24 | Joško Gvardiol - 2023/24

[MikeF]

I rarely get it wrong when judging a player, he's a good footballer, just don't think he's good enough as a defender, would be happy to be proved wrong.

Modest to boot!

 

[Bluewars]

I also think he lacks pace to recover and am dreading a one on one v Salah at Anfield which could cost us the game (like Cancelo last season).

That said, Pep seems to rate him highly as do many others on here so it appears we are in the minority … I’m still disappointed re: Aymeric who also chipped in with a goal from a corner now and then.

Aymeric was imperious before his MCL injury and still a top CB after, albeit a little less mobile. People are giving Gvardiol a pass because he's playing out of position at LB, I'll remind them that Laporte played LB early in his City career, even playing a blinder in that 2-1 classic vs Pool, do people think Gvardiol can keep Salah quiet at Anfield in March? No chance.

He played well yesterday from an offensive point of view, the good thing about his poor defending for the goal is that he'll probably be dropped for while and we can actually see our best defenders starting, Akanji, Dias, Stones and Ake.

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

Aymeric was imperious before his MCL injury and still a top CB after, albeit a little less mobile. People are giving Gvardiol a pass because he's playing out of position at LB, I'll remind them that Laporte played LB early in his City career, even playing a blinder in that 2-1 classic vs Pool, do people think Gvardiol can keep Salah quiet at Anfield in March? No chance.

He played well yesterday from an offensive point of view, the good thing about his poor defending for the goal is that he'll probably be dropped for while and we can actually see our best defenders starting, Akanji, Dias, Stones and Ake.

Ake is our best left back and has kept Salah and Saka quiet in recent games , Gvardiol is a decent player its just finding his best position , i think he would be good on the left of three centre backs like he played at Leipzig but we have a lot competition at centre back , we are indeed blessed.

 

[Gorbachev]

I don't want to sound too harsh because it is his first season, but whilst we might win the league with him at LB, we won't win the CL with him there.

It is a fragility that the top teams are going to expose.

 

[havefaith]

Played at centre back the boy will shine, Ake at left back. We bought him as a centre back, he should have been given the chance whilst Dias has been a bit hit and miss (although I get the feeling he's going to rise to the occasion as we get to the business end of the season).
Either way the boy will come good.

 

[supercity88]

He'll rightly be criticised for the goal, he should have done better and it's an easy excuse to say he's not a left back - you'd expect any defender to deal with that situation better. But overall his quality shines through again and after a season of adapting to the league and style of play he'll probably switch to his preferred position. He's 22 and going to be a world class CB, it remains an excellent signing by the club.

 

[Blu1]

We hardly had much defending to do v Burnley & he gave the ball away far too much. In big games I would not be playing him & in my opinion he’s no upgrade on cancelo or Laporte.

 

[Eds]

We hardly had much defending to do v Burnley & he gave the ball away far too much. In big games I would not be playing him & in my opinion he’s no upgrade on cancelo or Laporte.

Hate to tell you but with 96% success rate (104 passes) he had the best pass completion of the night! As a comparison Ake 95% (110 passes), Stones 92% (106 passes), Rico 88% (72 passes), Rodri 87% (113 passes) and KDB 88% (57 passes).

 

[vanchi]

We hardly had much defending to do v Burnley & he gave the ball away far too much. In big games I would not be playing him & in my opinion he’s no upgrade on cancelo or Laporte.

this is simply not true.

he lost possession 8 times, i believe only ake was better with 6.

he had 120 touches. pass accuracy 96% 100/104 passes. best passing accuracy in the whole team yesterday

you can dislike him and think of him what you want of course, but these are facts.

 

[vanchi]

Hate to tell you but with 96% success rate (104 passes) he had the best pass completion of the night! As a comparison Ake 95% (110 passes), Stones 92% (106 passes), Rico 88% (72 passes), Rodri 87% (113 passes) and KDB 88% (57 passes).

some people just have an anti gvardiol agenda, not the first time he’s “wrongly accused” of something like that.