24 | Joško Gvardiol - 2023/24

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Massive asset just how comfortable he is on the ball. More so though how comfortable he is on his weak foot for a centre half. It will be really important down the line for playing out having a CB as comfortable as he is on his right as he is his left.
 
Ake's first season people wondered why we brought him as a CB - so much people wanted rid but Ake said no i am staying. Pep played him LB and people were calling him an awful LB, waste of position, not confidence. Ake learned the role and was a key figure in the run to the title, Ake is now probably the best centre back in the league this season.

And people wonder why Pep is playing Josko at LB - maybe he has a plan and know what he is doing?
 
Im totally prepared to give him his first season as so many others have needed , including rodders. And hes young too. Hes not been great though.
But …….

I can only imagine that pep is doing the same with him he did with foden, stick him out wide, really learn how we play by looking on from the wide areas , also learn that LB position as pep asks players to sometimes play in unfavoured positions
Then when hes settled , slot him in the middle to be the worlds best CB

Easy peasy
 
I thought last night was one of the first games that Pep’s usage of him made sense. I don’t think it works as well with Doku or Grealish on the left, but it clicked with Foden for sure. Gvardiol being so wide and advanced lets the left attacker stay really central and close to Haaland whilst already having Alvarez and KDB in there, which is a huge threat.

Way higher risk defensively than last seasons tactics, but clearly Pep thinks this is the way to combat the double & sometimes triple marking we are seeing on Haaland.
 
Was hard to watch his own pain about his end products.
When he starts to be afraid of making mistakes, he'll be better.
Great effort on our left side.
 
I thought he was excellent last night for what it's worth.

People really need to give their heads a wobble if they are concerned by his defensive input. He's playing as a left winger a lot of the time, making runs in behind. We're lopsided. Foden, Alvarez and De Bruyne central, De Bruyne consistently playing off Bernardo. He provided the width and was often isolated but kept hold of the ball well and provided an attacking threat, which isn't his strength but he's willing to do for the team.

It's no wonder he's out of position defensively when he's wide left. We wouldn't expect Doku or Bernardo to be in position at LB/RB to deal with a counter attack, so Gvardiol shouldn't be expected to be in position either. Pep clearly wants him to provide width from full back in attacking areas and feels he's good enough on the ball to ensure we retain possession and don't cause ourselves problems with him doing so. And Ake has the pace to cover the gap in the left side on the counter whilst Gvardiol looks to get back.
 
As a newish consumer of City-related media, this may be obvious to everyone but me, but has there been a recent player who has divided opinion so starkly? Obviously on here it’s either he’s terrible or awesome. Player ratings from the last game were either he is the worst of every player on the field (including Brentford) or one of the better ones. One rating will say he provided lots of offensive opportunities, the other will say he provided no offensive value. I listened to two City podcasts today. One was: he’s a failure, doesn’t get it, won’t/shouldn't play the rest of the season. The other praised him for his unique skill set, talked about his potential, mentioned how he’s getting better every game (obviously discussed how he’s not perfect but generally positive). Maybe Grealish was similar in terms of opinion?
 
Middedon said:
As a newish consumer of City-related media, this may be obvious to everyone but me, but has there been a recent player who has divided opinion so starkly? Obviously on here it’s either he’s terrible or awesome. Player ratings from the last game were either he is the worst of every player on the field (including Brentford) or one of the better ones. One rating will say he provided lots of offensive opportunities, the other will say he provided no offensive value. I listened to two City podcasts today. One was: he’s a failure, doesn’t get it, won’t/shouldn't play the rest of the season. The other praised him for his unique skill set, talked about his potential, mentioned how he’s getting better every game (obviously discussed how he’s not perfect but generally positive). Maybe Grealish was similar in terms of opinion?
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Grealish as you’ve said and probably Sterling as well.
 
He shows the right signs at the moment. He's not quite settled a don't think but I liked seeing him take on a few attempts on goal the other night. Shows he's not caving to any sort of pressure. He's young and no doubt will be a key part in our future.
 
Middedon said:
As a newish consumer of City-related media, this may be obvious to everyone but me, but has there been a recent player who has divided opinion so starkly? Obviously on here it’s either he’s terrible or awesome. Player ratings from the last game were either he is the worst of every player on the field (including Brentford) or one of the better ones. One rating will say he provided lots of offensive opportunities, the other will say he provided no offensive value. I listened to two City podcasts today. One was: he’s a failure, doesn’t get it, won’t/shouldn't play the rest of the season. The other praised him for his unique skill set, talked about his potential, mentioned how he’s getting better every game (obviously discussed how he’s not perfect but generally positive). Maybe Grealish was similar in terms of opinion?
Click to expand...
I’d stop listening to the first podcast. It sounds shite.

He’s by no means the finished product but anybody not seeing his quality and potential in this team is likely taking too many drugs.
 
He's a 22-year-old left-footed central defender in his first season in English football who spent most of the first half on Monday cutting in from the left wing to take pops at goal with his weaker foot. Nothing about that is normal. His potential is through the roof.

Is Pep giving him the Foden treatment of rounding out his game by playing him out of position?
 
Middedon said:
Not saying this is the case with you, but I keep seeing this trotted out like it’s a big knock against him. We already had five of the best defenders in the world before he joined - of course if it gets down to the wire you’re going to play those who have more experience in the system. I don’t think this is necessarily a sign he won’t succeed here.
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I agree. I think he will be great for us, just not at left back and not this season. His best is yet to come. How many players have we seen go from a bit sus, to incredible after their first year with Pep. For the run in though, I'd prefer to see the back line that won everything for us last year.
 
Phil1 said:
I’d stop listening to the first podcast. It sounds shite.

He’s by no means the finished product but anybody not seeing his quality and potential in this team is likely taking too many drugs.
Click to expand...
The podcast is from what I think is a local Manchester paper (I’m not from UK). what I find most irritating is how they kind of question why Pep is playing him - and playing him as a LB. I don’t get bothered when regular people on this forum question it, but it seems like lazy journalism for journalists to just say “wtf is going on.” Pep has seen Joško make mistakes, just like we have, but he’s still playing him. So as a journalist, maybe think about what that means - ask Pep what the plan is, look back to see what Pep has done with other players to make a guess about what the long term plan is, look at his positive skills and figure how they might align with Peps goals that particular game. There is more insightful commentary here and I assume most don’t have the behind the scenes access as most journalists.
 
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