Manchester City gave up a three-goal lead last night to draw with Feyenoord in the Champions League and it was not a good night for Josko Gvardiol.
Manchester City led the Dutch giants 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium. Erling Haaland scored another two goals, and Ilkay Gundogan was also on target.
But City then capitulated, with more defensive mistakes proving costly.
A shocking Josko Gvardiol ball back to Ederson was pounced on by Anis Hadj-Moussa, before Santiago Gimenez got another, after the ball squeezed through Ederson.
Gvardiol then gave the ball away, leading to a Feyenoord attack, with Ederson racing out but getting nowhere near the ball or the player. David Hancko then headed in.
That third goal prompted Kyle Walker to argue with the Feyenoord bench for some reason, but it was a shocking result – and pundit Tim Sherwood has now made one suggestion about Josko Gvardiol.
Tim Sherwood insists Pep needs to drop Josko Gvardiol for Man City
Gvardiol was actually having a fairly good game last night until the final 15 minutes or so.
The Croatia international had been getting forward and offering a threat as he usually does, and used the ball well.
But the defending was so poor at the end, and there seemed to be a lack of concentration from the 22-year-old.
Sherwood watched the game, and believes now is the time for him to be taken out of the firing line by Pep Guardiola.
He said: “You think it’s the perfect evening, if they can keep the clean sheet here. They need a clean sheet. It didn’t look like there was any trouble. De Bruyne comes on with 25 minutes, looking at to the weekend you would have thought.
“All of a sudden, Gvardiol, who looks like he’s putting his fingerprints pretty much over every goal they’ve conceded in recent times.
“You’ve got to take him out of the firing line. But the trouble you’ve got is who do you put in there? Nathan Ake I suggest against Salah at the weekend, if Dias is fit. But he’s running out of players in defensive areas because of the injuries. He is not having a good time with it. He looks shattered, the guy.”
Gvardiol needs a rest for Man City
In recent weeks, Gvardiol’s level has really dipped.
He has been, by and large, one of the strongest performers of the season so far but the last few games have seen Gvardiol struggle.
Ben Doak gave him the runaround over the international break, and he was poor against Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend, being at fault for the first two goals.
| Most minutes played for Man City this season (all competitions) |
| Erling Haaland – 1582 |
| Rico Lewis – 1567 |
| Josko Gvardiol – 1546 |
| Ederson – 1440 |
| Manuel Akanji – 1383 |
There just seem to be a few too many lapses at the moment – and it could simply be down to overuse. Gvardiol is the third most-used player for City this season with 1546 minutes to his name – only Rico Lewis and Erling Haaland have played more minutes.
The problem has been that City have had too many injuries, and Guardiola has been unable to rotate him out.
There’s certainly an argument to drop Gvardiol against Liverpool this weekend, with Mo Salah in red-hot form.
