Manchester City midfielder Rodri has claimed Arsenal lacked the mentality to win the Premier League; City won their final league game of the season against West Ham to seal a fourth league title; However, City failed to beat both Arsenal and Liverpool on their way to the title.
Rodri has claimed Manchester City beat Arsenal to the title due to a superior “mentality”, criticising the Gunners for not wanting to defeat the champions in their March encounter.
The Spanish midfielder rounded off the scoring in City’s 3-1 win over West Ham to secure a fourth league title in a row for Pep Guardiola’s side, who finished two points ahead of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.
Rodri even went so far as to claim that Arsenal settling for a point at the Etihad Stadium clash against City on March 31 was the reason they gave up the title.
The claims come even though City failed to beat Arsenal in their three encounters this season, while Guardiola’s side were also winless in their two matches over third-placed Liverpool.
When asked how his side achieves such consistent success, Rodri told Optus Sport: “To be honest, I think it’s in here,” pointing to his head. “It’s the mentality.
“Arsenal, also they deserve [to win the league], they did an unbelievable season, but I think the difference was in here [pointing to his head again].
“When they came here, they faced us at the Etihad, I saw them and said: ‘Ah, these guys, they don’t want to beat us, they just want a draw.’
“And that mentality, I don’t think we would do it the same way.
“And we caught them. At the end, if you give us one point, we will win the last seven, eight games even though it’s so tough. So I think it comes down to mentality.”
