Manchester City: Pep Guardiola says he is willing to rest midfielder Rodri

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said he is willing to rest Rodri after the midfielder said he needed a break.

Guardiola’s men will face third-bottom Luton within the Premier League on Saturday on the Etihad Stadium.

“If a player doesn’t want to play, he won’t play, simple as that,” said the City manager.

Tuesday Draw 3:3 with Real in the primary leg of the Champions League quarter-final, it had been 429 days and 66 games since Rodri had lost a match while playing for his club in any competition.

In Europe’s top five leagues, only three players have made more starts for his or her national teams this season than the Spanish representative: Arsenal defender William Saliba (42 appearances) and two goalkeepers.

He missed 4 domestic games this season due to suspension, with City losing all 4.

“Look at our games and realize. He is extremely important because of the quality he brings,” added Guardiola, whose side are third within the table heading into the Premier League weekend with seven games remaining.

“I feel like in games where he was tired, like against Crystal Palace and Madrid, he was better in the second half. He ran more and was more precise in the second half than in the first.

“It’s more than a physical thing, it’s about using your mental energy. He plays every three days, three days. Of course, he’s tired after playing a lot of minutes.”

“We are already past the tipping point.”

Guardiola says an increasingly tight schedule is putting a strain on players and leading to more injuries.

City, still competing in three competitions, have played three games in April with a further five scheduled and could potentially face another six in May and a possible Champions League final scheduled for June 1.

“It’s getting worse and worse,” Guardiola said.

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino, who will be without 11 players for Monday’s match against Everton, said: “This is a special season for us because we’re suffering lots.

“It’s very difficult when you don’t have the right squad.”

Ben Dinnery, data analyst and founding father of Premier Injuries, says this season the variety of injuries that cause a player to miss a match will increase by 15% and the variety of days spent injured will increase by 30%.

In an interview with the BBC Football News Show, Alexander Bielefeld, head of policy at the worldwide players’ association Fifpro, said that “the patience of players and trade unions is running out.”

“We are cannibalizing the calendar,” he said. “We are already past the turning point. We’ve made changes to squad numbers, we’ve seen changes to reserves, but honestly, none of it helps.”

Chris Hattersley of Football Physio said the demands placed on players “are essentially too high for what the body can tolerate.”

Hattersley added: “If they don’t improve the fixture schedule, the situation is likely to get worse.

“There is often a Saturday-Tuesday schedule. If you look at the physiological recovery after matches, it actually takes three to four days. So the players don’t get back to full fitness until Tuesday. If you go through a prolonged, overloaded period, your risk of injury increases.”