Newcastle exposes Man City's weaknesses without Rodri

NEWCASTLE – No Rodri, no party. But many questions. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola cannot escape the shadow of his injured midfielder – arguably the best in the world in his position – and his angry reaction when he called out the 28-year-old after Saturday's 1-1 draw at Newcastle United revealed how big the defeat will be for the Premier League champions.

“Guys, I know you're going to ask me all the time,” Guardiola said after the game. “But [Rodri] is not there. “Kova [Mateo Kovacic]Bernardo [Silva]. Rico [Lewis] did well, but I need to find solutions. I would be happy if Rodri were here.

This was the first game City have played since it was confirmed this week that Rodri, shortlisted for the Ballon d'Or, would miss the rest of this season after missing the ball in the 2-2 draw against Arsenal tore the anterior cruciate ligament in their right knee last Sunday.

When Rodri left the field due to injury in the 20th minute against Mikel Arteta's side, City were 1-0 up and comfortable. In the last 51 Premier League games Rodri had played up to February 2023, City had not lost any of them.

But with Rodri off the pitch, Arsenal quickly clawed back a deficit to 2-1 and only missed out on victory by conceding an equalizer in the eighth minute of stoppage time.

In Newcastle, City took the lead again, with defender Josko Gvardiol scoring a goal in the 35th minute after good work from Jack Grealish, but unable to maintain their lead and Anthony Gordon's penalty in the 58th minute ultimately giving Newcastle a point and City themselves asked when will you win again without Rodri.

City will of course find a way to win without the former Atlético Madrid player. Let's not forget that Guardiola's side won their first three league games this season without Rodri in the squad as he took an extended break following his efforts to help Spain to Euro 2024 glory in Germany.

But the reality of his absence for the rest of the season has presented both a selection problem and a psychological blow to the champions. Their record with and without Rodri – they haven't won their last five games (L4, D1) without him and Kevin De Bruyne in the starting XI – shows that he is important and the team now knows they have to do this a way find ways to cope without him. Even Guardiola, a coaching genius, admits he is still looking for a solution.

Rodri is perhaps even more important to City than the productive center forward Erling Haaland. City have so many attacking options that they usually find a way to score when Haaland isn't on the scoresheet, but Arsenal were able to control City's midfield in the period between Rodri's departure and Leandro Trossard's red card in the 45th minute last week. Minutes overrun, and Newcastle also dominated the middle of the pitch at St. James' Park for long periods.

Guardiola deployed a 4-1-2-3 formation, with Kovacic in the Rodri role and Lewis and Ilkay Gündogan providing another layer of protection between Kovacic and the front three players.

Kovacic is a top player, a Champions League winner with Real Madrid and Chelsea, but he is not Rodri. If Rodri is an A+ midfielder, Kovacic could be B+, which still isn't bad. But everything about City is their level of excellence, and despite Kovacic's pedigree, he doesn't give City the security on the ball or the vision of Rodri.

As for Lewis, the 19-year-old is still learning the game and is not ready to be one of Guardiola's main solutions. Gundogan has all the makings and has done it before, but the former Germany international turns 34 next month and looks a shadow of his former self after returning to the Etihad this summer after a season at Barcelona.

Gündogan was substituted at the start of the second half after a poor performance in which he appeared not to be quite as quick. He could improve once his fitness improves, but his age suggests that could be an optimistic assumption.

Tellingly, Guardiola was perhaps referring to Bernardo Silva rather than Gündogan when discussing his midfield options against Newcastle, but the Portugal international is more of an attacking player than a potential Rodri solution. Defender John Stones is another player who spent the game on the substitutes' bench, while the injured De Bruyne was not included in the squad.

Like Gündogan, De Bruyne also has all the prerequisites to fill the Rodri gap, but he is also 33 years old and regularly suffers from injury problems.

So how does Guardiola replace the irreplaceable?

At Newcastle, City had good spells in the first half but lost control of the midfield as the home side gained momentum in the second third.

The midfield of Joelinton, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimarães had more energy and tenacity than City's, while Joelinton's size and strength presented a problem that Guardiola's team were unable to deal with in Rodri's absence.

City now have a comfortable run of league games against Fulham, Wolves, Southampton and Bournemouth in October so they can prove to the world and themselves that they can survive without their best midfielder.

There is a strong chance that City will win all four of these games and do just that, but there is no doubt that they are not the same force without Rodri and the tough test will be against their title rivals.

Newcastle failed to do that on Saturday, but they exposed City's weaknesses and better teams than Eddie Howe's side will be far more ruthless.