Former Liverpool player Steve Nicol is a big fan of Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol and believes it’s about time that he was given his flowers.
He praised Gvardiol for his expansive skillset – noting that he often ‘plays like a midfielder’ despite spending the majority of the 2023/24 campaign in the right-back position.
Despite a shaky start to the season, Gvardiol has gone from strength to strength, with Pep Guardiola’s faith in him fully paying off. Over the course of 26 Premier League appearances, he has scored four goals and has notched up a single assist.
Nicol played for clubs such as Notts County, Sheffield Wednesday and Doncaster Rovers over the course of his professional career. His greatest success came during his 13-year Liverpool stint, where he won four First Division titles and one Champions League trophy.
What did Steve Nicol say about Manchester City star Josko Gvardiol
Speaking in an interview featured on ESPN’s official YouTube channel, Nicol said: “Well, I think it’s important, he’s comfortable where he is now. When he started playing in that position, he wasn’t quite sure and you could see it in his performances but Pep [Guardiola] stuck with him, clearly coached him and now, as I said, he looks comfortable.
“He looks as though that’s his position when actually, he’s been brought up as a centre-back. But the way he goes about it in the final third has got an air of a midfield player going forward, not a centre-back.
“The way he played that little one-two with [Kevin] De Bruyne, the way he cut inside [Issa] Diop and the finish as well, he’s caught out the goalie, he’s rolled it into the bottom corner, you know that old commentary? Oh, that was the shot of a defender, you can’t say that about Gvardiol, that was absolutely top class.”