In the past two warm-up matches, 19-year-old midfielder Nico Gonzalez from La Masia's academy has won consecutive opportunities to start the game. In Barca's plan, he will become the rotation option for master boss Busquets in the new season. As the son of former Super Rako Captain Fran, the blonde teenager is looking forward to writing his own chapter.
According to the Spanish media "World Sports" quoted by the "Voice of Galicia", Barca coach Coman was attracted by his performance when he first watched Nico's game. However, in the past 2 games, as the team's starting back, Nico's performance may not be able to take over Busquets for the time being.
Nico was a mid-back in the early days of the La Masia echelon, and even played in the front-back position, so his foot technique is quite reliable. However, in recent years, with the rapid rise in height, Nico's position has gradually receded and he has begun to try to play the position of the back. Nico, who is tall and tall, has still reliable technical ability, and this time he uses the rhythm to complete the superiority after the top man, which is one of his personal characteristics.
Looking at the handling of the ball this time, Nico after receiving Roberto's pass, he was very beautiful to step forward after pressing his heart, but the pass to Demir at the near end was not a very wise choice. Because the pass was a bit rushed at that time, Demir could only take the ball all the way back and could not create a greater threat. Nico's foot technique is good, but as a back, there is still a big gap with Busquets when dealing with the passing of offensive and defensive conversions.
Nico Gonzalez actually only started this year before he gradually tried to play at the back. His technical ability is fine, but there is a big gap in the consciousness of handling the ball. Whether it is the passing of the offensive and defensive conversion, or the landing position when retreating, there are deficiencies. In addition, Nico relies more on physical confrontation on the defensive end, and his individual fighting and foot flexibility are somewhat insufficient.
As you can see from the GIF below, this time Nico Gonzalez had a hard time pestering the ball taker in Stuttgart during the retreat. If it weren't for Griezmann's assistance in defending against interference, Nico would have almost been thrown away by his opponents.
Looking at this wave of defense, Nico expanded his defensive range, even going to the sideline to follow the defense, but he could only try to follow the opponent from beginning to end, but he could not complete the destruction and interference. The Stuttgart players threw Nico away with a collision with the wall, but fortunately Dester took the lead this time to complete the break.
Barca have renewed their contract with Nico Gonzalez until 2024 and the team is looking forward to the 19-year-old young midfielder taking over from Busquets. However, judging from the current performance of the game, such an idea is still too optimistic.
This time the offensive and defensive conversion came from Phuket's straight ball being intercepted by the opponent, and the problem with Nico Gonzalez was that he did not have the foot stealing technique in the movement, and his foot movement frequency was not fast. Retreating to the penalty area, the opponent turned around with a slam and threw Nico Gonzalez away. He gave the Girona player too much room to adjust his shots, but thankfully this time the ball hit the crossbar. The problem is not Nico's (Phuket's straight plug is too risky), but Nico really does not have the ability to solve it.
Nico Gonzalez as a back still needs his teammates to protect and assist him, this time he went out front and De Jong and Garvey did not intend to make up for him, so in the retreat, Nico once again had some "inaccurate points". He was not very good at the speed of the retreat, the frequency of action and the second movement, and he could only watch his opponent complete the long-range shot.
The 19-year-old Nico Gonzalez is a fully weakened version of Busquets, and more importantly, he has a lot of lack of awareness when it comes to offensive and defensive conversions and individual defense. Can Nico really grow into the new Busquets in the days to come? At least from now on, he has the talent to base himself in La Liga, but as a giant back, I am afraid that there is really a big gap.
#Barca ##热身赛: Barça beat Stuttgart ##西甲 3-0 #