Marc Guéhi longs for invisibility on the field. Which may seem strange, given the brilliance of the professional world in which he lives, the alleged one needs to be seen doing heroic things as often as possible. The more the half-centre of England and Crystal Palace speaks, the more meaningful it is and the more it fits with who it is and where it comes from: its steady, unstoppable rise. Not to mention where he wants to go.
“I think Paolo Maldini said something like ‘ if you have to do a duel, you weren’t in the right position at the start’,” Guéhi says during a break in preparation for the Euro qualifiers against Malta and North Macedonia. “If a defender can take part in a game and does not seem to be doing anything at all, then he is doing absolutely everything right. Of course, there are times when you may have to do a last-minute duel because of what is happening, but if I can avoid being seen in a match, I’ll do my job, no matter how crazy it sounds.
“How do you learn this? There are some high–profile players here [with England] that you can watch, there is positioning, there is communication – talk to the players in front of you, put them in positions to possibly get their work done if that makes sense, so you don’t have to do it; so that the opposition can be stopped further up the pitch. There are many things.”
Talk to anyone who knows Guehi, and the same descriptions come back-hardworking, balanced, restrained. Listen to him and it is remarkable to think that he is only 23 years old, and yet it is absolutely no surprise that his managers for the country and the club, Gareth Southgate and Roy Hodgson, relied on him.
Guéhi has been an integral part of the Southgate squad since he was first called up in March, apart from when it mattered most–for the World Cup in Qatar last winter. This was a rare setback in a carefully curated career, and since then he has established himself as the first reservist in central defence behind John Stones and Harry Maguire. With Tyrone Mings out for the season, Lewis Dunk, Fikayo Tomori, Levi Colwill and Ezri Konsa are other options from Southgate. Stones, Dunk and Colwill are currently health issue.
“The characteristic of my life is that everything was pretty stable,” says Guéhi. “Growing up, I was never pushed or left behind too early. It was still pretty stable. On loan at the Chelsea Academy [to Swansea], playing regularly game by game for them and gaining confidence. Moving to Palace, find my mark in the Premier League and come here with England now.”
This does not mean that the road was completely smooth. This must have been a key to leaving Chelsea after joining them under eight and rising through the ranks; the club was negotiating appropriate rights for future deals in the event of a palace sale.
