Garcia

[getdressedmctavish]

Resume! That's what I give when people ask me for a CV,lol

[dazby]

Poor zuri, I bet he thought he had a point. Then RH agreed with him.

No Slim , not at all. I didn't think he played badly when some on here think he did. Also , the reverse. I thought he had his normal game yesterday, just like on other occasions.

Now stop being childish and indulge in decent exchanges rather than lowering yourself to insults, i've always had the opinion you were beyond that kind of thing.[/quote]

You undid all your good work right there. ;-)

[Ted Hughes]

Poor zuri, I bet he thought he had a point. Then RH agreed with him.

No Slim , not at all. I didn't think he played badly when some on here think he did. Also , the reverse. I thought he had his normal game yesterday, just like on other occasions.

Now stop being childish and indulge in decent exchanges rather than lowering yourself to insults, i've always had the opinion you were beyond that kind of thing.[/quote]

You undid all your good work right there. ;-)

Which is typical imo.

Doesn't play straight.

[lets all have a disco]

Poor Messi doesnt know whats gonna have hit him.


Come on Javi lad fuck him up.

Osssshhhhh

[Mike J]

Was excellent on Saturday. Well done Javi lad

[Slim]

Poor Messi doesnt know whats gonna have hit him.


Come on Javi lad fuck him up.

Osssshhhhh

I loved the way he was actually sticking the boot in, and the way he flattened Willian pretty much ended him as a threat for the rest of the game.

[Blue Since 76]

Poor Messi doesnt know whats gonna have hit him.

Come on Javi lad fuck him up.

Osssshhhhh

If he's going to crunch Messi, can I suggest he starts making the tackle now.

Think that was why Demechelis was left out on Saturday - he was starting his run up

[Ted Hughes]

Poor Messi doesnt know whats gonna have hit him.


Come on Javi lad fuck him up.

Osssshhhhh

I loved the way he was actually sticking the boot in, and the way he flattened Willian pretty much ended him as a threat for the rest of the game.

That's an interesting point, because in that respect it reminded me of the game under Mancini a few years ago when we beat Chelsea with a Tevez breakaway. That day, they clearly 'didn't like it up 'em' but this Mourinho side had quite a few strong lads who were in there to push us about, which they succeeded doing last week. In the end though, led by Garcia; Yaya, Milner & even Silva etc did it to them instead & once again they 'didn't like it up 'em'.

[Slim]

Poor Messi doesnt know whats gonna have hit him.


Come on Javi lad fuck him up.

Osssshhhhh

I loved the way he was actually sticking the boot in, and the way he flattened Willian pretty much ended him as a threat for the rest of the game.

That's an interesting point, because in that respect it reminded me of the game under Mancini a few years ago when we beat Chelsea with a Tevez breakaway. That day, they clearly 'didn't like it up 'em' but this Mourinho side had quite a few strong lads who were in there to push us about, which they succeeded doing last week. In the end though, led by Garcia; Yaya, Milner & even Silva etc did it to them instead & once again they 'didn't like it up 'em'.

Yaya did the same thing to Mikel, both resulted in freekicks(Yaya's was no fucking freekick, but Dowd must have picture in picture and be watching some other game when he refs our games) but Willian was limited to what we can kindly call speculative shooting from 30 yards and Mikel was sucking the pace out of their attack because he wouldn't take on Yaya.

Just ever-so-slightly knock them off tilt and they lose that edge, the same tactic will work on most of Barca with the exception of one Lionel Messi, who we'd have to break both his legs just to slow him down. We need to starve him, make him come to halfway to even see the ball and we've got a chance.

[Ted Hughes]

Poor Messi doesnt know whats gonna have hit him.


Come on Javi lad fuck him up.

Osssshhhhh

I loved the way he was actually sticking the boot in, and the way he flattened Willian pretty much ended him as a threat for the rest of the game.

That's an interesting point, because in that respect it reminded me of the game under Mancini a few years ago when we beat Chelsea with a Tevez breakaway. That day, they clearly 'didn't like it up 'em' but this Mourinho side had quite a few strong lads who were in there to push us about, which they succeeded doing last week. In the end though, led by Garcia; Yaya, Milner & even Silva etc did it to them instead & once again they 'didn't like it up 'em'.

Yaya did the same thing to Mikel, both resulted in freekicks(Yaya's was no fucking freekick, but Dowd must have picture in picture and be watching some other game when he refs our games) but Willian was limited to what we can kindly call speculative shooting from 30 yards and Mikel was sucking the pace out of their attack because he wouldn't take on Yaya.

Just ever-so-slightly knock them off tilt and they lose that edge, the same tactic will work on most of Barca with the exception of one Lionel Messi, who we'd have to break both his legs just to slow him down. We need to starve him, make him come to halfway to even see the ball and we've got a chance.

I think we can try to do shit to counter Messi, but in the end it's upto him. If he's on it, we can't stop him. If he's not, we may be able to.

We can give those fuckers nightmares at the other end if we're on our game though. And not just in the first leg. If we are still in good shape after the Chelsea game, we have the players to open up Barca, exactly like Bayern did.

What they may also do to us, is another story.

[Beefymcfc]

Love the guy, he's a City player. Will have Iniesta in his back pocket, might even do a job on Messi but I think Vinnie wants the glory there.

[Slim]

Love the guy, he's a City player. Will have Iniesta in his back pocket, might even do a job on Messi but I think Vinnie wants the glory there.

Iniesta is a player you can bully, very good mind and he's going to have to be smart about it to avoid getting booked very early or possibly sent off, but you can limit his influence.

[Hazy2]

Javi and Lescott both did a great job and could be a threat at set pieces on Tuesday.

[Herb]

Garcia's had to suffer a shit storm from a vocal few and he's come through it to show that Mancini, Pellegrini and Del Bosque are better judges of a great player than those arseholes.
Well done Javi!

[sheblue]

Garcia's had to suffer a shit storm from a vocal few and he's come through it to show that Mancini, Pellegrini and Del Bosque are better judges of a great player than those arseholes.
Well done Javi!

good point but the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
nobody can deny he has put in some very poor performances, even if we totally discount his performances at centre half, some of his midfield displys have been fairly poor, that is a fact.
however recently his form has improved greatly and credit where and when credit is due.

[Esky]

Javi Garcia: A safe pair of hands

With Manchester City lifting the League Cup for the first time in 38 years on Sunday, and with the side having to come from behind against a hard-working Sunderland, the plaudits for the victory will -- quite rightly -- fall on the shoulders of Yaya Toure and Samir Nasri. After all, it was their stunning strikes in one brilliant minute that got their team moving and into the lead, early in the second half.

It’s safe to say the match won’t go down as the Blues’ best performance this season, however, one man had a huge impact while only appearing on the Wembley turf for a mere 17 minutes: Javi Garcia. Throughout the final, there was always the feeling that Sunderland might expose City’s defensive fragility (as they had done inside 10 minutes), with balls in and around the box eventually being dealt with -- albeit, at times, only just. At 1-0 down, a second Sunderland goal would possibly have changed the outcome of the match, while at 2-1 it could have swung the momentum into the Black Cats’ favour.

Gus Poyet, wary of City’s attacking threat, had started with a variant of 4-5-1 (more in the region of 4-2-3-1, but it was fairly flexible) and his side were outnumbering the Blues in midfield. This meant that, as City tried to pass their way through, they were struggling for space -- as has been the case in recent weeks in other competitions, notably against Stoke in the last Premier League match. It meant that, while Sunderland were set-up to counter, they caused the Blues plenty of problems. In short, there were a few hairy moments requiring last-ditch tackles or last-second flicks to clear.

Now, throughout his first season at City, the fans’ knives were out, sharpened and poised for Garcia, following a series of -- let’s be kind, here -- underwhelming performances. The Spaniard took a long time to settle, looking uncomfortable on the ball and seeming far to slow to be able to cope with the pace of the Premier League. Meanwhile, fans would quite often wince when he was to make an appearance in the Champions League. [Though, as City fans will explain, it’s not all down to pace --- Gareth Barry was a key part of the Blues’ success since joining the club in 2009 and he had the acceleration of a tractor.]

At the beginning of the current season, new manager Manuel Pellegrini faced a problem at centre-back. With injuries to Vincent Kompany, Matija Nastasic, and new signing Martin Demichelis, the Chilean asked the defensive midfielder to fill in and do a job in the back four. While the Blues did keep a couple of clean sheets with Garcia in defence, they did look about as wobbly as a plate of jelly on top of a telegraph pole in a wind tunnel.

The thing is, it’s very difficult for somebody to shake the “liability” tag once it’s been applied -- especially when it’s stuck to a man whose responsibilities are defensive. Such is their job that the good stuff rarely sticks in the memory -- spectacular goals, like those by Toure and Nasri in Sunday’s match, stay with fans, but solid passing, excellent reading of the game, deft interceptions and all-round secure play is easily missed.

Having been scapegoated, there will still be a number of fans who decry Pellegrini’s usage of the Spanish midfielder -- still thinking back to those mistakes made in the first six months of his time in Manchester. But that man is long gone, replaced by a Garcia who is brimming with confidence and has a huge part to play in the final months of the season.

There were similarities between the League Cup final of 2014 and the FA Cup final of 2011 in this regard; City, victorious in both, were under pressure and leading by one goal with minutes to go. With Stoke piling the ball into the box three years ago, Roberto Mancini introduced Patrick Vieira to calm his team. With Sunderland pressing for an equaliser, Pellegrini did the same with Garcia. There was similar pressure on each game for the managers: For the Italian, the club hadn’t lifted a trophy in 35 years; while, for the Chilean, he’d not lifted a major cup since he’d begun coaching in Europe.

When the Blues had their little Premier League wobble (which turned out to be a defeat to Chelsea and a draw with Norwich), fans and pundits alike put a huge part of the poor performances down to the loss of Fernandinho to injury. It was undoubtedly a factor, but only because it was in conjunction with the absence of Garcia -- was who also on the treatment table.

That showed in the two Chelsea matches, 12 days apart. For Jose Mourinho’s second visit to the Etihad, Garcia was head and shoulders above anybody else on the pitch and it was his influence that meant the Stamford Bridge outfit were unable to even test Costel Pantilimon with a single shot on target.

From the 77th minute of the League Cup final, when Pellegrini swapped David Silva for his international teammate, there were still fans inside the national stadium who were uneasy at the sight of Garcia joining the action. Instead, leading by a narrow margin and under some pressure, the City end of the stadium should have been feeling confident about the final 13 minutes (plus stoppage time) -- since, with the midfielder’s protection the Blues were in safe hands.

Garcia is no longer a man who looks out of his depth. He’s a very useful member of the City squad that will be a key part in how many trophies the Blues lift this season -- whether it’s because he’s come on the shore up a delicate lead or whether it’s because he’s started in order to control the middle and release Yaya Toure.

The scapegoat tag he earned in his early days in blue should be well and truly shed.

From ESPN. Definitely come into his own now - Barry was a great player for us but him leaving has been tempered by Garcia becoming the player we hoped he'd be.

[steelsnail]

Very good to read some more positives about Garcia . Thx for posting .

[Blue Since 76]

Fully agree with the article and the decision to bring him on yesterday. He made us look more solid and released Yaya. Unless Negredo and Aguero are 100% fit against Barca, I'd be very tempted to start Garcia next to Fernandinho, with Yaya supporting one of them. Even if they are fit, I'd be tempted, as it gives us a solidity we can build from and a chance to win the ball back

[Pretty Boy Lee]

Great article, mainly because it doesn't blindly state the "he has always been good you lot are just thick" argument that has somehow gained steam on here.

[Mase]

Great article, mainly because it doesn't blindly state the "he has always been good you lot are just thick" argument that has somehow gained steam on here.

Probably because there's some absolute tits who think a player can just jump from one league to another and adapt to the speed straight away. What made me laugh was the 'we need de Jong back' bellends who thought that Nige did anything but pass sideways and backwards.