Manchester City leaves Brentford with the essential: a short victory (0-1), obtained at the cost of icy realism and a huge seriousness in hot moments. No football orgy, no high score, but a champion success — of those who make the difference when the calendar tightens. And at the heart of the result, one man: Erling Haaland, again and again. On the sidelines of this step forward, however, a question persists around the game: where is Rodri really at, and what is his medium-term future heading towards?
The match, X-rayed in three sequences
Departure to the control. From the start, City has set up its base in the opposing camp: high sides, central width management, midfielders between the lines to suck the exits. Brentford tried to stretch the game on the wings and fix on the second balls, but the celestial traffic had the last word. It was in this highlight that the Sky Blues struck: a transition exploited in a few touches, a perfectly timed race, and Haaland did not miss the appointment.
Equilibrium phase. The match then slipped towards a false rhythm, with long sequences of possession for City, without multiplication of clear chances. Brentford closed the axis and agreed to defend its surface, watching for an opening on a set-piece or on a quick reversal of play.
Final management. The last quarter of an hour has been rougher. Repeated crosses, aerial duels, second balls: the classic panoply of the Bees at home. City held by its discipline — coverage of the half-spaces, clean interventions, opposing highlights absorbed without disuniting – to lock the three points.
Haaland, economy of gestures and maximum impact
It’s not the most spectacular goal of his career, but it sums up what the Norwegian brings: the inevitable. Haaland touched few balls, but almost all of them were used to weigh in. His advantage is built up before the reception: he leads the defender by half a time, places himself on the weak shoulder, and already directs his first contact towards the finish. This radical simplicity — first touch, strike – has become City’s best insurance when spaces are scarce.
What is also striking is its reading of micro-signals. He feels when to pick up to free up the depth for a winger, when on the contrary to stay glued to the defensive line to fix it. In a chopped match, this lucidity is worth gold: a converted half-chance changes everything when the margin is narrow.
Two-speed city… and it’s wanted
As we have seen, Manchester City can be very vertical in creation and then very conservative in management. This is not a weakness, it is a setting. Guardiola’s team now accepts to win without necessarily “dominating the 90 minutes”. She knows how to suffer properly: limit the silly mistakes, protect the area between the penalty spot and the six meters, lengthen the possessions to lower the local intensity. In a dense Premier League, this know-how pays as much as the flamboyant scores.
Rodri, tactical node and strategic issue
Behind the performance, a subject is essential: Rodri. Its importance goes beyond statistics. The Spaniard is the hinge of the whole edifice: first exit of the ball under pressure, orientation of the game when the opponent slides well, coverage of the rises of the sides, management of defensive transitions. Without him at the top of his form — or if he were to miss —, it is the whole geometry of City that moves.
Without the ball, he closes the inside and forces the opponent to attack from the outside, where City defends the centers better.
With ballon, he chooses the tempo: accelerate when an interval opens, calm down when the meeting heats up.
Psychologically, he reassures: his decision-making reduces randomness, which allows creative people to take one more risk.
The future, really uncertain?
The term “uncertain” refers to two planes.
Sports: high loads, accumulation of matches, the need for micro-cuts at the right time. City need to save him smartly to keep him fresh in the pivotal weeks. The fine management of his minutes conditions the collective level.
Medium-term project: in a market where complete midfielders – capable of defending, reviving and commanding – are rare, all the major teams keep an eye on this profile. City, for its part, will naturally seek to secure its place at the heart of the project. Nothing alarming today, but the file exists and will live its life: ambition of the player, sporting horizon of the club, and salary balance of the locker room.
What can Guardiola do according to the scenarios?
“Pure sentinel” option: integrate a more defensive profile and ask the creators (De Bruyne, Foden, Bernardo) to take more responsibility for the first relaunch. Advantage: safety. Risk: loss of fluidity.
“Double pivot” option: associate a relay operator (Kovačić, Nunes) to share the output load under pressure. Advantage: stability in the defensive phase. Risk: fewer people between the lines.
“Reverse lateral” option: bring a defender (Stones, Akanji) inside to reconstitute, ball to foot, the structure that Rodri offers. Advantage: continuity of the pass angles. Risk: exposure if the loss occurs on the weak side.
Option “Lewis post 6 hybrid”: offer Rico Lewis a one-time role of binder. Advantage: mobility and short angles. Risk: lack of aerial impact and experience in storms.
None of these solutions reproduces Rodri’s toolbox identically; the idea is to redistribute his tasks rather than copy them.
What this victory says about Manchester City
The result first. City win when you have to win, even without shining. In the title race, these points weigh heavily in the spring.
The chosen outbuilding in Haaland. The Norwegian is not a plan B; it is the minimalist plan A that allows you to win closed matches. As long as his effectiveness remains intact, City will find ways out.
The middle, keystone. Everything revolves around the stability of the axis: as long as the Etihad masters zone 14 (in front of the surface), the rest follows. This is where Rodri’s management — health, minutes, projection — will be decisive.
And now?
The rest requires pragmatism: capitalizing on the momentum, retouching the structure according to the opponents and, above all, securing the balance in the middle. City don’t need to write a thesis every game; they need to repeat the obvious: compact block, clean transitions, and let their centre-forward turn the minute into the decisive one. If the club quickly clarifies Rodri’s trajectory and continues to pile on this type of “utilitarian” victories, the season will take the form that Pep Guardiola likes: a silent, linear, almost relentless progression — exactly like Haaland’s goal at Brentford.
