Pep Guardiola said that Rico Lewis is fundamental to the Manchester City team after he sparked a drastic turnaround against Chelsea.
The 18-year-old came on for the experienced Joao Cancelo at half-time while Kyle Walker was also hooked as Guardiola recognised that his experimental formation had not worked at Stamford Bridge. With Rodri moving back into his natural position, City effectively went from having no defensive midfielders to having two.
Lewis was involved in the goal - receiving a pass from Manu Akanji and shuttling it onto eventual goalscorer Riyad Mahrez - and his composure helped City put in a much better performance. More importantly for the manager, the Radcliffe youngster inspired his teammates to be better versions of themselves with a talent that is extremely rare to find in a senior player never mind a rookie starting out at the top level.
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"This young boy has the ability and quality to not just play good, but to make his mates better. This is so difficult to find," said a delighted Guardiola.
"When he came in Rodri played better, Kevin played better, Riyad played better, he has the talent to do this. Since we came back he is playing and right now he is fundamental to us, he’s a key player for us the way we’re playing right now.
"The dynamic for Rico - tac-tac, move, right, left, inside - helped everyone have that rhythm, that’s why he changed the game. He changed the game with his dynamic from minute one."
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