Turbo restart: Manchester City s "Nine Months Slow Cooker Plan" designed for Rodri

Slow fire soup: How Manchester City restarts the "engine" for Rodri

Rodri returns, but Manchester City chooses to brake.

If Manchester City were a precision engine, Rodri would be the turbine that determines the speed. Last fall, the turbine blades suddenly broke and the entire machine lost its rhythm - from the Champions League final to the league sprint, they ran without a "melodder". During the nine-month restoration period, Guardiola treated Rodri like a piece of porcelain:

• In the third week after the operation, he started hydrotherapy and nerve activation;

• Three months after the operation, an "invisible red line" appeared in the training ground, which stipulated that he should not exceed 20 feet per touch;

• In the four games of the Club World Cup, his playing time was cut into an experimental sample of "4×15 minutes".

Now, the bells of the new season ring, but Manchester City has decided to continue to "stew on the light".

"We are not restoring a player, we are rebuilding an ecosystem," said physical fitness coach Lorenzo. The training team equipped Rodri with two sets of GPS vests: one to monitor muscle fatigue peaks and the other to record psychological excitement. After each training session, the data will be played back frame by frame like an electrocardiogram.

At a more macro level, Manchester City has designed a "three-stage curve" for Rodri:

August: 10-20 minutes per game, only plays "sweeping games" and use games instead of sprint training;

September: start continuously but replace it early, with the goal of pushing the probability of muscle injury below 5%;

October: officially lift the seal and enter the "normal rotation".

At the same time, Guardiola quietly rewritten the tactical script:

• Stones' retraction decreases, reducing the pressure of Rodri's horizontal coverage;

• Kovacic is given the role of "half-field libero", allowing Rodri to spend his physical fitness on the last pass;

• Youth training young player Rico Lewis was asked to foul the opponent's first pass and "put the brakes" for Rodri.

"I don't want him to be a hero, I want him to be a king." Guardiola said, "Heroes burn themselves, the king ruled for ten years."

So, when the opening match started at the Molyneux Stadium, Manchester City fans only saw Rodri get up and warm up in the 75th minute. There was applause in the stands, not a welcome back, but a tribute to patience.