In order to find Busquets' successor, Barca also racked their brains. Xavi appears to have found a new direction by using Garcia to play at the back in the last round of La Liga against bottom-to-bottom side Elche.
However, Garcia has too many problems other than a good pass. If the team must reserve a place for such a problem player, it may be "picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons".
01. Garcia is strong in one kick: protecting the ball and controlling the ball is not good
a. It's beautiful to kick the ball: top observation
Barca dared to experiment like this, or because the opponent was really weak. With 11 rounds left in the season, Elche has only 13 points, and second-to-last Valencia have 26 points left one game less.
However, the game process was not as easy as expected, Garcia passed the ball well at the back, but the ability to control the ball was average, and once the opponent pressed forward, the threat to Barca was actually not small.
Garcia's strength lies in his field of vision, and he tends to notice where his teammates are standing in advance. This time the opponent went up, but no one stuck to Garcia, so he first passed the empty teammate, Barca's rhythm of the back court forward.
Garcia can pass the ball on both feet, while the choice of passing line is top-notch. So as a backcourt shooting point, he does have certain tactical value.
It's the same in the high post, Garcia can't let the ball stop, his advantage is to quickly grasp the drop and pass the ball as soon as possible.
This kind of grabbing and passing is done at the same time, which is his value. It was very comfortable to find Alba, whose cross gave Lewandowski a chance to grab a spot in front of goal.
b. Not good at ball control: easy to deform after being pressed
Garcia's passing accuracy is high, averaging 92 percent so far this season and 95 percent in his own half.
However, as mentioned above, he is better suited to handling the ball in an unforced state. The 89% pass success rate in this game is also related to going to the back position and increasing physical confrontation.
After being pressed by his opponent this time, all Garcia can do is return to his central defender teammates. Subsequently, after the central defender held the ball, Garcia was basically unable to play the role of a secondary receiver.
In terms of movement, Garcia is not yet very comfortable with the role of midfielder. A lot of times, his passing needs to happen in open space.
Garcia conceded the ball nine times in this game, and he still made some mistakes after the opponent stepped up pressing and physical confrontation.
Especially after the mistake, Garcia's turning and recovery speed are slow, and it is difficult to correct the mistake himself.
Conde's straight plug is beautiful, as are many defenders who can pass well when they are not pressed, but that doesn't mean they can play well at the back.
A teammate in the middle circle missed the ball and Garcia tried to control the second drop point, but he made a mistake against him. When the opponent counterattacked on the spot, Garcia could not come back.
Fortunately, this time Condeney did a good job of collecting the card, and at the same time, the quality of the opponent's straight ball was also biased, which did not pose a threat.
02. Defensive moves slower than Busquets: That's the biggest problem
A. Eye defense is not a matter of attitude: the foot movement is really slow
As can also be seen from the statistics, Garcia only won the one-on-one battle on the ground, this time from a successful pass.
Many of Garcia's upper robberies happened in his advance prediction. This player's ball intelligence is good, but the body is really weak. Once the opponent moves in advance, he can often only look at the defense.
This time when Morient cut in the ribs of the box without the ball, Garcia was close but did not move.
You must know that he had no other defensive tasks at the time, and as a back on the line of the big penalty area, he should have stuck this passing line.
It can be clearly seen from the camera that Garcia's turn is too slow to keep up with the other party's movement at all.
Fortunately, it was Kessie who made a key fill and blocked the opponent's shot, allowing Barca to escape.
b. Once the opponent presses the core area: Garcia can't keep up on the defensive end
Although the score was 4-0, Barca did not play very well in the second half. The goal was scored because after the opponent attacked, the Barça striker was much more efficient than the opponent.
However, in terms of the number of shots on goal, the home team Elche led 11-7, and the expected goal was 0.64 to 0.73, which is also very close. Just on target, Barca have a 4-1 advantage, which is also where the gap between the two teams lies.
In this wave of defense, Garcia is still a signature retrospective. Fidel was unguarded, but Garcia did not move to make up for it.
You must know that Conde has a defender against him, and at this moment Garcia is protecting Conde as a back, which should be done well.
Looking at the subsequent movements, it is understandable that Comte did not traverse. Because he can't tell whether the other party is playing the front point or too top.
Garcia is the most suitable to make up the front point, and once Conde moves blindly, it makes the center and back point too empty.
In this wave of defense, Garcia was originally the defender of the front point, but instead of making up for it, he moved forward.
Another "defensive air", finally watching the opponent's header hit the crossbar. It has to be said that Garcia's movement on the defensive end is slower and worse than that of the elderly Busquets.
03. Offensive and defensive transitions move: Garcia's recovery effect is minimal
a. Barca's current overall defensive motivation: the highest level in the team's history
Barca's defensive quality has improved significantly this season, on the one hand, unqualified players such as Garcia and Mingo have withdrawn from the starting lineup (no longer there is a youth "mixed sand") and replaced by better players.
On the other hand, the overall enthusiasm has been greatly improved, and the overall presence rate and alertness when retiring is at the peak level of the team's history.
Just like this time the defense is back, center Levan can directly fill the back of the box. An old centre-forward who is almost 35 years old, can still be so positive after returning from the European qualifiers, and Xavi's "hair dryer" is clearly at the top level.
Compared to the fast pace of European competition, the quality of defense in low-confrontation La Liga depends more on overall motivation.
When Lewandowski can work so hard, it is difficult for the other party to get opportunities, and it is easy to understand. Of course, it is no accident that this Barça team will always give the other side more opportunities in the second half in La Liga, and as the physical fitness declines and the enthusiasm of the side weakens, the problem will slowly be exposed.
b. Let Garcia play the back: not because it fits, more like putting him in a position
With the use of the BACK combination to good effect, Xavi has used less and less of the problematic Garcia in the central defender position. Even if the team needs to be rotated, Xavi would rather have veteran Alonso guest at centre-back than Garcia.
Letting him play at the back this time is more like forcing him to play, rather than Garcia's technical ability really fitting the position.
In terms of recovery speed, Garcia really doesn't make much difference with the aged Busquets.
After all, Busquets has a pair of long legs, a large stride, and really runs at high speed, not necessarily slower than Garcia.
Not to mention that Garcia's defensive moves and choices also had many problems when he retired at high speed.
This time, Garcia wanted to intercept the cross, but directly knocked his teammate Conde to the ground, giving the opponent the opportunity to shoot from a frontal distance in the unmarked penalty area, which made people laugh and cry.
Conclusion:
From conceding 9 goals in 27 La Liga games to conceding 16 goals in 8 European games, Barca's defense cannot be said to be much stronger than when Pique and Lenglet partnered, but the enthusiasm of the whole team has been greatly improved, which has raised the mental outlook to a big level.
It is also important to note that players like Garcia and Mingosa can stay away from the starters, which is one of the important reasons why Barca are strong contenders for the La Liga title again.