Rodri Admits to Finding Playing for Pep Guardiola Even Harder Than Playing Under Diego Simeone

Manchester City new boy Rodrigo Hernandez could be forgiven if he believed that life would be a lot easier after leaving a team managed by Diego Simeone.

But if he did believe that, he couldn't have been more wrong; and the Spaniard has spoken about life at Manchester City, and how he has adjusted to playing under Pep Guardiola.

Speaking to Spanish reporters, as quoted by ​​the Mail, Rodri said: "People said to me: you're going there and you will be able to rest. I've told them: nothing could be further from the truth. I finish games at ​City feeling dead. 

"If you are constantly taking the initiative in games, as we do, then you have to be constantly moving. When you lose the ball, you have to press like crazy to win it back. The physical demands are huge."

Rodri revealed that he has always been an intelligent player who enjoys dictating the game from deep, which came from his love of watching football constantly.

"As for the way I saw football, I had always enjoyed watching the game and it's true: I always found it quite easy, when a team was successful, to see why that was. I could see how they were creating the space.

"I could read the game. Then of course it's not so easy to translate that to your own performances out on the pitch.

"'The best players are the most intelligent ones. Players that know how to think and to analyse what is happening. Cristiano [Ronaldo] and [Lionel] Messi are very intelligent and that helps puts them above everyone else."

The midfielder also spoke about his side's iffy start to the season, and Guardiola's composed reaction to it.

"Nobody likes to lose and even less so with the demands that we have but he knows how to maintain calm and he knows how to lift the group because in the end it doesn't serve any purpose to complain and 'kill' the team.

"We know the situation we are in. We are missing a lot of players. But he will work on what we have to improve. He is not going to settle for losing games. We have to win."

He was then questioned as to whether he came to Manchester solely due to the influence of Guardiola, and he said: "Ha! I don't know. I am not here just because the boss is there. I'm there for what I can bring. The team has won a lot in recent years and still has a lot left to win."

The 23-year-old ended by speaking about ​Liverpool, and how impressed he has been with Jurgen Klopp's men.

"Liverpool don't let you breathe. Yes, that's their way. When we played the Community Shield, we knew they were a team that is like a knife. One comes at you, then another and sometimes it seems like there is no escape. It's a quality they have, that is clear."

Source: 90min

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