Joan García
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draconifire
NTC with a Positive attitude
I have watched maybe 7ish games of his. And some extended highlights of his season and other matches.
Wont say he is at the level of a top keeper. But we don't need a top keeper. We need a keeper that's good enough and better than the Terrorist.
I am happy to say, he seems to be miles better.
Quicker reflexes. ✅
Near post reflexes and guarding ✅
Ok Shot stopper ✅. He tends not clear/collect the ball properly, hence the ball can land on the opposition's feet. But his reflexes are quick enough that he almost always reaches the 2nd ball quicker than any player in the box.
I don't think a lot of people were looking for this, but for me one of the major traits I was looking for was a Keeper in 1v1. He seemed to be in that situation quite a bit more than Chavelier and did pretty well. I was happy with that. Chavalier might be a better shot stopper, but the sample size of him being 1v1 was quite low, hence I am inclined towards Garcia. ✅
Didn't really care about his passing skills and ball-playing ability. I don't even care if he is dogshit at it. ✅
All in all he should be a good enough keeper for us. But we should definitely get a backup who is taller and has promise. Ship both Tek and Mats out next season.
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It's not that cheap though is it.
If you are the sporting director (Deco), you might be annoyed that 25m is going here. That's 25m less for other positions.
Next season free agents have Maignon, while this years low buyouts has Leo Roman. So it wasn't a case of Joan Garcia being just an opportunity, he has to have that top tier goalkeeper quality too.
With that said, I'm happy we closed this. He has height, his reflexes are very good and he looks like he will win us points. The only issue is if he can cope with the pressure.
I'm with @BJJ on my viewing of him. I've seen Espanyol a fair bit this season because they are on the free games and the normal pay tv games a alot. He didn't stand out but that suggests he was doing his job. Now if I was being attentive because I knew we were going to sign him, I would have noticed his attributes much more.
Analysis thread in Spanish here, click it to read all posts
Don Juan Laporta Estruch
Basta yaaaaaaa, Cabron ! y Bona nit 🥂
The release clauses makes it a fantastic signing where Barca really can't lose. We know he is a level up from what we have, but this will play out in one of 3 scenarios.
1) He flops. Given how young he is and how cheap we will get him for, we won't lose much and I suspect another EPL team would give him a shot for around 20m.
2) He is good, but not world class. In this scenario I'd like to see us throw money at a world class keeper when our finances go back to normal in a year's time and move Garcia to number 2. Donnarumma/ Maignan will be out of contract for example and another GK will emerge next season as Garcia has this. Tek/Ter/Pena all out.
3). He is world class and we have our GK position sorted for the next 10 years.
There really is no downside with this one.
1) He flops. Given how young he is and how cheap we will get him for, we won't lose much and I suspect another EPL team would give him a shot for around 20m.
2) He is good, but not world class. In this scenario I'd like to see us throw money at a world class keeper when our finances go back to normal in a year's time and move Garcia to number 2. Donnarumma/ Maignan will be out of contract for example and another GK will emerge next season as Garcia has this. Tek/Ter/Pena all out.
3). He is world class and we have our GK position sorted for the next 10 years.
There really is no downside with this one.
I read a comment which I agreed with and will post here.
A person said that the big mistake Espanyol are making with this transfer by playing up their antiBarcelonismo and demanding the clause, putting pressure on the player through the media like their managers comments.
When instead they should negotiate the sale for the same as the clause, or a little less and get a player on like Pau Victor or Hector Fort.
I think that would have been smart and helped both sides, but most of all the player, who for no reason they are trying to turn the fans against.
Remember guys like Braithwaite recently got paid out of his contract at Barca to then sign with Espanyol.
And big LaMasia players like De la Pena, Joan Verdu and Sergio Garcia become club legends at Espanyol.
No need to make a hostility out of nothing.
draconifire
NTC with a Positive attitude
khaled_a_d
Senior Member
He flops, and he will still be starting for another couple of years because Barca is super loyal to GK, and then he will be loaned out until the end of contract, probably with us paying part of his salary.
25M for a GK is like 50M for a CB, he will be the 15th most expensive GK ever, with some of those ahead of him either in ancient history, or over reported deals like Neto. It isn't cheap for a GK, it just doesn't affect the rest of the plans.
Look, I love optimism around transfers, but there is no such thing as risk free transfers with signings like this.
There is a lot to like with Joan, he is fairly young, he knows the City and the league along many of our player that were in the Youth and Olympic teams. As as shot stopper, he conceded only 88% of the goals he was supposed to concede. In Comparison. MATS conceded over 100% in past 2 seasons, his best was 75% in 22/23 year. Tek conceded 100% this season.
He is dominant in crossing, he has potential in sweeping as his numbers weren't bad. He has the tools to be elite.
So, it is great to look forward to those attributes, but OTOH let's not get ahead of ourselves and think he is some sort of sure things with no drawbacks.
Tek tried his best to adapt and did fairly well for a conservative keeper, could easily see how he got more and more comfortable outside his box. He did what was asked of him even if he isn't the traditional sweeper keeper. If Garcia is open to learning he will have no issues with this.
xXKonan
Senior Member
I'm not sure how he will turn out, but from what I've seen of him, he does look pretty good.
But I think there's also a desperation aspect. We went years with just too many goalkeeper errors, and fans just want someone new. I'm glad at least the club seen that it's time for a change.
But I think there's also a desperation aspect. We went years with just too many goalkeeper errors, and fans just want someone new. I'm glad at least the club seen that it's time for a change.
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