Pep Guardiola did something quite exciting during Manchester City’s game with West Ham United, and it’s something we could be seeing more next season.
Manchester City ran out 3-1 winners against the Hammers at the Etihad Stadium, and history was made as a result.
City became the first club to ever win the Premier League four times in a row, and Phil Foden was the star of the show once again, as he scored a brace.
After Mohammed Kudus pulled one back in spectacular fashion just before half-time, Rodri popped up with City’s third in the second-half to effecntively kill the game and seal the title.
It was a relatively comfortable afternoon this time around for City, unlike against Aston Villa a couple of years ago.
The objective will of course be to win the title again next sseason, and it will be really interesting to see how Josko Gvardiol is used, given what Pep Guardiola did in the closing stages against West Ham…
Josko Gvardiol finally played in the John Stones role for Man City in possible glimpse into the future
With West Ham not really offering any kind of threat, Pep switched things up against the Irons in the second-half.
Manuel Akanji had been inverting in the first-half, as we sometimes see. But Pep decided to throw a bit of a curveball for the second 45.
We finally saw Gvardiol moving into the middle of midfield alongside Rodri from left-back, with Akanji staying back before he departed for Nathan Ake on 70 minutes.
We have seen in recent weeks Gvardiol really nail down that left-back position, and he looks so much more comfortable there now compared to the start of the season.
But Pep clearly felt this was a chance for Gvardiol to try his hand inverting into midfield.
Guardiola is no stranger to getting his full-backs to move into the middle of the pitch from out wide. He’s done it with the likes of Oleksandr Zinchenko, Joao Cancelo, Rico Lewis, John Stones and Akanji.
A lot of City fans have been wondering if Gvardiol would be tried in the role. But strangely, the Spaniard had been reluctant to use him there until the closing stages of Sunday’s game.
But Gvardiol looked totally at home. Granted, City were very comfortable in the game and West Ham weren’t showing much. But it was an encouraging foray for the £77 million Croatian.
Gvardiol in the middle makes so much sense
So we finally saw Gvardiol moving into midfield alongside Rodri, and it’s going to be fascinating to see if this becomes a more regular thing.
It is something fans have wondered about. But back in November, Pep did admit that Gvardiol hadn’t quite shown in training that he would be capable of playing that role. But that was then, and he has certainly been on an upward trajectory.
The 22-year-old has shown that he is a remarkable technician. He passes brilliantly and breaks lines like Aymeric Laporte used to do so well. But he also carries the ball really effectively. It is impressive to see someone of his size and stature move that elegantly.
The star – described as ‘absolutely brilliant’ recently by Micah Richards – really does have the attributions to thrive in a hybrid role. With his technical ability, you would think that eventually Pep will get Gvardiol inverting more.
It was reported last month that City believe Gvardiol is essentially a left-footed version of John Stones, who of course has been exceptional playing a hybrid role. So it may well be on the cards for Gvardiol to invert more often.