Gary Neville has lambasted Manchester City player Rodri for his “absolute madness” after receiving a red card against Nottingham Forest.
Rodri was sent off in the second half of Forest’s 3-1 loss against City last Saturday. The midfielder grabbed opposite number Morgan Gibbs-White’s throat and was promptly ejected by the referee.
On his Sky Sports podcast, Neville discussed the event and agreed with Guardiola regarding his reaction. After the game, City manager Pep Guardiola was upset with his midfielder, especially given that he will miss a match against rivals Arsenal.
“Rodri is a wonderful player, a leader for Manchester City, and I don’t know what he was doing on Saturday,” Neville explained, “it was absolute madness, and I can understand why Pep Guardiola is furious with him.”
“Rodri’s absence from the game against Arsenal raises the stakes because City don’t have anyone who can replace him like-for-like.” But they can’t make excuses since they have a great group and enough talented players to come in.
“However, aside from Haaland, who is irreplaceable, the two most important players in that game are Rodri and Declan Rice.” So Rodri’s absence will be significant, but Arsenal must get Rice back in shape for the game in two weeks.”