Several Manchester City players have been selected in their respective national teams’ squad during the ongoing international break – including Josko Gvardiol.
Considering a majority of Manchester City’s stars play for European countries, they have been partaking in the UEFA Nations League.
Some City players certainly impressed on international duty, such as Bernardo Silva, who scored in Portugal’s 3-1 victory over Poland.
Roberto Martinez claimed Bernardo remains underappreciated after his side’s latest triumph. Bernardo shone for Portugal against Poland in his nation’s 3-1 win on Saturday as well.
However, one Manchester City player who was criticised for his performance was Josko Gvardiol after Croatia’s 2-1 win against Scotland.
Josko Gvardiol handed 5.5/10 rating after Croatia vs Scotland
Gvardiol went into the international break in brilliant form for Manchester City.
The youngster was one of the defenders who was at fault in the lead-up to Scotland’s opening goal, letting Ben Doak cross the ball with ease as Ryan Christie eventually got on the scoresheet.
Croatian media outlet Sportske Jutarnji went on to hand Gvardiol as low as a 5.5/10 of a match rating, as they wrote: “More wrong and dangerous passes but made the most mistakes in positioning. Defocused.”
Germanijak also gave the 22-year-old a match rating of 5.5/10 rating, as they slated his showing: “He made a lot of mistakes, which is not typical for him. In the first lapse, he was saved by the return run of [Luka] Modric, in the second, the player ran away from him on the right side.”
“However, he gave a diagonal pass for Ivan Perisic before the goal for the equaliser, so that somewhat amnesties him. This was not on his level.”
Despite the Croatian media left dissatisfied with Gvardiol’s performance, some other publications were certainly much kinder – with FOTMOB awarding the highly-rated defender a 7.3/10 rating for his showing.
Similarly, Sofascore gave the Zagreb-born centre-back a 6.3 match rating as well.
Man City star Gvardiol stats after his latest display was slammed
The former RB Leipzig colossus played throughout the entirety of the contest. Here is a statistical breakdown of Gvardiol’s performance against Scotland.
| STATISTICS | |
| DRIBBLED PAST | 1 |
| GROUND DUELS WON | 2/5 |
| POSSESSION LOST | 6 |
| AERIAL DUELS WON | 2/2 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | 3 |
| CLEARANCES | 1 |
| BLOCKED SHOTS | 0 |
| PASS ACCURACY | 58/61 (95%) |
Based on the statistics, it does seem like the Premier League winner was off the pace against Scotland.
Gvardiol started on the left side of a back three alongside Caleta-Car and Josip Sutalo.
Zlatko Dalic opted with his usual 3-4-2-1 formation to play against the Scots.
Croatia now play Poland next on Tuesday night in the Nations League.
Gvardiol would be fired up ahead of the contest after a rare off day for him at the office.
The versatile defender would be hoping to put in an assured display before he returns to Manchester City duty.
