Nico Gonzalez

[Porque]

From an early age at the club's academy, Nico's enormous talent was evident, as expressed by his first coach at Barcelona, Marcel Sans.

"From a young age he was very good when playing with one or two touches," Sans said.

"His decision-making was very good. In difficult moments, he took responsibility."

Nico's physical transformation during his teenage years also helped to set him apart amongst the other young players.

"Between the age of 15 and 17 he had an enormous growth spurt," said his father Fran Gonzalez, who formerly played for Deportivo La Coruna.

"We measured him and in two years he grew by 25cm."

Over time, he was moved into the Busquets role, just in front of the back four.

"He had very good statistics," Sans stated.

"There were matches where he won the ball 18 times. He has settled in this position."


Spanish article (but not the English) also mentions that the offer he rejected from an English side (I wonder who) was for 10x what he is earning at Barcelona.
https://www.marca.com/en/football/barcelona/2021/06/11/60c327cb268e3e643b8b456a.html

 

[Bobo32]

From an early age at the club's academy, Nico's enormous talent was evident, as expressed by his first coach at Barcelona, Marcel Sans.

"From a young age he was very good when playing with one or two touches," Sans said.

"His decision-making was very good. In difficult moments, he took responsibility."

Nico's physical transformation during his teenage years also helped to set him apart amongst the other young players.

"Between the age of 15 and 17 he had an enormous growth spurt," said his father Fran Gonzalez, who formerly played for Deportivo La Coruna.

"We measured him and in two years he grew by 25cm."

Over time, he was moved into the Busquets role, just in front of the back four.

"He had very good statistics," Sans stated.

"There were matches where he won the ball 18 times. He has settled in this position."


Spanish article (but not the English) also mentions that the offer he rejected from an English side (I wonder who) was for 10x what he is earning at Barcelona.
https://www.marca.com/en/football/barcelona/2021/06/11/60c327cb268e3e643b8b456a.html

And he was 17 in 2019, so that was very recent he grew like that.
I watched him a few games this spring for the first time, and he looks smooth and in control of his movements, not so strange after 2 years maybe, but to reach key player position in B after that spurt is impressive.

I think he is very good in his decisions most of the time, but have you seen any brilliance like what Busquets can do from that position?

 

[Porque]

And he was 17 in 2019, so that was very recent he grew like that.
I watched him a few games this spring for the first time, and he looks smooth and in control of his movements, not so strange after 2 years maybe, but to reach key player position in B after that spurt is impressive.

I think he is very good in his decisions most of the time, but have you seen any brilliance like what Busquets can do from that position?

I think you have seen as much as me. He has great instinct to pivot and rotate past his man. I want to see if he can do this consistently at a higher level.

He can advance better than Busquets when in possession. But then advancing 10-15m with the ball doesn't matter much if the pass selection is poor. His passing decisions seem to be correct which is a good sign.

Getting first team opportunities playing with Xavi and Iniesta (and by token prime Messi and the movement of our previous forward line- oh and Alves), while being managed by Pep. That's a completely different proposition than playing with Pedri, de Jong, Dest and being managed by Koeman though. So whatever level Nico shows we will have to be patient and not go overboard.

Alot of Busquets brilliance was positionally and how he could re-cycle the ball vertically to Xavi and Iniesta who always presented options. So that's something that will be harder for Nico to display for example.

 

[Bobo32]

I think you have seen as much as me. He has great instinct to pivot and rotate past his man. I want to see if he can do this consistently at a higher level.

He can advance better than Busquets when in possession. But then advancing 10-15m with the ball doesn't matter much if the pass selection is poor. His passing decisions seem to be correct which is a good sign.

Getting first team opportunities playing with Xavi and Iniesta (and by token prime Messi and the movement of our previous forward line- oh and Alves), while being managed by Pep. That's a completely different proposition than playing with Pedri, de Jong, Dest and being managed by Koeman though. So whatever level Nico shows we will have to be patient and not go overboard.

Alot of Busquets brilliance was positionally and how he could re-cycle the ball vertically to Xavi and Iniesta who always presented options. So that's something that will be harder for Nico to display for example.

Yeah exactly. I think he mostly finds the correct obvious option, but I haven't seen him do the unexpected pass between the lines as much, or keep the ball still with perfect timing to set someone else free at the exact right moment...
I think he has some similarity to Frenkie maybe, in his decision making? He is good at keeping the ball and finding a team mate, and rely on physique/technique quite a bit + a feel to get out of trouble.

---
With Busquets, you could spin it either way - he was also arriving there and immediately playing that position better than Yaya, who most watching Barcelona in -07 thought was close to the best in the world at the time.
But it's much harder to find Pedri, Frenkie and Dest compared to Xavi, Iniesta and Alves, I agree. And I doubt Koeman is the best manager to develop Nico...

 

[Porque]

Yeah exactly. I think he mostly finds the correct obvious option, but I haven't seen him do the unexpected pass between the lines as much, or keep the ball still with perfect timing to set someone else free at the exact right moment...
I think he has some similarity to Frenkie maybe, in his decision making? He is good at keeping the ball and finding a team mate, and rely on physique/technique quite a bit + a feel to get out of trouble.

---
With Busquets, you could spin it either way - he was also arriving there and immediately playing that position better than Yaya, who most watching Barcelona in -07 thought was close to the best in the world at the time.
But it's much harder to find Pedri, Frenkie and Dest compared to Xavi, Iniesta and Alves, I agree. And I doubt Koeman is the best manager to develop Nico...

Don't get me wrong. I don't want to appear as if it is a disservice to Busquets quality and ability. Of course it helped being paired with the best manager in the world who was also the template for the Barcelona style DMC and could communicate this role with clarity. Compare with Koeman who was an incredible CB but can't communicate this to make someone like de Jong the perfect CB.

BTW here are some Busquets highlights at Barcelona B at the same age. I love that pass at 25 seconds.

It is a shame it is such a short clip, but one thing Busquets does is present himself better to receive the ball and be open for the pass


Edit.

The number 10 who presents himself for both passes with great off the ball movement is Victor Vasquez who was one of the highest rated players at the time.

The number 7 holding the wing is Pedro.

 

[Porque]

Going to leave this here aswell.

18 year old Xavi playing DMC for Barcelona B versus Real Madrid Castilla.

No opinions offered. Just left so you can see his level at 18 and compare with Pedri, Nico or even Puig.

 

[vegitot]

Going to leave this here aswell.

18 year old Xavi playing DMC for Barcelona B versus Real Madrid Castilla.

No opinions offered. Just left so you can see his level at 18 and compare with Pedri, Nico or even Puig.

18 years old Xavi was totally leagues above the like Puig, Nico... Imo, he probably could have done slightly better than Pedri at 18 in current team.
https://youtu.be/_TTEHk587fE

 

[Bobo32]

Don't get me wrong. I don't want to appear as if it is a disservice to Busquets quality and ability. Of course it helped being paired with the best manager in the world who was also the template for the Barcelona style DMC and could communicate this role with clarity. Compare with Koeman who was an incredible CB but can't communicate this to make someone like de Jong the perfect CB.

BTW here are some Busquets highlights at Barcelona B at the same age. I love that pass at 25 seconds.

It is a shame it is such a short clip, but one thing Busquets does is present himself better to receive the ball and be open for the pass


Edit.

The number 10 who presents himself for both passes with great off the ball movement is Victor Vasquez who was one of the highest rated players at the time.

The number 7 holding the wing is Pedro.

Yeah no I understood what you meant!
Genius indeed, I saw that video before, that polish guy who made it makes some good analysis.
Yeah the whole sequence at 0:25 (starts at 0:15 with the feint) sums up Busquets brilliance; positioning, calmness, timing, disguise, elegance, vision etc...
Busquets looks in that little clip exactly as he did three years later winning the WC, it's so strange that any hype didn't reach me until his debut for Barcelona A, I used to at least watch the preseason games and half-heartedly follow along a bit about the rumours, most players debuting these years I knew about their names beforehand. Pedro was one I was very well aware of, but didn't think he'd ever be someone for the first team, him being 21 when Pep took over. Busquets is one year younger and arrived and played perfectly from the start, without me ever having heard of him...
Victor Vasquez and Victor Sanchez played some but neither caught my attention very much...

 

[Bobo32]

Going to leave this here aswell.

18 year old Xavi playing DMC for Barcelona B versus Real Madrid Castilla.

No opinions offered. Just left so you can see his level at 18 and compare with Pedri, Nico or even Puig.

I will leave a little opinion then: he was obviously a huge talent, rightly very hyped, and played very well in that game, but there were a lot of immature decisions from him as well, that I wouldn't expect tbh. I didn't see his games at this age before. I am glad he developed his game and changed his style from there.

I guess this game against Madrid was on a higher level than most games of Barcelona B these latest years, but I am just as impressed by the long compilation of Puigs Barcelona B games I posted in his thread as I am watching that game. Pedri and Nico are very different player types as well, but I don't at all agree about that game being leagues above any of these names you bring up.

But thanks for both these videos, interesting to see! Puyol very noticeable in the video btw. Him and Gabri scoring, didn't look for other "names" in that video...

 

[Porque]

I will leave a little opinion then: he was obviously a huge talent, rightly very hyped, and played very well in that game, but there were a lot of immature decisions from him as well, that I wouldn't expect tbh. I didn't see his games at this age before. I am glad he developed his game and changed his style from there.

I guess this game against Madrid was on a higher level than most games of Barcelona B these latest years, but I am just as impressed by the long compilation of Puigs Barcelona B games I posted in his thread as I am watching that game. Pedri and Nico are very different player types as well, but I don't at all agree about that game being leagues above any of these names you bring up.

But thanks for both these videos, interesting to see! Puyol very noticeable in the video btw. Him and Gabri scoring, didn't look for other "names" in that video...

Off the top of my head, this season both Real Madrid and Barcelona played in the Segunda division- and both got relegated. I would have to look it up to verify, but I am sure with a bit of digging it should be possible to find more highlights and full matches from this period.

 

[DonAK]

Physically imposing yet quite smooth with the ball and agile.

Think he currently has the biggest chance to make an impact for the 1st team among the young midfielders we have. That's not to say he'll 100% be the starter, but I think he has the best shot at it. At least before we see if the likes of Gavi can do just as well at a higher level than Juvenil A.

 

[te amo barca]

 

[BusiTheKing]

Looked tidy. Reminds me of Yaya.

 

[Bobo32]

I have to admit I haven't really enhanced my view about this player from these preseason games.
He is there, makes some mistakes sometimes, some nice actions sometimes, but mostly, I don't really notice him that much (which is on me)
Maybe he plays very simply in order to not make mistakes, maybe this is the right strategy for him?

The big picture is still that he has some physique on Busquets but lack a lot of his tecnique/vision.

 

[FCBarca]

I'm still a bit in disbelief over his performance, I thought it was outstanding. For awhile I really confused him with Busquets. He showed little of the jitters from his last match, looked supremely assured of every action he made

He impressed me the most from the cantera kids on the day