Without their Spanish defensive midfielder Rodri, Manchester City’s manager Pep Guardiola has acknowledged that his club will need to find a method to start winning games.
Due to a one-match suspension, Rodri, 27, was not present for the Aston Villa encounter. The defending Premier League winners lamented his absence greatly during the match.
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Manchester City have drawn three of their previous games: against Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, and Liverpool without Rodri. This is before their match against Aston Villa. Without the Spanish midfielder, they lost 1-0 to Villa on Wednesday, proving his value to the team.
Manchester City have been unbeaten in 43 matches with Rodri starting, hence, after City’s 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Wednesday night, Guardiola stressed that he and his coaching crew have “to find a way to win without him”.
The four-game run without a win marks the first time since April 2017 that Manchester City has gone four games without winning in the Premier League.
In their Premier League game against Aston Villa, Manchester City recorded the worst possible stats as they only managed to record just two shots, the fewest ever by a Guardiola team in a game within Europe’s big five leagues in 532 games.
Also, Aston Villa recorded 22 shots against Manchester City which was the joint highest number of shots a team coached by Pep Guardiola has ever faced.
After the game, Pep Guardiola told Amazon Prime that his team was struggling and he had to find a way to help them return to winning ways.
“We struggled, especially in the first half and the second was completely different,” he said. “In the final third, the quality of the pass and the movement, we didn’t find it all game.
“We know what’s our level and as a manager, we have to find a way to win games. We’re struggling a bit. I’m here to help them.”
Pep Guardiola and his boys are currently sitting in the 4th spot with 30 points in 15 games, 6 points below first-placed Arsenal.
