FourFourTwo sat down with Manchester City star, and 2024 Ballon d'Or winner Rodri to discuss how he reads the game and why he does what he does on the pitch. Speaking to Adam Clery, he explains what it's like when a defender 'inverts' into midfield, how he balances defence with attack, and why he might even end up as a striker one day...
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Hello, everybody. Welcome to the 442 YouTube channel. And if you think you are more excited
00:14than I am today, you are wrong. We are joined by Rodri. Between us, four Premier League titles,
00:21one FA Cup, one Champions League, one European Championship, one Ballon d'Or,
00:26and one North East Under-15s Counties Cup 2003. We've done all right between us.
00:31First question, what does this mean to you? Like, congratulations, first of all,
00:37but to win an honour like this at this stage of your career, how does that feel?
00:40Well, I mean, I cannot explain, you know, with words. It means a lot, you know, to me, my family,
00:47also my country. Not only because of me, the players, as we said before, who didn't want it,
00:53you know. But yeah, I think it's a consequence of the award heart and winning collectively
00:59with the team and the years we've had of the succeed of my team and the national team.
01:05We were just talking before about sort of how it's seen as slightly unusual for a player in
01:08your position to win an award like that. Now, obviously, no two midfielders are ever really
01:12the same. Chris called you a defence midfielder, you called yourself a holding midfielder. There's
01:17so many different ways of playing the role. What I'd love to know, this might be a really big
01:21question, but how do you see your game? Like, what is Rodri to Rodri?
01:26What is Rodri to Rodri? Well, I think it depends, of course, in the team you play, but I think
01:35my role is very similar in my club and my national team. But I think you're kind of the guy who
01:40ensures that everything has to work, you know, like you don't have a specific thing to do.
01:47You just have lots of things to do. Maybe your role is different from one day to another in
01:53the sense that things change depending on the team you face. And you have to make sure
01:59the team works, you know, and it's about leadership, it's about managing, it's about understanding
02:04the game, you know, and I think it's something I've been growing a lot all these years.
02:08I think it's interesting, you said it varies from sort of game to game, because whether
02:12it's for Man City or the national side, you're so critical to that first phase of play, but
02:17obviously that can be so different between oppositions, like some games will give you
02:20lots of space, some games will be very aggressive. How much of that is down to you to determine
02:25in the match, like you to basically make the call on the pitch, I'm going to take this position
02:29north of this situation?
02:30I cannot tell you, like, it's this, it's just how you, you know, you smell the game,
02:37how you feel, you know, when you find the spaces. Every game is different, you know, and understanding
02:45that we have a way of playing and understanding that I'm in a team that is very tactical and
02:51everyone knows what to do, and in that way it's easier. But let's say I have like a bigger
02:59role in that sense, in tactics sense, you know, like maybe Phil is worried about being
03:05positioned in here, but maybe after 20 minutes he's there, you know, and my work is to make
03:11Phil go there because there is the real space, you know, and this is the way it works for a
03:17midfielder.
03:18You mentioned, I presume that's Phil Foden that you're referring to, yeah, obviously
03:20you've had so many different partners in the midfield. There's been a real trend over the
03:24last two years of defenders now stepping up to sort of join midfielders in there. We spoke
03:30to quite a few defenders about how they make that adaptation, how they adapt to the role,
03:33but I was kind of curious from the other side, like, is it different for you being a midfielder
03:38and having a defender in there? Do you have to adjust your game to sort of know that's not
03:41maybe their natural position?
04:12It's easy, so easy. Without the ball it's different, you know, without the ball it's
04:15so key, it's demanding the position and it's very tricky. But, you know, I think that process
04:23is more easy in my way than their way.
04:25Do they agree with you when you tell them their jobs?
04:27I think so, yeah. I think they might because when they play midfielders, they have to look,
04:32you know, 360, play one-two touch, you know, switch off, defence, attack, I think is the
04:37most complete part in the field, you know.
04:40Do you think that makes your job different when you're in there with them? Like, let's
04:43say you were in with sort of a more natural midfielder, will you be looking out for them
04:46a little bit more or will you just sort of be trusting them to do their job?
04:49I trust, I trust in the way. I think, of course, they will look at me when they play that role
04:58and the same way I remember in the World Cup, before I know I'm going to play there as a centre-back,
05:04I watch clips of centre-backs, how they behave, how they look at each other, you know, the line,
05:09everything. You have to look at the people that really know that role, you know.
05:14Not looking for sort of specific names here, because I'm sure you couldn't give us them,
05:19but is there a specific kind of player you'd like to be in the middle with?
05:23Like, if you're being joined by somebody, would you prefer it to somebody, say, really athletic
05:26who will cover the ground, someone who is technically great, so you can trust them with the ball
05:30in a tight situation? Do you have a preferred kind of partner?
05:32Yeah, of course. I would say the same. The best partner is the one that defends and helps you a lot
05:39and it's so good and technical with the ball. Normally, what you find is players that are very technical,
05:48they don't defend much or not good at defending and they all proceed, you know.
05:52I think the balance is for me the best, you know, but if you ask me that I'm a defensive midfielder,
05:58I normally want a guy that can help me, you know, when I'm not in the zone or whatever.
06:04What is any specific part of your game that you really have had to work to develop?
06:08Because obviously you get into an age now where you're, I mean, you'll never stop improving,
06:11you'll never stop wanting to develop, but you've come a long way in sort of your journey as a footballer.
06:16What have been the areas that you've had to really work on, whether it's through coaching
06:19or just by yourself?
06:20Yeah, I think one was very, very key. I remember my first year at City, I was a player that used
06:31to jump a lot, you know, you know, go forward, forward, forward. And sometimes it's good,
06:37but many of them it's not good because if they play in your back, the team is like naked,
06:44you know, you have to defend 70 meters behind. It's something I really, really improve and
06:50that's identify when to go, when to stay, you know, and that role for me is the most important,
06:55the balance, that gives you the balance, you know, in the moment you lose that position,
07:00that midfielder, you lose the heart of the team and most of the goals, I don't know how
07:05the statistics, but most of the goals come in the central area, you know, so if you're there,
07:13it's more difficult for them to find a way.
07:15Is that something a particular coach has worked on with you or is that something you
07:17identified yourself that you needed to do?
07:19No, no, no, they, they, bah, bah, bah, bah, with clips, with videos, you see you're going
07:26to the side, why you go to the side, you just protect this, you know, it's very, very demanding
07:32and in the, by the time they saw I got it, they just start, you know, giving me that freedom
07:39but until that it was like, first year, very strict.
07:42This might sound a really silly question because we're sitting in either side of the Ballon
07:47d'Or, but is there any part of your game right now you really do want to still improve, anything
07:51you think that you'd like to refine that in the next year or two?
07:54Yeah, yeah, I think, I think I have a massive, many parts of my game that can be improved,
08:02many, many of them, most of them in terms of the head sometimes, be more cold, not that
08:11passionate, try to be a better leader every day, that role, and in terms of football, thinking
08:21on football, yeah, of course, 100%, the last step, for example, is something I paid a lot
08:28of attention the last year, you know, to be more involved in goals as is, you know, be more decisive
08:34in this sense, but maybe, I don't know, I control more when I'm tired or exhausted, don't move
08:41that much, try to stay, yeah, things, many things to improve, yeah.
08:46I think it's really interesting you talked about the sort of mental side of it there,
08:49especially when you're sort of attacking.
08:50With a player in your position, this is something I've always wondered about, if you're in the
08:54final third, so, you know, the responsibilities of the defense maybe aren't quite as pressing,
08:58how much of your sort of brainpower goes towards helping with the attack and taking up a position
09:04where you could help versus watching out for potentially the team losing the ball and being
09:08in the right position if that happens?
09:09Well, it's that balance what gives you, if you're good or not, because if you're too
09:14worried about counter-attacks, you don't help the team attacking, if you are too overconfident
09:19of attacking, you can be punished.
09:21It's trying to find the balance and being very safe, you know, when the ball goes through
09:25you in those situations where all the players are in front of you, you have to be very safe,
09:30you know, but in the same time, you cannot be lazy with the ball and safe.
09:34You have to, you know, find the key pass, risky sometimes.
09:38It's a matter of identifying the moment, you know.
09:40Is that something that you sort of have to decide yourself in the moment or is that something
09:44that's really coached?
09:45Yeah, no, it's something, it's very difficult to coach this.
09:49It's a matter of feeling when you see the movement, when you see the line, when you see
09:54it's time to keep the ball, when it's time to accelerate, it's something they cannot
09:58teach you, you know.
10:00It's something you can see in other players, that's true.
10:03I thought it was really interesting, Chris touched upon the goal he scored in the Champions
10:06League final.
10:07Because my perspective of that game from watching it was that it had sort of quite a good handle
10:14on sort of what you were going to do and they were quite well disciplined and making
10:16it very difficult.
10:17And it was you that popped up with the goal.
10:20And watching it back, there's a huge, huge amount of space on the edge of that box.
10:24And I've always wondered, was that something you'd prepared for?
10:27Because it seems almost a deliberate rush of all the players to the near post to leave
10:31that space.
10:32Did you sort of know that was going to happen or was that sort of any sense?
10:34No, no, I didn't know that was going to happen.
10:37It's a matter of seconds.
10:38I remember following the game in that chance and the ball just appeared there.
10:47But I think I was one second earlier than everyone and I made two, three steps before.
10:51You had quite a lot of ground.
10:52Yeah.
10:52You had quite a lot of ground.
10:53Very long, yeah.
10:54Because when Manu gives the ball and I think I'm behind him, you know, and he was very far
10:59from the central area.
11:01So, yeah, I think I remember I did like two, three steps because I felt that maybe something
11:07could happen there.
11:09But, yeah, when I see the ball there, I was like...
11:11I was going to say, what was going through your head when you sort of...
11:13Because it must be a snap-second decision.
11:15Yeah, it was seconds.
11:15Because if you overcommit to that and you don't get there, that's huge.
11:18You just took a huge amount of trouble.
11:20I think this is something that I admire from the number nines.
11:26It's that little fraction of second when they are alone, but maybe the centre-back is
11:32looking the ball and he's making one step and that's what makes him have the space,
11:36you know, or it's something I admire a lot because we don't have that feeling of where
11:41the ball is going to come, you know.
11:42They are the best in that.
11:44But, yeah, I remember that moment when the ball came to me.
11:46You have one, two seconds to think what to do with that ball, you know.
11:49And I always say that I first think to shoot strong the ball, but at the end I was like,
11:55no, you only have one.
11:57Just put it to the corner and, yeah, definitely was good.
11:59Does this mean we could see you getting a run as a centre-forward at some point if that's...
12:02Imagine, not with my speed.
12:06Not with my speed, but more or less because now the way we play, most of the times we
12:10play in the central, in the frontal area, so sometimes we are at number 10.
12:16How do you think your game will change over the next couple of years?
12:19Do you think, because you said before about how you want to work on the mental side of
12:21things, do you think you'll become more, I don't want to say sort of like stationary,
12:25but be better just sort of...
12:26It's something I speak a lot with my friends, and I ask them, I have a really confident opinion
12:34on what is going to behave, and I think it's going to be very similar to handball.
12:39You know handball?
12:39Really?
12:39Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
12:40They stay all over the area, just blocking.
12:44Yeah.
12:45They don't try to go man-mark, you know, or try to stay, they're just there.
12:48And I think we see, in my opinion, it's a mess, but we see a lot of now when the team
12:56feels that on paper it's maybe worse than the other, so defensive, you know, and this
13:01makes maybe 11 players almost in the box.
13:06And I think that's the new football.
13:10Contra-attack, the team that is defending, and the team that is trying to open them, very
13:17spread, I think this is how we see football in the next years.
13:20I think we see that actually quite a lot in sort of the big clashes between the big teams,
13:23because obviously the attacking threat is so big, we see a lot of sort of, even from
13:27like the very top teams in the Premier League, they'll go sort of quite with a compact mid-block
13:31against each other, and it kind of makes certainly the centre of the pitch very difficult
13:35to play through and to play in.
13:37You think that's because we're going to see that pretty much constantly now?
13:39I think so, I think so.
13:40I think it's a big indicative, that between two big teams, you see when you defend, you
13:48defend very back, because normally I punish you, I punish you, I punish you, I punish you,
13:55and maybe the game is more open, but now you're seeing that it doesn't matter if the level
13:59of the two teams are similar.
14:01When you defend, you go back, and when you attack, you spread.
14:04So, I don't know, let's see.
14:07Cagey is the word we use for that, a bit sort of like reluctant to go, you very rarely
14:11now see sort of open basketball games, people call it.
14:14Definitely.
14:14I suppose that's actually a good way to analyse it, trying to avoid a basketball game, it
14:18becomes a handball.
14:18That's why I enjoy most of the games we play against Liverpool, yeah, it's great because
14:25it's like, I don't care, I want to punish you, and we have the same feeling, I don't
14:29care, I want to punish you, and they are not conservative, they go.
14:34They go with their mentality, and once you are in the pitch, you enjoy those moments,
14:40you go, it's not, it's the same game of every, you know, the crowd must be so different
14:44as well, yeah.
14:45One thing we always try and ask is, has there been a team in the last few years that you've
14:49played against, that maybe people wouldn't have expected to be a huge challenge for either
14:53Spain or Manchester City, but who really surprised you with sort of how good they were, and how
14:57intelligent their football was?
14:58I was not surprised, but there are some teams that, well, you don't know, you know, but
15:05they are the worst for you.
15:07Yeah.
15:08For example, Tottenham.
15:09Tottenham.
15:10Tottenham.
15:12Especially when Kane was in it, and Son, and the other one, because they have the perfect
15:19way to play against us.
15:21Yeah.
15:22And I remember, yeah, that game in Tottenham Stadium was stiffy, well, I never won.
15:29I was going to say, which one?
15:30Last year, the first time, but it was like, why, why is it so tricky?
15:34And you cannot understand, but yeah, sometimes it's like this.
15:37Chris already asked you, I was going to leave this question off, but you've sort of touched
15:41upon it a little bit.
15:41You said you wouldn't know, you don't want to plan too far ahead in terms of thinking
15:44about being a coach or a manager.
15:45It's clear that, like, you think about this in the way that a coach or manager would.
15:49Is that really not something you're considering at this point?
15:51Have you got even, like, half an eye on doing it?
15:53Well, imagine right now.
15:56Well, not right now, but you've got to start somewhere.
15:58Nah, I don't know.
16:00I think what I see is, as a footballer, as a coach, you lose a lot of time in terms of
16:07travels and coaches and staff, they have the same life of players without playing, you
16:15know?
16:15And this is something that makes me, you know, a bit, it's not because I don't like
16:19coaching, it's the circumstances of being a coach.
16:22So, I don't know, maybe I retire as, like, I want to coach, or maybe not, I don't know.
16:28Roger, thank you so much for joining.
16:29Thank you very much.
16:30Congratulations again.
16:31Thank you very much.
16:31Well, there you go.
16:34Actually, do you know what's really mad about that is I will go home for Christmas and both
16:39of my parents will still ask when I'm getting a real job.
16:43But anyway, obviously, I wasn't going to make the actual Ballon d'Or winner sit there while
16:47I went through the whole please like and subscribe to the channel stuff.
16:51So, please like the video and subscribe to the channel.
16:54Because if you have watched us before, you'll have heard me say that when people subscribe
16:58and that number grows, we get to go and do loads of cool things.
17:01And that, that is the cool things I have been talking about.
17:05So, if you are a subscriber already, you literally made that happen.
17:09Like, genuinely, because of all of you lot, when we ring up the actual best football player
17:14in the world and say, we'd like to come on the channel and do a little video, he says
17:18yes and not who are you, how did you get this number?
17:21Anyway, though, I digress.
17:22You can get me across all the social medias at Adam Cleary, C-L-E-R-Y.
17:25I would dearly love to hear what you thought about that interview.
17:28And you can put it in the comment section down below or you can tell me directly.
17:31And if you would like to share that video around, that is something that greases the wheels
17:36of content and may help us do something very cool like that in the future again.
17:39But also, if you'd like to hear more from Roger, then why not pick up the brand
17:43new awards issue of 442 in which he is not only the video interview, but he's our cover
17:49star as well.
17:50We did a whole other interview with him about Man City, about the Ballon d'Or, about all
17:54the stuff you would expect normal people to ask him.
17:57It comes in this bag and is really, is that the cover?
18:00No?
18:00Where is it?
18:01Really pretty.
18:02And you get this calendar too, apparently.
18:05Anyway, yes, that's it.
18:06That's the Roger interview.
18:08That's probably the greatest thing I've done in my entire career so far.
18:11Thank you very much for watching.
18:13I literally love every single one of you very dearly.
18:17Goodbye.