Former Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott believes Pep Guardiola’s side are missing the “impact” of Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, with the Premier League champions currently on a run of six matches without a win in all competitions.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Planet Premier League podcast, Lescott said: “There is a difference between being the best player and being the most important player.
“We saw last season, without Kevin [de Bruyne], that Phil [Foden] can offer the same level of impact in a totally different way.
“I don’t think they have someone that can offer the same impact that Rodri offers – whether it is the same style or not.
“The replacement for that position is a further gap than the replacement for Kevin. We have seem them without Kevin. We have seen them when [Erling] Haaland wasn’t there but Julian Alvarez was.
“But, when there is no Rodri, I don’t think there is that person there.
“They still have world-class players. Manchester City know that on any given day, Foden could say: ‘I’m going to decide this game’ or Haaland could say: ‘I’m going to decide this game’.
“When you have that star power, you are going to have confidence, so they won’t be going into every game thinking they are going to lose, they will believe they are going to win.
“You would rather have lost the last five games and have the players Manchester City have than not have them at all.”
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