Among the positives in Aston Villa’s 2-0 win over Cardiff City in the FA Cup on Friday night was another promising performance from defender Andres Garcia.
The 22-year-old has had a more prominent role than he would likely have expected since arriving last month, as he’s gone on to make seven appearances already, six of which have come in the starting line-up.
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Matty Cash’s injury problems have been a major factor in that, but Unai Emery, Monchi and the club’s scouting department signed Garcia for a reason in January, and subsequently allowed Kosta Nedejlkovic to depart on loan, knowing that the Spaniard was a better fit for what we’re building currently.
That’s been on display in his outings thus far, as aside from his mistake against Liverpool, he’s continued to put in assured, confident and influential performances at right-back, making a very positive first impression having made the jump up from the second tier of Spanish football.
The defensive side of his game still requires improvement, but we’re seeing that with regular playing time as he looks more comfortable in the system and alongside his new teammates, while his recovery pace can get him out of trouble at times too.
Provided he continues to make strides in that aspect of his all-round game, Garcia will certainly make it increasingly difficult for Cash to get back into the Villa XI in the long run.
It’s his impact in possession and from an offensive perspective though which is catching the eye, as he continues to make a notable difference in our attacking play when involved.
In addition to the positive intent with which he plays when he’s on the ball, which in itself is a key factor in what makes him so effective as he’s always looking to advance our play either directly or indirectly, it’s his composure and technical ability in possession that is standing out.
Not only due to the fact that he’s excellent in how he uses the ball to get us on the front-foot, but it gives the team another route to build our play out from the back when the middle is congested.
Villa have had problems breaking down teams in a low bloc who are keen to frustrate us, limit our threat in central areas and hit us on the counter attack.
That was evident against Cardiff again as we struggled to find a breakthrough for the opening hour, albeit we certainly created plenty of chances to find a way through.
Garcia helps to stretch the pitch, disrupt an opponent’s defensive shape and ultimately aids the team in our desire to control the game and probe for a goal.
As noted above, the defensive side of his game still needs to improve to give us a more dominant presence on that side of the backline, and he’ll feel he can still make a bigger impact going forward too.
Nevertheless, it’s been an impressive start to life at Villa for Garcia, and hopefully he’ll continue to go from strength to strength in the coming months and years to establish himself in that role as our top choice.
I’m thrilled by what we are seeing in the play of Garcia.
Now, if he and the other players can somehow mark opposing players in front of our goal and stop ball watching, what a wonderful world it would be. I’d rather see penalties conceded for tight marking than giving the game away. We have lots of injuries and a difficulties with cohesion at this time, but even when we are healthy, we are lacking in our defensive structure and mentality and that is the coaching staff’s fault. I believe that great teams are built out of the back.
These are exciting times for AVFC and I do appreciate the positive transformation this team has experienced under Emery and Co.
UTV