Rodri of Manchester City in action against Liverpool. (Photo by PETER POWELL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Rodri, while speaking to Sky Sports (h/t Liverpool Echo), admitted that Manchester City aspire to be “as big as Liverpool” in the future considering the two clubs are quite far apart when it comes to having a history.
‘History’ here doesn’t just mean trophies. The Reds of yesteryear dominated European football for years at a stretch and set the gold standard for all other teams to follow. The likes of Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush, and Alan Hansen are legends of the game.
Compared to this, City have very little to show in terms of success before the 2011 FA Cup triumph- the year they won their first trophy after the 2008 takeover by Sheikh Mansour. Their PL title win that came in the 2011/12 season was after a 44-year wait.
That is considerably longer than the time Liverpool waited for their league title drought to be over in 2020. It also puts into context Pep Guardiola’s comments where he recently took a shot at Liverpool for winning just one title in 30 years.
The Reds also boast 6 European Cups/UEFA Champions League titles as compared to City’s zero. Rodri, the defensive midfielder Pep Guardiola brought in from Atletico Madrid a few years back, recognizes this disparity.
“Liverpool has a better history than us [Manchester City]. And of course, Liverpool have been in the top two or three teams of all time in this country, so it’s normal that the common of the group support them.”
This comes in response to Pep’s comments after his team’s win against Newcastle United, where he oddly claimed that ‘everyone’ in the country supports Liverpool. It would have been awkward for Rodri to sit there and defend such a statement but he seems to have made a sensible interpretation of his manager’s comments.
Then again, their own legendary striker, Sergio Aguero, jokingly claimed a couple of months ago that “everybody, all the journalists, all the TV channels, everybody” in England are Manchester United fans. If that’s the case, at least one of Pep or Aguero would have to be wrong!
Nevertheless, Rodri, who turns 26 this year and has become Fernandinho’s replacement at number 6 in recent seasons, has warned that Man City are aiming to close down the gap in terms of history between them and Liverpool.
“But we’re here to change the history and start being part of a modern era of the Premier League, and one day be as big as Liverpool is now, as a club.”
Liverpool and Man City met thrice this year, with the two league games ending in a draw while the Reds got the better of them in the FA Cup semi-final last month. The two teams could have met in the Champions League final on 28th May in Paris if it wasn’t for Pep’s team giving Man City fans their annual dosage of UCL heartbreak- this time in the semi-final against Real Madrid.
To become like the Reds, City fans and players must understand the importance of the culture that is built within the club. Supporting the team through the bad days is what makes the trophy-laden years even sweeter. And not to mention, winning at least one major European trophy in this era would go a long way for the Cityzens’ in their apparent bid to replicate Liverpool’s historical success.
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