Pep Guardiola Reveals Rodri's Struggle to Regain Full Fitness After Hamstring Injury.
Manchester City midfielder Rodri is "suffering" and "struggling" as he looks for a return to action from his hamstring injury, says manager Pep Guardiola. The 29-year-old initially picked up the injury when he lasted only 22 minutes at Brentford on October 5th, and has seen only one minute of action in the two months since, appearing as a late substitute against Bournemouth on November 2nd.
Guardiola maintained that Rodri is "getting better" but did not specify a timeframe for his return. However, he said: 'Do you know what it means playing without the best player in the world two seasons ago? Our main player when we won the Treble and playing 70 games. Then during one year and a half [years] without him. Do you know what we miss? I want him back now... here.'
He added that Rodri is 'suffering, he is struggling because he wants to come back, but I want to protect him. I want to be sure right now that we minimise the risk. This is what we want.' Guardiola also said that his team is 'missing' a player who has been an important part of their midfield for several years.
Since joining from Atletico Madrid in 2019, Rodri has been a mainstay in the middle of the park for City, helping the club win four successive Premier League titles and other major trophies. However, he has struggled to regain full fitness for a prolonged period since missing almost the whole of last season following a serious knee injury in a 2-2 home draw with Arsenal in September 2024.
Guardiola's comments on Rodri come after the midfielder sat out Tuesday's thrilling 5-4 victory at Fulham, where Marco Silva's side threatened an incredible comeback from 5-1 behind.
Manchester City midfielder Rodri is "suffering" and "struggling" as he looks for a return to action from his hamstring injury, says manager Pep Guardiola. The 29-year-old initially picked up the injury when he lasted only 22 minutes at Brentford on October 5th, and has seen only one minute of action in the two months since, appearing as a late substitute against Bournemouth on November 2nd.
Guardiola maintained that Rodri is "getting better" but did not specify a timeframe for his return. However, he said: 'Do you know what it means playing without the best player in the world two seasons ago? Our main player when we won the Treble and playing 70 games. Then during one year and a half [years] without him. Do you know what we miss? I want him back now... here.'
He added that Rodri is 'suffering, he is struggling because he wants to come back, but I want to protect him. I want to be sure right now that we minimise the risk. This is what we want.' Guardiola also said that his team is 'missing' a player who has been an important part of their midfield for several years.
Since joining from Atletico Madrid in 2019, Rodri has been a mainstay in the middle of the park for City, helping the club win four successive Premier League titles and other major trophies. However, he has struggled to regain full fitness for a prolonged period since missing almost the whole of last season following a serious knee injury in a 2-2 home draw with Arsenal in September 2024.
Guardiola's comments on Rodri come after the midfielder sat out Tuesday's thrilling 5-4 victory at Fulham, where Marco Silva's side threatened an incredible comeback from 5-1 behind.
. i feel bad for the guy, hamstrings can be nasty and it sounds like he's been through a lot with his knee injury too 
. pep's trying to protect him but at the same time wants him back on the pitch ASAP 
. it's no wonder they're missing that crucial midfielder - rodri's been a key player for them in recent years 
. hope he comes back soon, city needs him to get back to their winning ways 
. you can watch pep guardiola talk about this in an interview here: 
, I've been following his career since he joined City and he's always been a key player. This hamstring injury has just come at the worst time too, with all these big games coming up 
. Guardiola seems to be saying that Rodri is putting pressure on himself to get back in, which makes sense I guess, but it would've been nice if he could give us an estimate for when he'll be back on the pitch 
. He's talking about the importance of minimizing risk, and I think that's fair, but it's hard not to worry when you're a huge fan 
. Maybe some time off would've helped him recover better?
he's the glue that holds us together 
but at the same time, pep needs to balance between wanting rodri back on the pitch ASAP 
and making sure he doesn't rush back too soon and sets himself back even further 
let's just hope he's back to his old self soon 
like rodri needs time to get back to his old self, no rush pls 
the treble was an insane achievement and we all know how important he was in that team 
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, and it hit me how much popcorn is like a hamstring injury, right? one minute you're feeling all fluffy and excited (watching the game), next thing you know you've got a hole in your side and can't even get back to being all fluffly... anyway, pep's right though, rodri's like that but way more expensive 
.
pep guardiola is trying to protect him tho which is smart, we don't wanna see rodri re-injure himself 
it's like what happened with his knee injury last season, i remember thinking that might take forever to fully recover from too... anyway, hopefully he'll be back on the pitch soon and helping city win some more trophies 