Is This Why Rodri Lost It?
I’ve been looking at the amount of game time Rodri played in the 2022-23 season. And the figures really are jaw-dropping.
Rodri played 56 times for City that season, 4,476 minutes in total. He also made 12 appearances for Spain (four in the World Cup) totalling 1,039 minutes.
That’s 68 games in all, adding up to 5,515 minutes of game time. It’s the equivalent of playing the full 90 minutes for 61 games.
During his 315-day season (from 7 Aug ‘22 to 18 Jun ‘23, not including the pre-season) Rodri averaged a game every 4.6 days. Now consider the intensity of many of those matches, which included numerous must-win League and FA Cup fixtures, as well as high-intensity Champions League games against the best sides in the world.
It’s fair to say that in the 2022-23 season Rodri pushed his body to the limits of human endurance.
A look at the game time of City’s other key players reinforces that.