Rodri's Man City claim is a slap in the face to Arsenal (and every Premier League team)
On Friday, it was revealed by David Ornstein that Man City were found guilty of 114 of the 115 charges brought against them. Of course, Man City will appeal, but Rodri has already made a definitive and, frankly, quite ludicrous comment. He has said that no matter what, the sporting achievement cannot be taken away from the players. He is wrong.
"What we did, they cannot take out of us," said Rodri. "It's something that is not paid by money. It's paid with effort, with the damage, with, you know, being shoulder to shoulder every day."
To make matters even worse, he called the period of Man City's dominance, which we know was tainted by rule-bending and, let's call it what it is, cheating, one the best eras of English football.
"I can tell you that everything was deserved, and I'm glad that I could live one of the best eras of English football in here," finished Rodri.
Rodri's Premier League claim is wide of the mark
The Premier League is supposed to be the finest sporting establishment in the entire world. The whole world has been watching one of the league's most 'successful' clubs since its inception because it cheated its way to trophies. That is a disgrace, and calling it one of the best eras in English football is frankly insulting to every club that behaved properly behind the scenes.
Rodri has every right to protest his own innocence. Nobody truly knows whether the players knew anything about how Man City was being run financially, so fingers should not be pointed at Rodri for simply choosing to represent a club.
However, he has no right to call Man City's dominance one of the best eras in English football. It was, by and large, the worst period.
Some of the best eras in English football include, obviously, the Arsenal Invincibles, Leicester doing the unthinkable by winning the Premier League, Liverpool carrying the flag on the European stage, etc. Every single club that has represented English football the correct way should feel personally insulted by Rodri's comments. As an Arsenal fan, I'm insulted (I know, I know. We've seen that before!)
Rodri said they cannot take what Man City did away from the players. Unfortunately, they can.
We are yet to learn what the repercussions of Man City's actions are - if there even are, anyway. However, any credibility and respect they once had is now lost.
Gone are the days when we would include Man City in all-time lists. It would be unfair to anybody else in those conversations to include a team that played by its own set of rules alongside them.
Rodri, you couldn't be more wrong if you tried. You may not have known about the misconduct, but unfortunately, it does throw a huge and frankly unavoidable asterisk next to any achievement the players won during the time of the misconduct.
