Josko Gvardiol perhaps knows just how good Mateo Kovacic is more than any of his Manchester City teammates or Pep Guardiola due to having played with him in the Croatian national team for numerous years.
Guardiola lauded Kovacic’s impressive form as in the past couple of games, he has been excellent and one of City’s standout performers alongside Gvardiol.
The Croatian pair will have to be at their absolute best as Manchester City intend to qualify for the Champions League and win the FA Cup.
Kovacic tipped Gvardiol to succeed for years and explained how it is difficult to decide where to play him due to how much of a class act his City teammate is both defensively and offensively.
Now, Josko Gvardiol has had his say on the 30-year-old as well.
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Josko Gvardiol says he has never seen a better ball-carrier than Mateo Kovacic
After Manchester City beat Nottingham Forest to reach the FA Cup final, Gvardiol was initially informed that Mateo Kovacic won the Man of the Match award.
Gvardiol was happy for Kovacic as he went on to praise his technical ability while admitting to feeling secure playing behind him but notably, the former RB Leipzig colossus added that he has never seen a better carrier of the ball in his career.
The 22-year-old told TNT Sports Mexico: “I’ve talked so many times about him, he’s really, I would say a special one, you know, the control on the ball and his power to dribble with the ball is something I’ve never seen.”
“So, yeah I feel more comfortable having him in front of me and of course, I’m really happy for him that he won the trophy today for Man of the Match.”
Why Mateo Kovacic’s strength is his weakness
There is no disputing that as Gvardiol stated, Kovacic is incredible at carrying the ball.
But sometimes, the former Chelsea midfielder has a tendency to try to dribble his way out of pressure in needless situations — as was on display against Paris Saint-Germain earlier this season where he was dispossessed on several instances.
If Kovacic can curb this very habit of his, teams will find it nigh-on impossible to stop him from bursting past them if he decides to push forward in the right areas.
