Some Birmingham City fans have taken to social media to praise the form of ‘underrated’ central midfielder Gary Gardner, with one fan even claiming the 27-year-old is better than Aston Villa’s John McGinn.
The praise for Gardner followed a recent post from Birmingham City’s official club Twitter account which showed the midfielder’s heat map from the Blues’ recent Championship game versus Brentford. The Blues’ account showed admiration for the 27-year-old’s box-to-box quality, which is also clear from the player’s heat map that shows how active Gardner was in Birmingham’s 1-1 draw with Brentford last Saturday.
Gardner contributed the assist for Birmingham’s only goal of the game versus Brentford. In addition to that, he made an impressive total of five dribbles and six interceptions last Saturday, according to data collected by Whoscored.com.
The central midfielder’s performance last weekend was ultimately impressive enough to earn him an 8.6 overall rating on Whoscored.com, in addition to the website’s Man of the Match award for the game, as well as a place in Whoscored’s Championship Team of the Week.
Gardner’s recent performance versus Brentford comes off the back of an impressive run of form for the midfielder. Some Blues fans have taken the opportunity to show their admiration for Gardner’s form on social media. Read the appreciative posts from some Birmingham City fans to Gardner’s recent run of form in the tweets below.
Is Gary Gardner playing better for Birmingham than John McGinn is for Aston Villa at the moment?
YES, ON CURRENT FORM GARDNER HAS BEEN BETTER FOR BIRMINGHAM
NO, MCGINN HAS BEEN EVEN BETTER FOR ASTON VILLA THAN GARDNER HAS FOR BIRMINGHAM
?? Gary Gardner heat map v Brentford.
Box-to-box. ? #BCFC pic.twitter.com/NfaN8g8Ggp
— Birmingham City FC (@BCFC) February 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/_Maxbradley_/status/1230463240104226817
https://twitter.com/iamjbohemia/status/1230462862306332672
Better than mcginn
— Jude (@YOUTUBEJD16) February 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/AshleyLew88/status/1230470709002063874
Always knew that given his chance in his proper position he would not let us down.
— Will the Woldsman (@MrBlueSkyFluter) February 20, 2020
https://twitter.com/TrevorBayley/status/1230505875548385283
What do we think?
Gardner’s recent man-of-the-match performance shows how effective he can be as a box-to-box midfielder.
The heat map posted on Twitter by Birmingham City’s official account further illustrates how much of an impact Gardner managed to have all over the pitch versus Brentford. Should his impressive form continue, Gardner could well play an important role for the Blues in the run-in.