Rodri could return to action should Man City reach FA Cup final
POSSIBLE RETURN: PEP Guardiola believes the current Ballon d’Or holder Rodri could return to his Manchester City side before the end of the Premier League season and, after the ultimately comfortable win over Plymouth, that might even mean an FA Cup final appearance for the Spanish star.
PEP Guardiola believes the current Ballon d’Or holder Rodri could return to his Manchester City side before the end of the Premier League season and, after the ultimately comfortable win over Plymouth, that might even mean an FA Cup final appearance for the Spanish star.
The midfielder, a huge absence for City since he injured knee ligaments against Arsenal on his third appearance of the season in late September, is making better than expected progress in his rehabilitation from surgery.
He was in the City dressing room before Saturday’s 3-1 FA Cup fifth round win over Plymouth Argyle and, significantly, was seen kicking a football with team mates.
He also returned to on-grass training with the first team on Friday, although training solo, with supporters reacting feverishly to photographs issued on club media channels.
Now, with the possibility of an FA Cup final extending the domestic season, and with City playing in the FIFA Club World Cup, which runs until July 13, Rodri is closing in on a return.
“The fans must know they are not the only ones who are excited,” said Guardiola.
“It's been five months, six months, after the international break. But one step at a time, we don't have to make stupid decisions to come back weeks earlier.
“It's good but still he's not close to coming back I'd say. But he's touching the ball today, in the locker room making touches with the players.
“He feels confident, he feels more happy. I could not expect before [him to return] before the end of the season, not even the [Club] World Cup, in the Premier League maybe it's going to happen.”
After having to come from behind to beat Championship strugglers Plymouth, Guardiola did not want to tempt fate by pencilling Rodri in for an FA Cup final comeback.
“I don't know, let's see if we deserve to get there, we're in quarter-finals,” he said.
Even allowing for the good news over Rodri, City’s injury-ravaged season continued, however, with Nathan Ake now facing a long spell on the sidelines, after playing for several weeks with a foot complaint.
“We'll do the test but he struggles sometimes with bones in the feet,” said Guardiola. “Probably, it's been like this the whole season, the central defenders. Hopefully the young ones, they don't have a lot of stuff in their life, can sustain it and help us.”
With Ake, Manuel Akanji and John Stones all struggling for fitness, Ruben Dias is the only senior fit central defender, meaning “the young ones” - January signings Vitor Reis, who made his debut against Plymouth, and Abdukodir Khusanov - can expect extended game time over the season’s final weeks.
City’s embarrassing exit from the Champions League against Real Madrid has, at least, offered the manager extra time, and free midweeks, to work on the training ground, and in the treatment room, with his players.
Guardiola will be seeking to reach the FA Cup semi-finals for a record seventh consecutive season, while City’s Club World Cup campaign kicks off on June 18, with the final in the middle of July. It means that a season that has offered Guardiola so many challenges - and his players so many tests of their fitness - may have almost five months remaining in it.
“It's quite new for us, in eight or nine years this hasn't happened,” said Guardiola of the early exit from Europe and the free time it brought with it.
“We're going to give days off, to refresh because we believe in this competition it's about quality not quantity. We're going to refresh things, full training sessions to prepare our really important game against Forest.
“Then again we have one week before Brighton, then international break, then FA Cup. We're going to refresh things, practice things, lift the rhythm, refreshing things that we cannot do that we have to do better.”
Two goals from young defender Nico O’Reilly and a third from Kevin De Bruyne sealed City’s place in the last eight after a shock opening goal from Plymouth’s Ukrainian defender Maksym Talovierov.
But the win came with an outburst from Guardiola against the Mitre match ball used by the FA in the competition, one different to the balls used in the Premier League and manufactured by Nike.
“It’s difficult to control it,” said Guardiola. “Many years, many managers and players say about that. When you lose it [sounds like] you're complaining but the ball is not proper, I’m sorry.
“For many, many years it's happened in the FA Cup and Carabao Cup. I know it's a business and they come to agreements to do that, but the ball is not good.
“Do you know how many shots go over the post? All of them. Not just Erling (Haaland), look at other games. You have to be so precise.” “I’ve said it for many years but there are things out of our control. I’ve said my opinion, if people like it, fine; if not, fine. People will be nice to me because we won 3-1, if we lost I would think the same. I wouldn’t say it because I wouldn’t want to be punished.
“That is the truth. The Champions League ball is exceptional, the Premier League ball is exceptional, but this one is not good.”
: Ortega 5; Lewis 5, Reis 6, Ake 7 (Dias 46, 6), O’Reilly 8; Gundogan 7; Silva 6, McAtee 6 (Haaland 59, 7), De Bruyne 7, Grealish 6; Foden 6 (Gonzalez 83). Substitutes (not used) Ederson, Dias, Marmoush, Doku, Gvardiol, Savinho, Nunes.
: Hazard 9; Sorinola 7 (Szucs 80), Talovierov 7, Katic 7, Pleguezuelo 7, Ogbeta 6 (Puchacz 71, 5); Wright 6, Boateng 7, Gyabi 7 (Houghton 64, 5), Mumba 6 (Al Hajj 64, 5); Bundu 6 (Baidoo 64, 5). Substitutes (not used) Edwards, Grimshaw, Palsson, Roberts.
: C Pawson 7
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
