Manu Garcia

[twosips]

The thing about Manu Garcia imo, is that he probably has to start creating/scoring goals regularly at some point in order to merit a job at a club like City. We have arguments about whether players such as Nasri merit their place. Nasri was a real top talent as a kid & still is now. The question is always about his role in the team & whether he does enough to merit it, rather than his ability. It's unlikely Manu will become a ballwinner & he's small in stature so he has to become a creative mastermind or be a squad player to fill in.

That is the challenge for M Garcia imo. We can already see Diaz for instance, threatening to do all that kind of stuff. Garcia when he first arrived, showed a lot of tricky stuff around the penalty area, so it's in there.

I think there was hugely promising signs with his involvement in the goal and his willingness to turn and run at the defence. That shot he tried to get away too. Overall though I agree. I think he can get there though, its clear he has the ability to.

 

[BigOscar]

Not sure the Brahim or Nasri comparison is fair imo, Brahim looks like a forward whereas Manu looks far more like a midfield player to me. He's got more than enough about him to do a job in a midfield 3, he may not be big but he's got fight in him and is willing to press and harry people and he's more than comfortable enough in tight spaces to keep possession in the middle of the park and dominate teams (like in preseason). He's no smaller than Xavi, Modric or Moutinho and they've always been able to cope. I was very surprised he wasn't put alongside or just in front of Fernando and Aleix in a midfield 3 yesterday instead of sticking him out as a RM, it would have made a lot more sense.

It will be interesting to see what Pep does with him, as I'm sure he'll find a use for him

 

[domalino]

Not sure the Brahim or Nasri comparison is fair imo, Brahim looks like a forward whereas Manu looks far more like a midfield player to me. He's got more than enough about him to do a job in a midfield 3, he may not be big but he's got fight in him and is willing to press and harry people and he's more than comfortable enough in tight spaces to keep possession in the middle of the park and dominate teams (like in preseason). He's no smaller than Xavi, Modric or Moutinho and they've always been able to cope. I was very surprised he wasn't put alongside or just in front of Fernando and Aleix in a midfield 3 yesterday instead of sticking him out as a RM, it would have made a lot more sense.

It will be interesting to see what Pep does with him, as I'm sure he'll find a use for him

Yeah he's obviously not going to be on the right wing in future.

Faupala has played on the wings as well.

So it's really bizarre that we didn't play 433 as it made perfect sense with the players selected.

 

[Neville Kneville]

Not sure the Brahim or Nasri comparison is fair imo, Brahim looks like a forward whereas Manu looks far more like a midfield player to me. He's got more than enough about him to do a job in a midfield 3, he may not be big but he's got fight in him and is willing to press and harry people and he's more than comfortable enough in tight spaces to keep possession in the middle of the park and dominate teams (like in preseason). He's no smaller than Xavi, Modric or Moutinho and they've always been able to cope. I was very surprised he wasn't put alongside or just in front of Fernando and Aleix in a midfield 3 yesterday instead of sticking him out as a RM, it would have made a lot more sense.

It will be interesting to see what Pep does with him, as I'm sure he'll find a use for him

The comparison is re what the player brings to the team rather than a particular position. I would be surprised if Manu Garcia becomes a deep player, therefore imo it's attacking mid. With 100s of millions to spend in the future, I would expect our attacking mids will have to be very dangerous creatively, hence, that's the challenge for Manu.

 

[BlueDejong]

Huge Huge talent.

 

[supercity88]

It's the best I've seen him play in a long time. If the club stick him back in the EDS he'll stagnate - he needs to be in and around the first team until the end of the season now. The best thing about him is his vision and composure. He knows when he has space and turns and strides forward with the ball, which is something Silva does time and time again. He gets everyone stepping forward with him when he does that and it allows the rest of the team some momentum. As much as games may be must win from here on out, I'd have no issue with Manu coming on to steady the side and he'd have no issue keeping possession and stepping up to the plate. Some players will stagnate if they're not allowed to hit the next level, I think he might be one of them. We could have an excellent player on our hands, he just needs to add more creativity/goals to his game but for now, with Yaya, Delph, Fernandinho and Fernando our midfield options Garcia would be a great call to come on and keep the ball and keep control of the game.

 

[Centurions]

It's the best I've seen him play in a long time. If the club stick him back in the EDS he'll stagnate - he needs to be in and around the first team until the end of the season now. The best thing about him is his vision and composure. He knows when he has space and turns and strides forward with the ball, which is something Silva does time and time again. He gets everyone stepping forward with him when he does that and it allows the rest of the team some momentum. As much as games may be must win from here on out, I'd have no issue with Manu coming on to steady the side and he'd have no issue keeping possession and stepping up to the plate. Some players will stagnate if they're not allowed to hit the next level, I think he might be one of them. We could have an excellent player on our hands, he just needs to add more creativity/goals to his game but for now, with Yaya, Delph, Fernandinho and Fernando our midfield options Garcia would be a great call to come on and keep the ball and keep control of the game.

I think we're starting to see the benefits of the CFA to show. These young lads now mix (on & off the pitch) with the 1st team, with random ones being pulled over to train with the 1st team squad. People still call Pellegrini for not playing them earlier, some even claiming he should have been doing it 2 years ago (when some were only 15 years old for Christs sake), but I think they've been learning all this time and are only now starting to show that they can hack it with the 1st team. Things can only improve for them too.

 

[twosips]

I really, really like Manu. Not only is he an exceptionally gifted footballer, but he's a hugely humble and intelligent young man too. Best thing is that he actually knows that he's struggled with the EDS of late. He's totally aware of this though and he's trying his hardest to rectify it. I do agree though that some players are simply better at a higher level - they just come alive, and given his performances in friendlies and then on Sunday all signs would seem to point towards that too. He's not reached those heights for the EDS yet, but he's still incredibly young. He turned eighteen barely a month ago.... that's mental.

Those clips just up there are brilliant. The energy and intentions behind them were spot on, even if the execution didn't always come off. My favourite clip was the one where he span away from a marker in the middle of the pitch and drove straight at Chelsea's defence which lead to a half chance. It was basically Silva-esque. If he carries on that way he'll go far. It's incredibly heartening that he's at his best, seemingly, on the bigger stages.

 

[domalino]

I really, really like Manu. Not only is he an exceptionally gifted footballer, but he's a hugely humble and intelligent young man too. Best thing is that he actually knows that he's struggled with the EDS of late. He's totally aware of this though and he's trying his hardest to rectify it. I do agree though that some players are simply better at a higher level - they just come alive, and given his performances in friendlies and then on Sunday all signs would seem to point towards that too. He's not reached those heights for the EDS yet, but he's still incredibly young. He turned eighteen barely a month ago.... that's mental.

Those clips just up there are brilliant. The energy and intentions behind them were spot on, even if the execution didn't always come off. My favourite clip was the one where he span away from a marker in the middle of the pitch and drove straight at Chelsea's defence which lead to a half chance. It was basically Silva-esque. If he carries on that way he'll go far. It's incredibly heartening that he's at his best, seemingly, on the bigger stages.

I'm looking forward to seeing Faupala and Manu in their next EDS/u19 games because I'm hoping that now they've had a taste of first team football - and played really well- they will take that form and confidence into the rest of their football. Neither has had a standout season at youth level, but everyone has seen how they can cope at the highest level, so let's see them boss the age group stuff.

If Faupala can skin gAry Cahill, he can do the same with 18 year olds.


By the way, I saw that 7 of the 13 players who played in last years Youth Cup final have now played for the first team. Must be encouraging for anyone who follows the youth team as much as you do.

 

[supercity88]

I really, really like Manu. Not only is he an exceptionally gifted footballer, but he's a hugely humble and intelligent young man too. Best thing is that he actually knows that he's struggled with the EDS of late. He's totally aware of this though and he's trying his hardest to rectify it. I do agree though that some players are simply better at a higher level - they just come alive, and given his performances in friendlies and then on Sunday all signs would seem to point towards that too. He's not reached those heights for the EDS yet, but he's still incredibly young. He turned eighteen barely a month ago.... that's mental.

Those clips just up there are brilliant. The energy and intentions behind them were spot on, even if the execution didn't always come off. My favourite clip was the one where he span away from a marker in the middle of the pitch and drove straight at Chelsea's defence which lead to a half chance. It was basically Silva-esque. If he carries on that way he'll go far. It's incredibly heartening that he's at his best, seemingly, on the bigger stages.

I've been quite hard on Garcia recently because I haven't seen the progression I expected but that all changed after Sunday's performance. You're completely correct in terms of some players needing to step up. Personally, I think the EDS games can get quite sloppy at times because other teams play a more physical and direct style and that won't suit Manu and it won't allow him to influence the games as much. At senior level he'll be able to show more of his talent.

Picturing him in alongside Fernandinho and Silva for instance you can just imagine him excelling.