24 | Joško Gvardiol - 2024/25

[super_city_si]

90 million euros was far too much to pay for 'potential'. My criticism is aimed at the club paying massively over the odds for him, same with Grealish, Doku, Savinho, etc.

Gvardiol is good, but inexperienced and very naive.

Agree on the bold, but look how good he is now at 22. He'll only get better. He's having a dip and we have no cover so he's having to ride it out which isnt helping him or us.

Seems to be having the same trajectory as Rodri. You can see the lad has all the tools, he just needs time to develop the brain.

 

[madloaf]

Gvardiol is high quality with and without the ball. Form is temporary.

 

[DenisHasDoneIt]

State of some posters on here.

I remember thinking we’d hit the big time when we signed Wayne Bridge.

That thing between your shoulders - give it a wobble. This bloke is not the problem - he’s the answer to it.

 

[RayCTID]

He isn't he best defender in the world and this not a joke. The only issue with Rodri was speed and adapting to the pace of the Premier League. Nothing to do with his quality on the ball or defenisve ability with the Ballon d'or winner.

 

[chris85mcfc]

Agree on the bold, but look how good he is now at 22. He'll only get better. He's having a dip and we have no cover so he's having to ride it out which isnt helping him or us.

Seems to be having the same trajectory as Rodri. You can see the lad has all the tools, he just needs time to develop the brain.

I have to admit, I was under the impression he was a tough central defender, who was very good at playing the ball out of defence.

I didn't think for a minute we were signing a marauding left back, who chips in with goal, but regularly gets caught out defensively.

Would much prefer to see him centrally as I think that's his preferred position, and where he played for Leipzig and for Croatia before joining us.

Perhaps I'm wrong, as I must admit I don't watch a lot of European football, but I was adamant we were signing a centre half.

 

[BlueMoonAcrossThePond]

Gvardiol is having a Stones-like regression in form atm. I still think the guy is class - he just needs to get through this spell.

 

[Crooked_rain]

I have to admit, I was under the impression he was a tough central defender, who was very good at playing the ball out of defence.

I didn't think for a minute we were signing a marauding left back, who chips in with goal, but regularly gets caught out defensively.

Would much prefer to see him centrally as I think that's his preferred position, and where he played for Leipzig and for Croatia before joining us.

Perhaps I'm wrong, as I must admit I don't watch a lot of European football, but I was adamant we were signing a centre half.

We were

He even openly says in interviews he's not a left back but is adapting to what he's asked to do.

I think people need to keep that in mind when criticising a young player. He was highly touted as possibly the best young and up and coming central defender in the world and always plays there, gets bought for a hefty fee because of his ability as a CB....then he's told to switch to being a left back that'll actually probably spend large parts of the game just outside the opposition box and ended up excelling the majority of the time.

He's done pretty fucking well really.

 

[B\connellblue]

The system exposes every left back we play there no matter who it is. No way will he be dropped and rightly so.

 

[Saddleworth2]

Left back/left midfield/left wing. Its a tall order for even his precocious talent. He made a few mistakes close together. So what. He will learn from it. Hope he has a stormer today.

 

[It'sBlue93:20]

Gvardiol’s a brilliant player. Been one of our best all season. He’s played probably too many games and has had a constantly changing defence and midfield around him. Also being asked to cover big distances in terms of playing LW at times. I’ve got no issues with him a few mistakes yes but that’s part of the parcel sometimes.