Strip away the noise surrounding Manchester City's recent struggles and two uncomfortable truths remain: they allowed Rodri to leave, and they did not sign any specialist full-backs. Those two decisions — or rather, two failures to act — go a long way toward explaining why City are in freefall.

The popular narrative points elsewhere. Sloppy defensive errors have led pundits and critics to question the squad's mental state, while Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca's remarks after City's third consecutive Premier League defeat fanned those flames further.

"Today I think [the problem] has been general," Maresca said. "You need desire and intensity to win second balls and duels; you require intensity, or you struggle — and we didn't match their intensity."

Why psychology is not the answer

That diagnosis, however, misses the point. Maresca and the pundits amplifying the psychological angle are, bluntly, wrong. City's decline is structural, not motivational — and it still traces back to Rodri's absence.

The numbers tell the story plainly. During his seven years at Manchester City, the club won 71.5 percent of matches with Rodri in the team and just 62.3 percent without him. They lost 12.1 percent of games he played and 26.2 percent of those he did not.

His absence was at its most damaging against Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Rodri's precise positioning and his ability to release pressure through sharp, angled passes — what analysts call press-releasing — would, in all likelihood, have disrupted the build-up to all three Forest goals. Manager Oliver Glasner appeared acutely aware of City's vulnerability in that area, instructing his side to press high from the first whistle.

The same flaw, different match

A similar pattern had already emerged in the 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa. With no Rodri to provide a central passing option, the ball was spread wide to Marc Guehi, who miscontrolled under pressure. Against Forest, the error was even more glaring: Elliot Anderson turned his back on play entirely, leaving Josko Gvardiol without a passing option and triggering the collapse that led to the opener. Anderson then misjudged two interceptions, contributing directly to Forest's second and third goals — mistakes that are difficult to associate with Rodri at his best.

Maresca's possession-based system demands a metronomic central midfielder capable of controlling tempo and shielding the defence. At Chelsea, Moises Caicedo filled that role with authority. At City, there is no equivalent.

A second blind spot: the full-back problem

Yet the Rodri issue does not stand alone. Manchester City arrived into this season without a specialist left-back or right-back — a remarkable oversight for a club whose manager has arguably developed the full-back position more inventively than any other Premier League coach in recent memory.

At Chelsea, Maresca deployed Marc Cucurella, Reece James, and Malo Gusto with genuine creativity, shifting them fluidly across positions depending on the phase of play. At City, that same system is operating without the right personnel. Gvardiol's error for Forest's opener would arguably not have occurred with Cucurella in that role, while a Gusto or James-type would likely have connected where Matheus Nunes swung and missed ahead of Brighton's winner.

It is also worth noting that Manchester City have not won the Premier League title since Pep Guardiola abandoned the use of at least one traditional full-back. Kyle Walker and João Cancelo — or both — featured prominently during each of City's four consecutive title wins.

Losing Rodri without securing a replacement undermined Maresca before he had even begun. Entering the season without specialist full-backs has made an already difficult task appear close to impossible.