Pep Guardiola is constantly evolving to stay ahead of the rest of the game, giving him the best advantage to keep winning, so says Rodri.

Manchester City won an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League title last season, following on from their historic treble, with Rodri's goal sealing it as the club won their first-ever Champions League.

Rodri has been a key piece of Guardiola's team since joining from Atletico Madrid in July 2019, and last season made 34 appearances in the top-flight, never tasting defeat in any of them.

In all competitions last campaign, he made 50 appearances, playing the most minutes of any of his team-mates (4,325). Rodri also featured in six of Spain's seven Euro 2024 matches, helping them to win a record fourth title at the tournament.

The midfielder admitted that while Guardiola is constantly looking for improvement, he has also been the key to Rodri reaching his potential.

"To me, the unique thing about Pep is that he is always one step ahead," Rodri wrote in the Players Tribune. "He is always evolving before the game around him can evolve.

"He is never satisfied with keeping things exactly as we played last season, because your competition is always going to be analysing last season. You don't win four Premier League titles in a row by standing still. You either reinvent yourself or you die.

"For me, he added that final mental piece of the puzzle. "Seeing" the game in a different way. "Feeling" it — when to move into space, when to hold back. When to press, when to ease off.

"His confidence was so important to me, because you have to remember, when I came here in 2019, I was walking into a changing room with Fernandinho, Aguero, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne. Legends."

In his five years in Manchester, Rodri has won four Premier Leagues, an FA Cup, two EFL Cups, a Champions League, the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup.

City only failed to win the Premier League in Rodri's first of those five seasons, while the Spaniard has only suffered defeat in two finals while at the club: the Champions League in 2021 and the FA Cup last term.

However, he says those defeats are what drive him to improve, using them as learning moments when it comes to challenging for the next trophy.

"We have been very blessed the last few years with City, but it's not real life," Rodri added. "In the good moments, you don't learn, you just enjoy.

"In the bad moments, when you truly suffer, that's when you really grow. I remember after the '21 Champions League final against Chelsea, I walked back into the little family area, and when I saw my parents and my brothers, I literally couldn't speak.

"It was like I was 10 years old again, at the kitchen table. I couldn't say a word. I just thought: I never want to feel this feeling again. I have to work harder. I have to find a way to be better."

The United States must tackle some concerning mentality issues, which are to blame for their defeat to Canada.

That is the view of interim coach Mikey Varas, who has few answers for solving the problem.

USA were beaten 2-1 by Canada in Kansas City on Saturday, in their first game of the post-Gregg Berhalter era.

It marked Canada's first victory on US soil in 67 years.

And while Mauricio Pochettino reportedly waits in the wings to take over the Stars and Stripes, Varas hit out at the team's mentality.

"The mentality is on the players. They know it," he told reporters.

"We speak the truth to each other. I love those guys. But they know that mentality to fight, to run and to sacrifice, I can't do that for them. That's on them.

"I'm not a psychologist, so I don't know. I felt that the training [sessions] were intense. They were aggressive.

"But when the game comes, you gotta get going. And the players are the ones that bring that. Coaches can only get you so far from a mentality perspective."

Varas did shoulder some of the blame, too, suggesting he may have tried to introduce too many new ideas, too soon.

"I think on the ball, that's on me," he said.

"I want to present some ideas to them and you just never know how it's going to translate from training to the game after three training sessions. And I asked a lot of them, you know, and if there's a goal, I mean, that's on me.

"When you don't have a lot of time to work and you want to play a certain way it creates confusion.

"Players are going to take responsibility for quality of action. The translation of the ideas wasn't clear enough because you shouldn't be static and you shouldn't pass the ball just to pass the ball. You're trying to be trying to accelerate play as quickly as you can."

Germany have two potential Ballon d'Or winners on their hands in Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz, so says Julian Nagelsmann.

Musiala scored once and laid on three assists as Germany hammered Hungary 5-0 in the Nations League on Saturday.

One of Musiala's assists teed up Wirtz to make it 3-0, after the Bayer Leverkusen star had teed up Germany's number 10 for the hosts' second goal in Dusseldorf. 

Musiala created seven chances throughout, while Wirtz played two key passes as Germany mustered 3.7 xG to Hungary's 1.1.

“When both are in the mood and really put their foot down, it's difficult for the opposition, they're exceptionally good," Nagelsmann told ZDF.

"These are two footballers – when they link up with each other, it's very, very good to watch.

"Jamal has already undergone a great transformation in the past year in terms of his presence in the box. During [Euro 2024] it was very good, today it was phenomenal."

Speaking to Sky Sport, Nagelsmann said: "Both [Musiala and Wirtz] have the potential to win the Ballon d'Or."

At the age of 21 years and 194 days, Musiala became the youngest player to record four direct goal involvements in a single Nations League match.

Niclas Fullkrug opened the scoring just before the half-hour, and the West Ham forward said: "It is fun to watch that today. 

"Jamal was in really good form. It is great to have him in the squad.

"We made a lot of deep runs and made it really hard for the opponents. Even when we did not have possession we controlled the game."

Albert Rusnak's hat-trick propelled the Seattle Sounders to a shock 4-0 win over the 10-man Columbus Crew.

The short-handed Crew were dealt a huge blow when, in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, goalkeeper Abraham Romero saw red for a foul on Jordan Morris.

With regular goalkeepers Patrick Schulte and Nicholas Hagen on international duty, Crew coach Wilfried Nancy had to turn to centre-back Sean Zawadzki.

But it took Seattle just four minutes to get the better of the stand-in, with Rusnak converting the resulting free-kick following Romero's foul.

Morris doubled Seattle's tally on the hour mark, with Rusnak then completing his hat-trick with a quickfire double.

Columbus are third in the Eastern Conference, while Seattle are fifth in the West.

Data Debrief: Rusnak turns from provider to scorer

Rusnak had never scored a hat-trick before, but this one will be memorable for several reasons. It also came on the back of the midfielder creating six chances in last week's loss to the Portland Timbers, which was the most by any Sounders player in a single regular-season game in over three years.

The defeat was just Columbus' second at home in the space of 39 matches, though Seattle have now won six of their nine regular-season visits to Columbus, the highest winning percentage of any MLS team to have played the Crew eight or more times on the road.

Declan Rice "was never going to celebrate" after scoring against the Republic of Ireland in England's 2-0 Nations League victory.

The midfielder was met by a hostile crowd in Dublin having previously represented Ireland before changing allegiance to England.

But Rice had the last laugh, lashing home in the 11th minute before teeing up Jack Grealish, who previously represented Ireland at youth level, to seal a comfortable win for Lee Carsley's side.

It marked his fourth goal for the Three Lions but Rice did not feel the need for celebrations.

"Obviously, it was an amazing feeling to score, but I was never going to celebrate. I have Irish family, my nan and grandad, who are not here anymore and I think it would have been disrespectful to them if I celebrated," he told beIN Sports.

"It happened six, seven years ago so it’s such a long time ago now. I get on really well with a lot of the Irish boys so there’s nothing hard done by, by me. Obviously, the fans feel a certain way, and that’s absolutely fine.

"I just wanted to focus and get my head back in the game to score more goals."

The last time Rice had played at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin was six years and 97 days prior to Saturday's match. On that occasion, he represented Ireland against the USA in June 2018.

Now in the white shirt of England, Rice helped interim manager Carsley to a debut win in Dublin after the resignation of Gareth Southgate following Euro 2024.

"It's been refreshing this week to play with [Carsley] and play with his staff. We're playing in a different way to what we were before," reflected Rice.

"It's going to take a bit of time for us to be amazing at what we do, but a lot of the players that play at [Manchester] City, Liverpool, Arsenal, we play a similar way, so it's easy to adapt.

"It was really good, it was really refreshing. I'm feeling much fitter in myself which is a real positive. It was a really good result in the end."

While Rice now represents a relative stalwart of the England squad with 59 caps, former England Under-21s manager Carsley, himself an ex-Ireland international, handed debuts to Morgan Gibbs-White and Angel Gomes, while he also played Anthony Gordon and Levi Colwill from the start.

"We've obviously been really close now in back-to-back Euros, at a World Cup, so the next thing for England is to win," said Rice.

"We need to strive and keep building towards that. It’s a different group this time, more younger players, but I'm sure we’ll be better for it. Going forward, it's going to be really positive, and it's going to be a fresh start."

Ronald Koeman was pleased with the Netherlands' "flashy" display against Bosnia-Herzegovina, as he also jumped to the aid of defender Matthijs de Ligt.

A dominant Dutch display eventually reflected the scoreline it deserved upon Donatas Rumsas' final whistle, as they bounced back to winning ways with a 5-2 victory following their Euro 2024 semi-final disappointment.

Joshua Zirkzee's opener was cancelled out by Ermedin Demirovic, before strikes from Tijjani Reijnders and Cody Gakpo gave the Netherlands a comfortable advantage. 

Edin Dzeko's 73rd-minute goal threatened to set a nervy conclusion to proceedings, only for Wout Weghorst and Xavi Simons to confirm an emphatic victory.

"We played really well in possession. Very fresh, fast, often finding the people between the lines," Koeman said.

"Especially after the break, we had a good phase, but then the game has to be over."

Despite registering 28 shots, with nine of those on target, along with an expected goals (xG) total of 4.09, two lapses in concentration from De Ligt were punished by Bosnia.

Demirovic capitalised on some poor positioning from the Manchester United defender, who was then caught ball-watching as veteran Dzeko capitalised.

But Koeman came to the defence of De Ligt, saying: "You concede two goals, you take that with you. When we went to 3-2, you also saw some doubt in the team, while that was not necessary if you looked at the proportions.

"[For the first goal] Simons should have done better. He was marking their left midfielder and suddenly walked away from him.

"Of course, the centre-backs are positioning themselves wrong too.

"He [De Ligt] also realises that he is in the wrong position. This shouldn't happen, but mistakes are part of football. I think it's unfair to make a big deal out of it."

Defending champions Clarendon College opened their ISSA DaCosta Cup campaign with a tense 2-1 win over Denbigh High at the Catherine Hall Stadium in Montego Bay, Jamaica on Saturday.

Clarendon College took an early lead in the fourth minute when Justin Hayles latched on to a through ball to finish across Denbigh goalkeeper Kevin Pryce into the bottom corner.

They went two ahead when Terron Williams scored directly from a corner kick in the 22^nd minute.

Denbigh were the more attacking team to start the second 45 minutes and were handed a lifeline when Tayo Cross converted a late spot kick won by substitute Rahjaun Cassanova.

In the end, however, Clarendon College held their nerve to ensure that they got the three points to kick off the defense of their title.

Clarendon College will next take on Lennon High on September 14 while Denbigh will face Claude McKay a day earlier.

Mona High School started the defense of their first ever ISSA Manning Cup title with a dominant 7-0 thrashing of opponents Waterford High at Catherine Hall Stadium in Montego Bay, St. James on Saturday.

Man of the match Carlton Brown scored a pair of goals in the 17^th and 37^th minutes, the first being a brilliant right-footed strike from long range that evaded Waterford goalkeeper Jaheim Daley.

In between those two strikes, Savi-K Morton made it 2-0 in the 31^st minute through a well-placed left-footed shot from just inside the 18-yard box.

Captain Robino Gordon made it 4-0 ten minutes later with a close-range finish, a score that would hold until the end of the first half.

Just a minute into the second 45 minutes, Alex Suazo made it 5-0 with the second long-range strike of the day.

The scoring was completed by Kshaine Gordon (67’) and Denzel McKenzie (70’).

“It’s really important to get off to a good start and we have more to come,” Brown said in a post-match interview.

Mona assistant coach Kyle Butler believes his team could have done even better but was happy with the win nonetheless.

“Definitely a statement win. The foundation is there but we’re still in second gear. We still have a lot that we can improve on. We could have won 10-0 easily but as I said the foundation is there and we want to build on that,” he said.

Waterford High coach Kevin Reid expressed disappointment at his team’s performance.

“It’s a disappointing start for us. Experience got the better of us today. Nevertheless, I believe they learned something to day and I believe the best team won. We just have to get back in training and put in some more work and, hopefully, we will have a better second game,” he said.

Mona will next take on Jonathan Grant on September 12 while Waterford will tackle Charlie Smith on the same day.

Canada continued their impressive run under Jesse Marsch after their Copa America exploits, beating the United States 2-1 in a friendly at Children's Mercy Park. 

Goals in either half from Jacob Shaffelburg and Jonathan David handed Canada the advantage, with Luca de la Torre's goal proving a mere consolation in another dominant display from the visitors.

A frenetic start to proceedings was rewarded in the 17th minute as Johnny Cardoso's loose touch allowed David to tee up Shaffelburg to finish beyond Patrick Schulte. 

Canada restricted their opponents to just one shot in the first-half but were unable to build their lead despite registering 11 shots, five of which were on target. 

But they got the goal their performance merited after the break, again pouncing on a mistake by Michael Varas's side, with David finishing into the roof of the net.

De la Torre responded with a composed finish after neat play from substitute Aidan Morris, but Canada were able to see out the result with relative ease on enemy turf.

Data Debrief: David dazzles in Kansas

Having already scored three goals in seven appearances for Lille this season, David transferred that goal-scoring touch to the international stage. 

The 24-year-old impressed against the USA, recording more shots (four) and shots on target (three), while also registering an expected goals (xG) tally of 1.12 to Canada's 1.95 total.

Canada's triumph was their first win against the USMNT on American soil since 1957, ending the US' 23-game unbeaten home run against them, the longest against any opponent in team history.

Luis de la Fuente asserted that Rodri "will have to start playing" ahead of Spain's Nations League clash with Switzerland.

Rodri is yet to feature for Manchester City in the Premier League this season after being substituted at half-time during the Euro 2024 final due to a hamstring injury.

The Spanish defensive midfielder made 34 appearances for City in the Premier League last season, scoring eight goals, and is a crucial cog in their midfield.

Despite Pep Guardiola erring on the side of caution to not use Rodri, De la Fuente believes he is ready to play again.

"We always prioritise the player's health. [But] Rodri is perfectly trained and at some point he will have to start playing, either here or with his club," he told the media.

"If we understand that tomorrow he has to start, then he will start without any risk. But then, football is the way it is and anything can happen."

Despite Rodri playing for both a domestic and international side that have recently reached a number of finals, De la Fuente is keen not to treat any players differently.

"Our duty is to represent our country, to put out the best players, to compete to win. We have a huge responsibility, a great prestige to defend and the only way I would know how to do it is to put the players I think are the best,” he added.

"Besides, we have to be fair, and I would not be fair if I protected some more than others because of their club."

Across all competitions, Rodri made 50 appearances for Man City last season, racking up a total of 4,325 minutes, more than any of his team-mates.

He went on to feature in six of Spain's seven Euro 2024 matches, with the fifth most minutes played in the Spanish squad at the tournament (521).

It is an evidently packed schedule, but De la Fuente was keen to point out national teams are thwarted by the congestion just as much as domestic clubs are.

"We think of the players first. But they also have to play with the national team," De la Fuente said.

"The calendar is agreed, we comply with it, nothing else. (But) it's our country, our national team, and I think we should give it the importance it has.

"All the players want to go to the national team and the clubs - without exception - want their players to be internationals. We are victims of this calendar, not the culprits."

The European Champions will hope to defend their Nations League title but De la Fuente did not want to underestimate a Swiss team he felt were only bettered by Spain at the Euros when it came to their level of performance.

"We'll have a very tough opponent in front of us. I think that during the European Championship we were the teams that played best," he suggested.

"Tomorrow we will see two teams of a very high level, perhaps in one of the most important games that could be currently played in Europe. We are planning to try to enhance our strengths and minimise those of our opponents."

Aston Villa winger Leon Bailey could be ruled out for over 10 weeks due to a hamstring injury picked up recently.

This according to injury expert Dr. Rajpal Brar, who explained the best and worst-case scenarios for the Jamaican international, as he pointed out that surgery could also be on the cards.

Manager Unai Emery was reluctant to put a timeline on Bailey’s return, and Dr. Brar, a physical therapist and sports scientist, agreed as he explained that the 27-year-old’s return will be determined based on the extent of the injury.

“His return timeline remains TBD, so that leads me to believe it’s not just a low Grade 0 or 1 injury, which would be the best-case scenario. The worst case would be a Grade 4 hamstring rupture, which means over 10 weeks out depending on if surgery is needed or not, and that possibility cannot be ruled out yet,” Dr. Brar told Villa News.

“One confounding variable with Bailey is that he’s a high-pace player, which puts more stress on the hamstrings, so you have to make sure he can handle those demands before being reintroduced,” he added.

Frida Maanum's first-half strike ensured Arsenal progressed to the second round of Women's Champions League qualifying after a 1-0 win over Rosenborg.

Maanum netted the only goal of the game in the 19th minute after Caitlin Foord saw her cross spilled by Rugile Rulyte, with Maanum on hand to finish from close range. 

The Gunners could have made the encounter more comfortable as Alessia Russo's header came back off the crossbar to conclude a dominant first half.

Arsenal struck the woodwork a further two times after the interval, through Russo and Kyra Cooney-Cross, with Leah Williamson also seeing her header cleared off the line.

But Jonas Eidevall's side were able to restrict their opponents to very little, with the hosts ending the contest with 30 shots, though only five of those were on target.

Arsenal go through to the next stage of the next stage of the competition, which is a knockout tie played across two legs.

Joshua Zirkzee marked his first Netherlands start with a goal and an assist as Ronald Koeman's side kicked off their Nations League campaign with a 5-2 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina. 

The Manchester United forward opened the scoring early on at the Philips Stadion.

A quiet start to proceedings burst into life in the 13th minute as Simons' deflected effort dropped kindly for Zirkzee, who nodded the ball beyond Nikola Vasilj. 

But with their second shot on target, Bosnia snatched an equaliser after Denis Huseinbasic's defence-splitting pass picked out Ermedin Demirovic, who finished smartly. 

Teed up by Zirkzee, Tijjani Reijnders restored the hosts' advantage before teeing up Cody Gakpo, who maintained the goalscoring form he displayed at Euro 2024.

Bosnia provided a nervy finish to proceedings after Edin Dzeko neatly poked the ball beyond Bart Verbruggen, only for Wout Weghorst and Xavi Simons to seal the win in the closing stages.

Data Debrief: Gen Z(irkzee)

Having only held a one-goal advantage until the 88th minute, the scoreline eventually reflected the Netherlands' dominance in Eindhoven. 

Koeman's side generated an expected goals (xG) total of 4.09, registering 28 shots, nine of which were on target, compared to their opponents' four and three.

Zirkzee, meanwhile, became the fourth player after Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Bas Dost and Vincent Janssen to contribute a goal and assist on their starting debut for the Netherlands.

It was also the first Netherlands game with three players representing the same non-Dutch club side (Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Gakpo for Liverpool) since November 2013 (Michel Vorm, Dwight Tiendalli and Jonathan de Guzman for Swansea City against China). 

Jamal Musiala's scintillating performance led Germany to a 5-0 rout of Hungary in the Nations League.

Musiala was unstoppable as he scored once and teed up three more goals in a five-star display for Julian Nagelsmann's team in Dusseldorf.

The Bayern Munich star was involved in the opener when he saw a shot rebounded to Niclas Fullkrug in the 27th minute, with the West Ham striker making no mistake to slot home into an empty net.

Musiala eventually got on the scoresheet himself after the restart as he sprinted away from the Hungary defence on the counter and coolly finished past Peter Gulasci.

The 21-year-old turned provider once more in the 62nd minute as he laid the ball off for Florian Wirtz to strike home from the edge of the box, before he made it a hat-trick of assists when he played in club-mate Aleksandar Pavlovic.

In the only goal of the game not involving Musiala, Kai Havertz had to do it all himself. The Arsenal forward, who had previously rattled the crossbar, was tripped in the box before calmly passing his penalty into the bottom right corner.

Data Debrief: Musiala Magic

Musiala was at the centre of the action and provided four goal contributions (1G 3A) in an international match for Germany for the first time. The playmaker is the youngest player to register four goal involvements in a single Nations League game for any team.

Prior to Musiala's strike, Germany's last six goals in the Nations League had all been scored by Premier League players.

Germany really clicked into gear after the break, and are unbeaten in their last five Nations League matches when leading at the break (W3, D2) dating back to October 2018 against France (L1-2).

Lee Carsley insisted his England players "have to take all of the credit" after winning his debut match as England manager.

Interim boss Carsley oversaw a 2-0 victory over the Republic of Ireland in their Nations League fixture at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

It marked the first time Ireland have lost a home match against England since May 1964.

The former England Under-21s manager, however, was keen to credit his players after first-half goals from Jack Grealish and Declan Rice saw England over the line.

"The lads have to take a lot of credit, all of the credit. I think we've showed we've got some real talent and we can be really pleased with the clean sheet as well," he told ITV.

"I thought it was good in parts. You've seen some of the things we've tried to do."

Carsley, who represented Ireland as a player, was vindicated in recalling Grealish after his omission from the Euros squad in the summer as the Manchester City playmaker doubled the lead in the 26th minute.

"I thought they [Rice and Grealish] took their goals really well. Really well-worked moves and brilliant finishes. I think, moving forward, they can both add a lot more goals to their game," he said.

"Jack definitely doesn't have anything to prove to us, we can see his quality, but today will have done him the world of good, getting another goal for England and hopefully he can continue that form."

The new England manager also opted to start Anthony Gordon on the left wing after the Newcastle United winger had struggled for minutes on the pitch under Gareth Southgate at Euro 2024.

"On a really dry sticky pitch, it's not ideal for dribblers but I thought Anthony was a real threat. He's carried on his form from last season and he looks a really dangerous player," enthused Carsley of Gordon, who got all three of his shots on target and played two key passes.

The manager played his part in ending Ireland's four-game unbeaten run against the Three Lions on home soil (W1 D3), though England could have made their dominance pay more.

"I think you've got to give Ireland credit as well, they are very resilient, they closed the gaps and our space maybe became a bit wider [in the second half]," reflected Carsley.

"We found it a little bit more difficult to get through them but at 2-0 we were quite comfortable."