Rodri discussions are wasting Guardiola's energy

Pep Guardiola is faced with a Rodri conundrum.

The City boss showed obvious signs of irritation at his post-match press conference being dominated by a player not available to him.

He was asked about the Spain midfielder before the game, just as he was after the midweek victory over Watford.

This is understandable. The media like talking about absent players, whether through injury or form.

But managers can’t afford to dwell on such matters, especially when the absence is long term.

Guardiola must get the best from what he has. To him, discussion about Rodri is wasted energy and has the capacity to undermine the confidence of players he can pick. At the moment they are more important than Rodri.

There will surely come a point where Guardiola decides he doesn’t want to speak about Rodri any more.