Manchester City trio Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan and Ruben Dias have revealed that non-verbal gestures are the key to success after lifting the club’s fourth successive Premier League trophy in the summer.
Pep Guardiola’s City side have become an immensely feared outfit, recording incredible success in England’s top-flight. While the 2024/25 campaign has been less fruitful so far, with Rodri stuck on the sidelines due to injury, City could still become the first side to win five Premier League titles in a row this season.
The key to their success, they admit, is none other than a subtle nod.
During an interview with Gatorade, Ballon d’Or winner Rodri revealed: “The most important time is when things are not going well, in the bad moments, you get confident and you try to look at your teammates like ‘let’s go, let’s do it, we can do it’.
“And these kind of gestures [non-verbal] are sometimes huge because maybe confidence is down and you see your teammate is saying ‘come on let’s step it up’ and it gives you a lot of confidence and it’s very helpful.”
Gundogan echoed the thoughts of his teammate, admitting: “Non-verbal gestures like a nod, they are able to assure you that you are doing things well. It’s just about maintaining a certain level and to keep going for it.
“Most of the time a nod is quite reassuring that you are doing things great and you just need to keep maintaining that.”
Watch the full interview with Gatorade.