Gvardiol: The Soldier Driving Manchester City’s Perfect Start
Josko Gvardiol is starting to look like himself again – and that is bad news for the rest of the Premier League.
A year on from a broken leg that wrecked his first campaign at Manchester City, the Croatian defender has emerged at the heart of Enzo Maresca’s flying start, anchoring a back line that has conceded just twice in four league games and helping City stitch together six straight wins in all competitions.
It comes after a bruising curtain-raiser. Arsenal’s 3-0 Community Shield win in August briefly raised questions about City’s readiness under their new manager. The response has been ruthless. Six games, six victories, and a defence that suddenly looks mean again.
At the centre of it all, Gvardiol – but not quite in the way many expected.
From record signing to reinvented left-back
With new captain Ruben Dias and England international Marc Guehi quickly knitting together a convincing partnership in central defence, Maresca faced an early selection puzzle. How do you leave out a £77m defender – the second most expensive in history behind Harry Maguire – when you already have a crowded centre-back department?
You don’t. You move him.
Gvardiol has been pushed out to left-back and is now making the role his own. His shift has had a domino effect. Nico O’Reilly, who filled in there during Gvardiol’s five-month injury lay-off last season, has slipped back to the bench, waiting for chances in his preferred midfield position. Rayan Ait-Nouri, signed from Wolves as a specialist left-back in the summer, has been shunted higher up the pitch just to get minutes.
The Croatian has not complained. Those close to him describe him as a “soldier”, happy to take whatever role he is handed and execute it for the team. He is understood to be satisfied with Maresca’s call and believes his time in England has sharpened his tactical understanding.
Last summer, still feeling the after-effects of that broken leg, Gvardiol warned it would take “at least a year before everything heals inside”. That clock has ticked down. He is now said to be pain-free, back at full match fitness and playing like it.
Freedom to roam – and to hurt teams
Gvardiol has always looked comfortable at centre-back. Left-back is something else entirely. It asks more of his legs, more of his lungs. He knows it. Those around him say he finds the role more physically demanding than playing in the middle.
He also enjoys it.
From that flank he can explode forward, step into midfield, and appear in the box. His marauding runs have already paid off in this campaign. On the opening day against Bournemouth, he burst into the area to score a dramatic injury-time winner, capping a performance that also included two assists. One of those came in the derby at Old Trafford, where his delivery set up Erling Haaland’s controversial goal that killed off Manchester United.
This is not a defender simply tucking in and playing safe. This is a full-back driving City up the pitch, changing the geometry of attacks, and arriving in areas opponents struggle to track.
Defensive steel to match the attacking flair
The attacking numbers do not come at the expense of his core job. Gvardiol’s defending has been just as fierce.
At Old Trafford last Sunday, City’s plans were shredded when Phil Foden was sent off in the 23rd minute. Down to 10 men, away from home, and under pressure, they needed resilience. They got it from their left-back.
Gvardiol largely shut down Bryan Mbeumo, winning nine of his 11 duels – more than any other player on the pitch – and making four tackles, the highest total of any City player on the day. The clean sheet felt unlikely when Foden walked. By the final whistle, it looked like a statement.
Across the season so far, the numbers back up the eye test. Gvardiol ranks seventh in the Premier League for total duels won and sits inside the top 10 for tackles made. For a player still adapting to a new position, those are imposing figures.
Not every night has been perfect. He struggled away to Porto in the Champions League, booked in the first half and withdrawn early in the second. It looked more like a rare off-day than a deeper concern, a blip in an otherwise surging start.
Maresca’s “toughest” test and a buoyant Croatia return
Maresca has been clear about what comes next. Sunderland visit the Etihad on Sunday, a 14:00 BST kick-off the manager has already labelled City’s “toughest” game so far “because of how good they are”. It is a warning against complacency as much as a compliment.
Beat the Black Cats and City not only keep their perfect run intact, they send Gvardiol into international duty on a high. Croatia face England and Spain in the Uefa Nations League, a sharp step up after a summer to forget in which they exited the World Cup in the last 32.
For a player who has just signed a new five-year deal despite interest from Bayern Munich and Barcelona, the direction of travel is clear. Gvardiol has tied his future to this project. He has spoken of being “happy” at the Etihad and underlined that “everyone has to fight for their position, no-one is secure”.
That may be true in theory. On current form, though, his place feels about as secure as it gets.
