Manchester City midfielder Rodri says that Mikel Arteta's work ethic is his best managerial quality, and that the Arsenal boss works "like an animal" to help his players improve.
Rodri joined Manchester City in the summer of 2019, and worked with Arteta during his spell as assistant manager to Pep Guardiola before he took up the job as Arsenal manager in December 2019.
The midfielder says he learned a lot from the Arsenal manager about positioning as well as training, and that Arteta's experience as a midfielder helped him to slot into the team following his £62.8million move from Atletico Madrid.
"Mikel has been very important for this club in the past few years," Rodri told Sky Sports. "I worked with him for six months, and in this short period, he taught me a lot of things in training about how to position myself in games.
"I'm lucky as both he and Pep played as midfielders, so it was easier for them to teach me how to play.
"He's such a nice guy and I believe his best quality is that he works like an animal in order to help his players improve.
"I appreciate what he taught me a lot. He has his own identity as a manager and needs time to develop his team.
"He's got great players in order to achieve that. It's not easy in the Premier League as we know how high the level is, but we're expecting a very tough game on Sunday.
"If we are to keep the rhythm of victories, we'll need to be at our best."
Arsenal host City on Sunday afternoon in the Premier League, hoping to end a 24-game unbeaten run for Guardiola's side in all competitions.
That run stretches back to November, with City falling to a 2-0 defeat to Jose Mourinho's Spurs side. Arteta will be hoping for better from his side than City's last visit to the Emirates in December, when they fell to a 4-1 defeat in the Carabao Cup.
