NQCitizen said:
NipHolmes said:
I've actually got fed up speaking about him now. He's stealing his wages and isn't adequate replacement for De Jong who was a sub in our title winning season. So basically we ship out a substitute De Jong and replace him with inferior stock. But because he's wearing my colours I have to support him. Bollocks. He's will be remembered as an expensive shite utility player.
Navas and Negredo have just signed yet both come here to show their talent and command respect. Garcia has had a season yet has earned none. Says it all. Couldn't care a toss what Marvin says, the guys a mid table player at best. Hopefully we loan him in Jan and sell in summer.
How Barry has gone and he stays is absolutely beyond me. It leaves a taste of sick in my mouth it's that bad. I out it down to gametime and wages, Garcia is 160k a month cheaper and both are squad players. I just hope Rodwell stays fit and the defense too. That way Javi's lack of ability won't be a big deal for us.
Anyone disagreeing with me, name me one team in the top 6 he gets into as a start. Remember this lad is paid 80k a week to make matters worse, the same wage Everton are offering to their prize player Baines who topped chance created tables and was a match winner for them.
Carrick, Fellaini
Arteta, Diaby
Mikel, Luiz, Essien
Capoue, Sandro
Allen, Lucas, Garrard
He gets into none of them. Even most teams second choice has much more to their game.
You frequently put across a good argument Nip but it would be a lot fairer to compare him with top clubs' 4/5th choice midfielders. I wouldn't bet against him starting for Chelsea sometimes (about Mikel level) or Arsenal (no other CDM really) to be honest and before Fellaini went to United he could potentially have got in ahead of Cleverly and Anderson.
Firstly thank you.
Secondly, Mikel is underrated imho. He does his job and works very hard. He isn't a great player or will ever develop into one but he is a good player and a useful one. IMO he is best going a little bit forward but at Chelsea he is the best for the job at present due to the decline of Essien, injuries have certainly taken their toll. At Arsenal they have Diaby who is on his day a very tidy player and their Yaya. Problem is he is made of glass. Arteta does a job for them and it's telling how bad Garcia is that Arteta statwise hammers him when he is over the course of his career an attacking midfielder. He's now basically a smaller Carrick. Anderson is a CAM so irrelevant but Cleverly is fair to compare, I;d take Cleverly all day over Javi. His passing, work ethic and link up play is far superior and I don't rate Clevinho as my twitter will confirm.
Garcia isn't our 4th or 5th choice. He's our third imo.
Yaya is our CDM now that De Jong and Barry have gone. Fernandhino the other. Garcia should be third choice of 4-2-2-2, and first choice to partner the aforementioned players in a 4-3-3 system. However it is absolutely damning that an unproven and injury prone Rodwell is preferred by me, and by others over Garcia who has exp at CL and International level. It is actually quite preposterous. Milner is a CM who can play on the wing, play deep or play box to box. He is basically our utility man who gives his all every time he is started, he is capable of giving a world class performance and scoring a cracker. He fills gaps, he links up play and he gets right into the game and takes some responsibility, none of this can be said about Garcia.
Garcia is now our third choice holding player, he is actually more suited to the role than Fernandinho or Yaya in a positional sense. However it's simple pass, shirk responsibility and rely on others. This is ridiculous. I made this point a month ago and some look said 'why should you worry about wages, you don't pay them'. I agree but my club does and FFP dictates we cut the wage bill. Garcia is a spare player, we cannot afford a player like him on the books who doesn't justify half of his wages let alone all of them. By rights we have more need for Sinclair than Garcia as we don't actually have any true left sided players yet the lad was loaned out with view to sale as we are paying £45k pw for him. On this basis how is it deemed correct that Garcia received nearly double and has a similar talent ceiling that isn't high enough for this level.
The future of football is 3 man midfields and attacking fullbacks. This dictates that an holding midfielder does three jobs.
1) They protect the back-line, either by closing down play or by looking to defend an area in-front of them, not only helps to stop defenders being drawn out of their positions but also minimises space for a an opposition player to attack.
2) When fullbacks are in advanced positions (i.e oppositions half) and the ball is on the counter, the holding player then drops into the back-line to create a 3 man back line. Nastasic, Garcia, Kompany. Meanwhile the team tracks back and the- full backs attempt to close play or get back into the corners of the 18 yard box.
3) Link up play, ball is received from back-line and the intent is to go forward. Either run with the ball with plans to pass to a team-mate in space or a long ball into space a player can run onto. Being confident on the ball and being able to spray a long pass is a pre-requisite of becoming a good player in this role.
Simply 'screening' play and looking for an interception isn't enough at this level, that is simply part of the job, passing, possession of the ball and making an area your own is all part of the job. Yaya is clearly our go to man. All balls go through him but what is worrying is opposing teams will close him down and we are predictable. If Garcia is as good at his job as some people say then why on earth have we shelled out £30m for a player to play ahead of him? Again this player is not only better than him but he's on the same bloody wage too (just like he is with Navas, Jovetic and Negredo)!
The reason he is here imo is because he cannot get a good deal elsewhere and has to stay for personal gain. He may not get game time but where else can he say he plays for a top team, earns £4m a year and has 'won' silverware? He can't imo, he has peaked coming here. I fear we will either be lumbered with him or we will finance a move for him elsewhere with a contribution to his wages i.e Adebayor.
In the last 3 seasons we have won an FA Cup, a Premier league and finished second and runners up in FA Cup last season. That's good form. We need players to lift the team, we need players to be
the difference in games, we need players to make that shirt they wear their own. Opposition attacking players should look at a team sheet and worry about a player and what he may do or stop them doing, knowing the go into the game with a battle to do well or even anything of note.
Looking forward, I see one option that is best for him and us. We need to offload him, we should loan him out in Jan (injuries permitting) and with a view to selling to a club in the summer or as part of loan agreement (same as Sinclair). I think shipping him out to Spain to a Malaga, Seville, Sociedad or Betis etc would be best bet, not only for us but also for him.
