Fans rip Eric García for Villarreal performance: ‘He isn’t cut out for a top club’

Xavi has had a surprise in each of his starting line-ups so far as Barcelona coach and the latest was his decision to deploy Eric García as a right-back against Villarreal. When his team sheet was announced, it seemed more likely that Ronald Araújo would be the one playing on the right of defence, but instead it was the former Manchester City man.

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García really struggled in this new role, especially in the first half. Not only was he away from his usual centre-back position, but he was also man-marking Moi Gómez and this created all kinds of problems, with most of Villarreal’s attacks coming down their left.

There was even one poor García back pass in the first half that led to the Gerard Piqué handball incident, with Villarreal angry that they weren’t awarded a penalty for the veteran centre-back’s sliding block, where the ball struck his wrist. Then, in the second half, García was at the centre of some more penalty controversy as he pulled Raúl Albiol away from a cross into the Barça box.

The fans’ criticism of Eric García’s performance

On social media, the 20-year-old was heavily criticised for his performance at the Estadio de la Cerámica. Some wondered if Barcelona would be any worse playing with 10 men and without García, while others stated that he shouldn’t be playing for a club the size of Barcelona.

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Some Barcelona fans blamed Xavi

Some commenting on Eric García’s struggles felt that the criticism of the youngster was unfair and that Xavi’s tactics were to blame.

As Radio MARCA journalist Miguel Quintana pointed out, the man-marking assignment on Moi Gómez was too easily exploited, but this wasn’t the player’s fault. He wrote: “I’m reading the attacks on Eric García for being out of position… They don’t make sense, eh. It’s confirmation bias. Eric is man-marking (?) Moi Gómez, with Moi taking him when he goes inside, as he always does (!), leaving a huge hole in the full-back position. This is an issue to do with Xavi.”