Josko Gvardiol- When data does not beat the eye test.

Josko Gvardiol cost Manchester City around £70 million. And at the time it was seen by many as a bargain. A 21 year old full Croatia international defender who can play with the ball at his feet, strong upper body strength, quick and keen to get forward seemed to tick all the boxes for a player in a Guardiola system. However the 70 million pound defender has a problem the data loving scouts cannot see. Josko Gvardiol actually can’t defend. 

At the time of writing this Man City are in the biggest slump of Pep’s managerial career. 6th in the league and losing 2-1 to Aston Villa to make it 9 defeats in 12 is a huge difference to the norm. And yes injuries have played a huge part with Rodri out for the season not helping their causes. But City have the players to do well regardless. Not with Gvardiol in defence

In todays match with Aston Villa he made a mistake early on. Instead of sending the ball forward he sent it back to his keeper. The pass was incredibly weak and Aston Villa were in. He ended the game woth a booking and zero tackles made. 70 million? 

This isn’t a one off either. Against Feyenoord he did something identical. A weak back volley pass led to Feyenoord striker rounding the keeper. It is worth noting he did not sprint back to help, instead just jogging back and watching. For Feyenoords second goal he was at fault again. This time playing both his man and Savinho’s man onside when everyone else was playing a high line. The cross comes in and he misses the header and it is in the net. It is worth noting here that Man City were now 3-2 up and just had to defend the last 10 minutes. The 70 million defender was taken off in the teams crucial defensive moments. 

Once again vs Spurs he was at fault multiple times. For the first goal he failed to deal with a long ball, being outmuscled and failing to stop the cross. 1-0. For the second goal he gave the ball away and the ball ended up in the net 10 seconds later. He was constantly getting out of position. Being far too high up and failing to get back in time. 

And against Scotland he was schooled by an 18 year old Ben Doak who went past him with ease in the 2 games for Croatia. 

Attacking wise he is very good. Often getting in the opposition box and actually averages a shot on target per game. But maybe it is just me, maybe I am stuck in the past or whatever. But if I was spending £70 million on a defender i would actually want them to be able to defend? 

Modern football is often criticised for being too robotic. And I think Josko Gvardiol is a big example of this. Statistically speaking he os a good player. He is a great ball playing defender. But would he have been one of the worlds highest rated defenders in the 2000’s say? No chance. Clubs and scouts are using more and more data and there is a need for it in the modern game absolutely. And i can point to many players being signed through this model that actually are good. Brentford being a premier league club for years is an example of it working. However i really feel the traditional way of scouting is dying out and when you see a 70 million defender struggling to defend on a consitent level, you have to ask yourself, What is wrong with actually watching players play and making judgement rather than looking at the numbers.