Kyle Walker believes Manchester City teammate Rodri has weaknesses that England can ‘exploit’ in their Euro 2024 final clash with Spain.
The Three Lions take on La Roja in Berlin on Sunday in their second consecutive European Championship final, looking to win the trophy for the first time.
Gareth Southgate’s men haven’t found their best form in Germany and have relied more on spirit and determination to get to this point, although their most fluid performance came in Wednesday’s 2-1 semi-final win over the Netherlands.
Spain, on the other hand, are most people’s pick for best team at the tournament so far, winning all six of their games despite facing the likes of Italy, Croatia, Germany and France, while scoring more goals (13) than any other team.
One of the key areas England must focus on is stopping Manchester City star Rodri running the game from the base of midfield.
Unsurprisingly, the 28-year-old is first among Spanish players at Euro 2024 for passes completed (378) and touches (465), while he’s only been dispossessed twice throughout the entire tournament.
Rodri is also an expert in breaking up opposition attacks, registering more tackles (13) than any other Spanish player, while also posting a team-high 22 possessions won in the middle third.
Walker highlights Rodri ‘weaknesses’
Rodri’s role with Spain is little different to that he performs under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, conducting play and kick-starting attacks from a deep position with his precision passing and intelligence.
However, club teammate Kyle Walker — who is almost certain to start as part of a three-man centre-back line-up for England — has made the bold claim that he knows of weaknesses in Rodri’s game that the Three Lions can ‘exploit’.
“He’s a great player, and he controls the game and dictates the game at his own pace as I know at club level,” Walker told talkSPORT.
“But we’ve seen video clips [of him], I know him first and foremost, there’s weaknesses in everyone’s game. No one’s the perfect article.
“But we need to try and exploit those weaknesses as best as we can and get the players that we have in dangerous areas to go and make sure that they can go score the goals.
“And as a defence, we need to make sure we keep clean sheets.”