Manchester City's Rodri problem persists

Things are going badly for Manchester City. The club sold Rodri and did not sign a full-back. According to the writer, that is the whole problem. Mistakes in defence have led to criticism that the players have lost their focus.

Enzo Maresca said after the match that the problem was a general one. Maresca said, "You need desire and intensity; you need intensity in the second balls and in the duels, and if you don't have intensity you struggle. We could not keep up with their intensity." The writer disagrees with this view and also rejects claims that the team's decline stems from psychology.

According to statistics the writer cites, over Rodri's seven years at the club, City's win rate was 71.5% in matches he played and 62.3% in matches he missed. City lost 12.1% of the matches Rodri played in, compared with 26.2% of those he did not play in.

The writer says Rodri's absence was felt most in the match against Nottingham Forest. It is noted that all three of Forest's goals were ones Rodri could have prevented.