Loaned to Toulouse for the current campaign, Manchester City’s Manu Garcia took a bit of time to get used to Ligue 1, struggling in his first two games.
However, since then, the 20-year-old appears to have turned the corner, which has a lot to do with his manager, who admitted to having to shake him a bit to get him to step things up.
Relayed by L’Equipe, Alain Casanova said: “I could see he was a bit too calm, a bit too confident in a sense that he expected that everything would fall into place. However, we couldn’t afford to wait for that. Especially him. He’s got huge potential, but if he hasn’t expressed it yet, it’s because he’s lacking in places.”
His ability with the ball has never been questioned, as former Bournemouth forward Max Gradel told the French newspaper Garcia’s first touch was ‘above average’, but it’s what he does when he doesn’t have the ball that the Manchester City loanee needs to improve.
Casanova continued: “He needs to be better with his intensity, and winning the ball back, reacting when the ball is lost. He needs to expand his game. He’s a great player with the ball. He needs to become a great player without it”.
For a player hoping to impress enough to get chances under Pep Guardiola in the foreseeable future, off the ball work is certainly something he’ll need to work on, as the Manchester City manager puts a lot of emphasis on what his players do when they don’t have the possession.
So far, the young attacking midfielder has picked up just the one assist in six league games, and has yet to find the back of the net, which is also an area he’ll want to improve to get in the former Barcelona coach’s good books.
