play Sunday, and after Tuesday, and after Saturday, and after Wednesday, and after that you go to a national team and this is another type of competition. The teams who play in Europe in that level is another competition, taking experience from the managers. So it’s another way and the players are the same.

“You play one game a week, oh my God, you will recover perfectly. The problem is every three, four days, every three, four days and now we have to handle that, not just with Rodri, especially with Rodri, because we knew it, it was a long, long injury. And when it’s a long injury, history says the year after, you have slightly, slightly problems.

“I try to avoid it, we are desperate to avoid it, not [just] for Rodri, for all of them. But it happened, because the statistics say that the muscular [injuries] and the setbacks are because you have been one year. Stop! And you come back to one game a week, you’ll recover fine. But it’s so demanding.

“And me as a manager, when I see Rodri and the doctors and the physios say, ‘Rodri’s ready’? He’s going to play, my friend. He’s going to play! And we have to be careful from now on, be careful, and be sure you cannot step back.”

Journalist: “Hi Pep, congratulations.”

Pep Guardiola: “Thank you. FINALLY, guys. The first one.”

Journalist: “Some of us are polite.”

On what he is looking to see in the coming weeks regarding improvements: “Next few weeks is international break (smiles). I think we are learning to play better in different ways and still I have the feeling that defensively we are not, like I’m dreaming of. We concede a few chances or goals, so we are in Premier League less than zero plus seven, six goals, so it’s fine.

“Of course we cannot compare ourselves, they [Arsenal] are unbelievable. I think we are learning to play better against different shapes, man-marking or low blocks or deep that at the beginning we struggled a little bit to read exactly what we had to do. And like I said one month ago, I have the feeling that we are getting better.

“I said yesterday, the big teams, when you win – from my experience – when you arrive at the end of April, May, to win the titles is how much you grew up from September, October and every month. The teams who win are the teams who grow. And that I had a feeling that we are getting better. That means you are not going to set back in some games? Yeah, it can happen.

“But if we are consistent in the way we defend and the way we play and read a little bit better. After that it’s just body language, just passion and being to do it. On Sunday we play against, right now, the Champions. Arsenal is not the Champion, the Champion is Liverpool. They come here to defend the title. We experienced that.

“And it’s a chance to prove ourselves against the last Champions of the Premier League, what is our level, and I’m so excited to play.”