The 21-year-old has been key to Los Blancos' progression in the United States, and is now set for a role in Xabi Alonso's squad next season
Thibaut Courtois claimed that he knew what Real Madrid's biggest problem was. He'd been out there at Santiago Bernabeu, watching from his own 18-yard box as Madrid toiled through their 5-1 aggregate loss to Arsenal in the Champions League quarter-finals.
The issue wasn't that Raul Asencio was rash at centre-back, nor that the midfield was mightily unbalanced. It wasn't Rodrygo's quiet night, or Lucas Vazquez's suspect defending. Rather, it was because Madrid were missing a gangly striker in his mid-30s who had left nine months earlier.
"We put in a lot of crosses, but this year we don't have a Joselu, a born striker up there," Courtois said following the 2-1 home defeat to the Gunners in the second leg. "Sometimes you have to be self-critical. I feel that we have to make more team plays and not all individual."
Courtois had a point. Madrid put in cross after cross on the night, but Arsenal dealt with them with some ease, despite missing Gabriel Magalhaes. The fact that the Madrid goalkeeper brought up Joselu – someone who is below the technical levels usually required at the very highest level – ensured the quote go somewhat viral, but his broader point was true: Madrid needed a No.9.
Three months on, and little has changed. Madrid are an expensively assembled football team with more attacking talent than pretty much anyone out there, but they don't really have a big lad to put the ball in the net. In Gonzalo Garcia, however, they might have found the answer.
Garcia, a product of the Madrid academy, has impressed at the Club World Cup while Kylian Mbappe has sat out due to illness, and has scored or assisted in every game during their run to the quarter-finals. That's a small sample size, but perhaps significant enough to keep him in Xabi Alonso's plans, thus save the club a fair few Euros in the process.
Getty ImagesSeizing his chance
Garcia arrived at the Club World Cup with just 78 minutes of first-team experience under his belt, but was thrown into the line up by Alonso after Mbappe came down with a nasty bout of gastroenteritis which even hospitalised him for a short period. Endrick, meanwhile, is not with the squad after suffering a muscle injury in the final weeks of the domestic campaign.
Alonso had made it clear during his time at Bayer Leverkusen that he likes to play with a No.9 who will stay roughly within the width of the 18-yard box when his team has the ball, and run like hell when they don't. Basically, he wants a presence, a nuisance, and someone who can put the ball into the net – all rolled into one.
Those players usually cost hundreds of millions, but Garcia has shown in his first four Club World Cup appearances that he has all of the necessary traits to succeed in such a role. He opened the scoring against Al-Hilal in Madrid's tournament opener, assisted in their second game against Pachuca, and then found the net against both Red Bull Salzburg and Juventus thereafter. His goal against Juve set up a nervy 1-0 win in the last 16, and meant that Garcia was the only player in the competition to have been directly involved in a goal in every game at the tournament thus far.
AdvertisementAFPPutting in the hard yards
It is often assumed in football that young players, especially strikers, will run harder and faster than senior pros when they are given the chance, and while that isn't always the case, Garcia is willing to put in the hard yards.
Alonso has drilled home the idea that he wants absolute commitment on both sides of the ball from his Madrid team, but anyone who watched more than 10 minutes of Carlo Ancelotti's side this past season will know that it won't be an easy task for the Basque manager. Madrid were a team whose effort levels dropped in the final weeks of the season. Even Jude Bellingham, who had been the model of grit and effort in his first year, exhibited apathy as the campaign came to a close.
Changing that culture outright won't be easy, but having players like Garcia will certainly help Alonso. The 21-year-old hasn't stopped running all tournament, hounding defences constantly while making fruitless sprints in behind to clear room for Vinicius Jr.
"I had no doubts about Gonzalo," Alonso said following the victory over Juventus. "What he's doing isn't a surprise. He's done it many times at Castilla. He's the typical number nine, who knows how to wait for his opportunity, who moves well. I'm very happy for him."
Getty ImagesWorking with Vini
Garcia's emergence could prove important for Vinicius, in particular. So much of the tactical setup for Madrid over the past three years has been about creating spaces that the Brazilian can work in. it's a process that started with Karim Benzema, who instinctively knew how to make space for others, whole Bellingham did some of the same in 2022-23. Mbappe, however, didn't, and that is partially why the Vinicius struggled so much last season.
Garcia, however, gets it, and his running perfectly set up Vinicius' opening goal against Salzburg. In real time, it looked simple enough, a Bellingham through-ball and Vinicius finish, but the role that didn't get enough credit was that of Garcia, whose diagonal run dragged a defender out of the way, thus opening up the lane for Bellingham to thread his pass through.
It's in those situations where Madrid are unstoppable. Get Vinicius moving towards an isolated defender, with others buzzing around him as either passing options or decoys to drag defenders away, and he can showcase his world-class ability. Garcia can certainly help in that regard.
Getty ImagesWhat it means for Mbappe
Ironically, Mbappe's first run after he eventually made his tournament debut off the bench against Juventus was the wrong one. Vinicius had the ball on the left, in the channel between the opposing centre-back and right-back, the spot where he is at his most deadly. And Mbappe, instead of running to the far post, went for an overlap that wasn't really on. The defender bit, but Vinicius had no choice but to play into pressure, leaving everyone else in Madrid white phenomenally frustrated when the opportunity came to nothing.
It was assumed when Mbappe signed that Madrid would figure out how to get him into their already star-studded attack, but it's clear that we will need to mould his game and show that he is willing to work as a central striker for the good of his team if he and they are to succeed. However, against Juve, Madrid were markedly worse when he was on the pitch, as they lacked fluidity and tried to play more off the cuff rather than in synchronised movements. More clinical finishing from Juve at the death and the game would have gone to extra-time, if not ended in a win for the Bianconeri.
Mbappe, when fully-fit, is undroppable. He is Florentino Perez's man, and thus it is Alonso's job to get the best out of him. But in Garcia, the new coach at least has an alternative option who can potentially push Mbappe while giving him time out of the limelight in lesser games so as to keep him fresh for the big occasions.