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Guido Rodriguez: West Ham’s Midfield Kingpin

September 16, 2024
Player Analysis, Transfer Analysis, La Liga Analysis

It has been a busy summer for West Ham in their first window under Julen Lopetegui, with the club splurging £123.4 million on a plethora of high-profile signings ranging from Jean-Clair Todibo, Crysencio Summerville, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and Max Kilman. However, their best piece of business may end up being a free transfer, if Guido Rodríguez’s first few weeks in East London are anything to go by.

 

At 30 years of age, Rodríguez boasts a decade of experience at the top level including Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana titles at boyhood club River Plate as well as a Liga MX Apertura title and a Copa MX Clausura title with América. Rodríguez left Mexico in January 2020 and joined Real Betis, where he would proceed to emerge as one of the first names on Manuel Pellegrini’s team sheet and add a Copa del Rey to his resume. Today, he has taken his talents to the British capital, where he is tasked with filling a Declan Rice-sized shape hole in midfield.

 

Rodríguez led Betis to a 7th-place finish and a return to Europe, making 24 appearances in La Liga (21 being starts) and added yet another international trophy to his résumé with a second Copa América title with Argentina. Having racked up 30 caps for the Albiceleste, he has won two Copas, a World Cup as well as La Finalissima, and he hasn’t taken long to make an impact in the Premier League, starting in each of their first three league matches.

 

 

Not blessed with a great deal of pace, Guido Rodríguez’s instinct and anticipation is what stands him out from other defensive midfielders and just like many other players in his position, Rodríguez possesses that typical bravery and inability to shy away from tackles always doing that to great effect for Betis, and standing at a towering height of 6ft 1, the Argentine is a physical specimen, a kind of player that is built to win duels and cover ground hence it is safe to say he is a typical premier league defensive midfielder.

 

His aerial duel success of 60% and ground duel success of 60.25% for Real Betis in the Spanish topflight last season betters the success rate of the three players who consistently shared minutes among each other in the midfield pivot for West Ham last season; Tomáš Souček at57.14% and 50.31% respectively, Edson Álvarez at 45.5% and 52.59% respectively and James Ward-Prowse at 44.07% and 53.15% respectively, hence, the arrival of Guido Rodriguez is clearly an improvement on what the Hammers had in midfield last season particularly from a defensive standpoint.

 

The 30-year old is also reputed for his great defensive awareness with well timed tackles and being able to read the game so well to halt attacks from the opposition. Last season, only three Betis players made more tackles per game than Rodriguez as his 2.2 tackles per game is just slightly bettered by Johnny Cardoso (2.8), Aitor Ruibal (2.6), and Paul Akouokou (2.5).

 

He also racked up impressive numbers in terms of interceptions per game as only Johnny (1.9) and Pablo Fornals (1.5) bettered his record of 1.2. And it is not only the defensive aspect of Rodriguez’ game that is impressive, the Argentine is a master of long passing using his long range passing ability to relieve pressure and help his team move from defense to attack with just one pass be it through switches or direct long balls with his accurate long balls per game of 2.8 being the highest amongst Real Betis players last season.

 

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This is a potentially useful tool in the English top-flight with West Ham boasting of intelligent runners like Mohamed Kudus and Jarod Bowen among others in their attack. Rodríguez has reunited with Álvarez, having previously formed a solid duo in midfield for América, and there’s reason to believe they can translate their chemistry to the Premier League.

 

Whilst Rodríguez was preferred in their first two matches, the Mexican got the nod in their EFL Cup tie vs. Bournemouth. They would start together in their following two fixtures, a 3-1 loss to Manchester City and a 1-1 draw vs. Fulham. Whilst Álvarez is under added competition following the veteran Argentine’s arrival, he is nevertheless relishing the challenge.

 

“I am happy that he was able to join West Ham,” Álvarez said. “We did a great job in that season and that motivates me even more in the sense that we can do the same in the best league in the world. It’s a good challenge. We are going to complement each other very well, because of the language and the fact that we know each other. We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. And he will help me too, for sure.”

 

Clearly, it is not only Edson Álvarez that will be looking forward to benefitting from having an experienced and highly defensive midfielder like Rodríguez around, the rest of West Ham’s midfield will also look forward to benefitting from the 30-year old’s skillset.

 

 

Rodríguez can sit back to protect the defense while Tomas Souček utilises the skill in his arsenal to support the attack in a box to box role which is a lot more license going forward than he had last season playing alongside James Ward-Prowse whose creative abilities could also enjoy more platform with the presence of the experienced Argentine.

 

From what we have seen so far, Álvarez may be directly competing  for a spot with Rodríguez but the presence of both players alongside Souček in the West Ham squad gives Lopetegui a very good tactical option of going as pragmatic as possible should the need arise. Putting into consideration the wealth of experience and expertise Rodríguez arrives with on a free transfer, this could prove to be a bargain as the 30-year old obviously have what it takes to stand shoulder to shoulder alongside some of the best midfielders in the league.

 

So far, among West Ham players in the Premier League, Lucas Paquetà is the only midfielder to have made more accurate passes per game (40.5) than Rodriguez’s 35.5 per game and the Argentine international boasts of a better passing accuracy (83%) as against Paquetà’s 79%. Also, his accurate long balls per game of 1.5 is second among West Ham midfielders to only Paquetà who has so far completed 3.5 long balls per game. And with 2.5 tackles and 2.5 interceptions per game, Rodríguez is among the stat leaders for West Ham in these categories, with none of his teammates making more tackles or interceptions per game.

 

By: Moe Adikwu / @Moe_Adikwu

Featured Image: @GabFoligno / John Walton – PA Images

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