Rodri SNUBS Manchester City team-mates for Liverpool superstars

Manchester City superstar Rodri has snubbed his Manchester City team-mates in favour of two Liverpool icons.

Steven Gerrard and Xabi Alonso were both named by Rodri as he was asked to construct his ultimate midfielder according to eight different attributes on ESPN. The eight categories were: passing, vision, work rate, skills, technique, mentality, football IQ and creativity.

He chose Gerrard for ‘mentality’ and Alonso for ‘creativity’, naming five other players alongside the two former Liverpool players. Kevin de Bruyne was his lone pick from City, for ‘technique’, with Casemiro the only other non-Spanish player selected.

Read more: Liverpool's No.1 target regrets not joining in summer

Barcelona’s iconic midfield three of Sergio Busquets, Xavi and Andrés Iniesta took up the rest of the spots, with Busquets the only player to be named for two categories; passing and football IQ.

Alonso, who rejected Liverpool in the summer, makes sense as a pick, with Rodri mentioning previously that the Spaniard was one of his idols growing up, however picking Gerrard displays the legacy the great Scouser left behind. Liverpool fans will need no reminder of the brilliance of Gerrard, elite at every attribute, and you could argue he could be picked for most of the categories put forward.

Mentality is an understandable attribute to mention when discussing Gerrard. He is Liverpool’s longest-serving captain, having captained the Reds an unbelievable 471 times, and this is another example of his legend growing, even after retirement.

Ballon d’Or favourite

Rodri is currently the best defensive midfielder on the planet and is one of the favourites to win the Ballon d’Or.

He spoke to the BBC about his chances, saying: “It would be a dream, of course, because I never thought I could arrive at this stage, this moment. 

“I know I play a different role to most players nominated for the Ballon d’Or, but it also shows that football can be beautiful in different views. You can be beautiful as a midfielder, or scoring goals, or being a defender."

The midfielder also recently spoke about the workload on players and agrees with the sentiment Alisson Becker shared recently that the increased number of games domestically and internationally is becoming too much for players to handle, and suggested a strike was not far away.