The thing with Garcia in my mind is that if you're going to play a one dimensional player/role, you have to be exceptional at that role.
So yes, Garcia isn't asked to be a creative force and it's a bit unfair to criticize his passing range (although I don't entirely agree), but if he's not going to be asked to pass the ball well and create offense, then he needs to be nearly superhuman as a defensive midfielder in order to compensate and justify the inclusion in an XI, and he just hasn't been of that quality. To be honest, he just seems far too slow to allow his CM partner to really venture forward, he simply can't cover the width of the pitch to pop up everywhere the DM needs to. If people long for NDJ, it's probably for precisely this reason, Nigel had a mobility that made it feel like he could truly release Yaya forward. It's surely romanticized and he gets more credit than he should receive, but I'm not sure you can play a slow DM who isn't an exceptional reader of the game. The alternative is pace or possession. I think Garcia or any slower DM work fine when a team like Barca is dominating possession and the DM is more of a safety valve for attacking FBs to rely upon, but it all unravels pretty quickly when the other team is able to attack and put pressure on the DM to intercept and interrupt play.
I find myself having a similar thought about Garcia as I thought even about NDJ. It may be that he's a fantastic player for some squad, but I'm not sure that Man City as currently constituted can afford to play a strict CDM/DM type while also playing 2 strikers. We just end up with too many one dimensional players on the pitch at the same time. If we're going to attack with 2 home and away, then we need more versatile midfielders capable of both attack and defense.
So yes, Garcia isn't asked to be a creative force and it's a bit unfair to criticize his passing range (although I don't entirely agree), but if he's not going to be asked to pass the ball well and create offense, then he needs to be nearly superhuman as a defensive midfielder in order to compensate and justify the inclusion in an XI, and he just hasn't been of that quality. To be honest, he just seems far too slow to allow his CM partner to really venture forward, he simply can't cover the width of the pitch to pop up everywhere the DM needs to. If people long for NDJ, it's probably for precisely this reason, Nigel had a mobility that made it feel like he could truly release Yaya forward. It's surely romanticized and he gets more credit than he should receive, but I'm not sure you can play a slow DM who isn't an exceptional reader of the game. The alternative is pace or possession. I think Garcia or any slower DM work fine when a team like Barca is dominating possession and the DM is more of a safety valve for attacking FBs to rely upon, but it all unravels pretty quickly when the other team is able to attack and put pressure on the DM to intercept and interrupt play.
I find myself having a similar thought about Garcia as I thought even about NDJ. It may be that he's a fantastic player for some squad, but I'm not sure that Man City as currently constituted can afford to play a strict CDM/DM type while also playing 2 strikers. We just end up with too many one dimensional players on the pitch at the same time. If we're going to attack with 2 home and away, then we need more versatile midfielders capable of both attack and defense.