Wednesday was his chance IMO and, while not absolutely woeful, he didn't do himself any favours in terms of 'control' that Pep would want from a 6. As soon as Newcastle came out the blocks flying in the second half, Rodri would've calmed everybody down and got us playing back to usual because that's his job in that role. Phillips didn't do it and teams will prey on that.
He'd be great in a double-pivot 6 (excuse the jargon) IMO but on his own? Nada.
If he doesn't start tomorrow then it's the final nail in his Pep coffin I reckon and could be a signal from Pep for him to actually look elsewhere in January. As we tried in Summer.