Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol has shared his praise for manager Pep Guardiola and his ability to develop players to show ‘calmness with the ball’.
The Croatia defender has been speaking at a press conference after appearing for Croatia during the international break, with Vecernjni covering his comments.
He joined Manchester City in a €90m move from RB Leipzig in the summer transfer window, with Guardiola sanctioning a big bid to ensure they beat the competition and Gvardiol become the leader of his defence in the years to come.
The centre-back is yet to truly establish himself in the team, with Guardiola electing to integrate him slowly rather than throw him in at the deep end.
He’ll be hoping to develop Gvardiol into a star as he has done with numerous players over the years, including many at Manchester City.
That can sometimes be a slow process, as was shown with Jack Grealish, who took time to integrate and learn Guardiola’s methods before starring at the end of last season as they went on to win the treble.
Gvardiol can already see a difference in his play after a few weeks of work, though, and highlighted it in his recent comments.
“I still have a lot to learn from coach Guardiola,” he said.
“The most important thing is that I brought a dose of calmness to the game of the national team. This is what is required of me: to move forward as simply as possible and do the defensive part.
“I like how he deals with each player. He cares, like every coach. It tries to fix every segment in the player. We can see calmness with the ball in every player, they are not afraid to play with the ball. This is what makes Manchester City special.”
