Manchester City midfielder Rodri showcased his violent side in his side’s recent Premier League game against Nottingham Forest by getting unnecessarily sent off in the second half. After being triggered by some aggressiveness from Morgan Gibbs-White, the Spanish midfielder totally lost his head for a few seconds.
He ended up putting his arms around the midfielder’s throat and almost tried to choke him down to the ground. In this day and age, that’s almost suicidal for any player. VAR caught the offence immediately and Rodri was shown a direct red on the basis of ‘violent conduct’.
As a result, he will now be missing his side’s next three Premier League games – which includes a huge trip away to Arsenal just before the October international break. Rodri might come off as a really decent, likeable guy who doesn’t like to show off or party as much as some modern footballers, but he can be a cunning figure on the pitch.
The 27-year-old is a beloved figure among his fans, but a lot of rival fans can’t stand him. That is because of how dirty he can be at times in trying to hurt opponents with his tackles or make cheeky fouls that often go unpunished.
He appears to have mastered the art of making ‘tactical fouls’ which can be described as “A deliberate act of foul play intended to bring about an advantage for the perpetrator”. This has become a norm at Manchester City under Guardiola, as they often push many bodies forward into the attack – leaving them vulnerable to counter-attacks.
Rodri is often the one doing the tactical fouls and sometimes does it in such a clever manner that the referee doesn’t think it to be punishable by a booking. Last season in the Premier League, Rodri made 47 fouls in 36 appearances – but was only booked five times for it and never sent off once.
He has infuriated everyone by being able to trick the officials into not deeming his dirty, play-breaking challenges as bookable offences. However, Rodri (figuratively) shot himself in the foot against Forest and picked up his first-ever red card in a Premier League game.
Some fans appear to have derived a possible reason behind his violent nature sometimes creeping up this season and it might not have to do with anything from last season. In a recent video that started to go viral that is basically a fan-made edit showing the possible origin behind his new-found violence in his game.
The video starts off with an interview where Rodri is asked about what TV show he might be watching these days. He replies about watching Netflix quite a lot and that he loves watching ‘Top Boy’ on the platform. Top Boy is quite a popular Netflix show (even Chelsea star Mykhailo Mudryk seemingly loves it!) that revolves around the drug peddling scene in London and has quite a lot of gang violence associated with it.
Immediately after his answer, the edit transitions to him pushing Gibbs-White in the little scuffle before his sending off and then transitions into a scene where a character on ‘Top Boy’ is also pushing someone in a scene.
This hilarious edit might be a bit of a cheeky proof of why Rodri has become so aggressive lately and his attempts to act like a ‘gangster’ in the Forest game. The Spanish midfielder reached seventh heaven with the Cityzens last season, scoring in their UEFA Champions League final win and starring in the final.
However, it appears that Rodri needs to focus on bringing more composure to his game and be more calm-headed on the pitch. As evident from their Carabao Cup elimination from the hands of Newcastle United, Pep Guardiola really can’t work many wonders with Kalvin Phillips replacing Rodri in that pivotal no.6 role.
