Javi Garcia (continued)

[NorCalBlue]

The thing he lacks and something which a player like Busquets has is being able to start an attack. The problem he is he wins the ball and passes it sideways or back and is a bit to scared to pass it forward to get an attack going. A good squad player to have if a 3 man mid is going to be played but in games which we dominate he is a bit of a waste because of the lack of passing and attacking play.

I think that, as much as anything, he's an excellent 'safety net' for Yaya and Silva. They have the freedom to look for attacking creative options, but if there aren't any, and they get pressed by one or two opponents, Garcia's always available as a safe outlet pass. Then he cycles it back to one of them and they can try again. I think this was a big problem in the 1-0 loss to Chelsea - when SIlva and Yaya were pressed hard an all forward options were closed down, they ran into trouble.

Let's face it, although it's great if you have a Ferny who can do it all, we really don't need another attacking mid if Yaya, Silva, and Navas/Milner/Nasri are allowed to do their thing.

 

[salfordtrueblue]

He is our workhorse and good sides all need them,not obvious on the eye,but still a major player for us. He had a great game against Chelsea and allowed are creative players to turn it on.

 

[ell]

Another good game on saturday

 

[The Colonel]

Sometimes our pre conceived opinions of players (rightly or wrongly) blinds us to their improvements until they reach a very high standard (Nasri for one was playing well towards the end of last season). Garcia has had some good performances this season - he played a big role in the taking control of the game in Munich. I back him to keep up his improved performances. It's also even harder to get recognition when he is the game reader, the breaker of play and not the creator or magician.

You'll see.

 

[PaleBlue]

lets not get giddy,he has been poor/average since joining city 18mths ago…..he has improved this season culminating in a top performance last night,he has set the standard now and must be hitting these heights every week from now on.

+1 - have been critical of him since he joined but fair do's, he was excellent against Chelski and hopefully can go on from that.

 

[supercity88]

Had a cracking game on Saturday. Read the play well and made sure he got to the ball first. Technically was good under pressure and kept the ball well. He is a good passer of the ball and I think he is under valued in the regard. He chose to pass to Yaya and Silva to make sure he could sit deeper, I think that was something Pellegrini was keen for him to do in order to make sure we weren't caught out on the counter. Would be confident with him in the side against Barca, physically as well he will give Barca a problem with his height. Fernandinho is still a class above due to his pace, which will be important in dealing with Messi/Alexis' running and also picking up Fabregas and Iniesta who will look to run late into space.

 

[City_Sean]

massively impressed with him saturday, feel he could be vital tomorrow again.

 

[Paul11/12]

The thing he lacks and something which a player like Busquets has is being able to start an attack. The problem he is he wins the ball and passes it sideways or back and is a bit to scared to pass it forward to get an attack going. A good squad player to have if a 3 man mid is going to be played but in games which we dominate he is a bit of a waste because of the lack of passing and attacking play.

I think that, as much as anything, he's an excellent 'safety net' for Yaya and Silva. They have the freedom to look for attacking creative options, but if there aren't any, and they get pressed by one or two opponents, Garcia's always available as a safe outlet pass. Then he cycles it back to one of them and they can try again. I think this was a big problem in the 1-0 loss to Chelsea - when SIlva and Yaya were pressed hard an all forward options were closed down, they ran into trouble.

Let's face it, although it's great if you have a Ferny who can do it all, we really don't need another attacking mid if Yaya, Silva, and Navas/Milner/Nasri are allowed to do their thing.

An excellent safety net for Yaya and Silva? Agreed that is what he's supposed to be, Yaya was a shadow of the player last season, compared to his other years with us, mainly due to Garcia's lack of mobility! Our defence were at 6's and 7's, and Yaya couldn't push on with the confidence of being covered! I must admit he has improved, due to MP's faith man management skills, but a good game for Garcia is when he isn't noticed!

 

[BigOscar]

The thing he lacks and something which a player like Busquets has is being able to start an attack. The problem he is he wins the ball and passes it sideways or back and is a bit to scared to pass it forward to get an attack going. A good squad player to have if a 3 man mid is going to be played but in games which we dominate he is a bit of a waste because of the lack of passing and attacking play.

I think that, as much as anything, he's an excellent 'safety net' for Yaya and Silva. They have the freedom to look for attacking creative options, but if there aren't any, and they get pressed by one or two opponents, Garcia's always available as a safe outlet pass. Then he cycles it back to one of them and they can try again. I think this was a big problem in the 1-0 loss to Chelsea - when SIlva and Yaya were pressed hard an all forward options were closed down, they ran into trouble.

Let's face it, although it's great if you have a Ferny who can do it all, we really don't need another attacking mid if Yaya, Silva, and Navas/Milner/Nasri are allowed to do their thing.

An excellent safety net for Yaya and Silva? Agreed that is what he's supposed to be, Yaya was a shadow of the player last season, compared to his other years with us, mainly due to Garcia's lack of mobility! Our defence were at 6's and 7's, and Yaya couldn't push on with the confidence of being covered! I must admit he has improved, due to MP's faith man management skills, but a good game for Garcia is when he isn't noticed!

Blaming Garcia for Yaya being worse last season is so moronic it borders on the absurd. For a start, they only played together about 5-10 times and Garcia certainly wasn't there dragging Yaya down in his worst performance, the FA Cup final. Not even going to go into the "our defence were at 6's and 7's" bit, given that we had the most solid defence in the league, far better than this year. I know people love scapegoats, but that's up there with blaming him for the mix up between Hart and Nastasic at the Chelsea game.

 

[Bluekiwi]

Watching the Tunnelcam of the Chelsea game I got the impression that Javi is much happier in himself than a couple of months ago. Previously he looked unhappy, surly and serious. But on Saturday he was interacting with Jovetic and other players from both sides.
Is this another of MPs successes in improving players both in their demeanour and skills?.