Liked: Eric Garcia, always with his head held high.
It is reported that in January coach Flick tried Eric Garcia in the central midfield position ahead of the Barça-Levante match. This allowed pushing Frenkie de Jong forward and brought consistency to a defensive system that had lost it in recent matches with Olmo and Fermín in the lineup. In the end, the German coach preferred to field his most in-form defenders at the back, leaving Eric as a central defender and giving Marc Bernal a start in midfield. This proved to be a correct move, especially when Cubarsí and Araujo remained on the bench and Bernal and De Jong created Barça's goals in the first half. Eric is an essential piece for Flick. Playing 39 out of 39 matches this season is a feat few athletes can achieve. Moreover, his performance is not declining but rather at an optimal pace. This is confirmed by the data from the chip beneath his jersey and visible to all Barça supporters. Whether anticipating, running ahead, or having to retreat, no opponent beats him on the legs. Eric, always standing tall and proud, has added virtues to those he already possessed. He is no longer just a central defender with an exceptional passing foot for building play from the back. Unfortunately, due to his sending-off in the match at the Metropolitano, he will not be able to participate in the comeback effort next week.
Disliked: signatures and data protection
The system requiring club member signatures for a pre-candidate to become an official presidential candidate at Barça is outdated. It's a screening process outlined in the statutes and, in principle, should be signed by whoever genuinely supports. What follows is even more problematic and sensitive. Nowadays, even hotels prohibit making photocopies of identification for registration, yet candidate offices create color photocopies of IDs and attach them to paperwork, which inspires little confidence. Moreover, the police educate via social media advising against circulating color photocopies of IDs and recommend using watermarks or other methods to protect identity. The second issue is worse: they request to take a photo of the ID using the candidate office staff member's mobile phone. The reason? “In case the photocopy is lost, we have a backup picture.” This is unacceptable. Even if we trust Ciria, Font, Laporta, or Vilajoana, the candidates’ mobile phones would end up holding thousands of identity documents. Thieves are just waiting for that chance. If they ask for both a photocopy and a photo of the ID, just say no.
