Lucía García: Why Athletic Club’s reported Man City target is not yet the finished product – scout report

With the 2021/2022 Primera División nearing its conclusion, speculation over players’ futures is increasing, with fans and analysts discussing the league’s hottest properties and which clubs might look to attract them. One player reportedly exiting the Spanish top flight this summer is Athletic Club Femenino forward Lucía García, with the Spain international widely linked with a switch to Manchester City Women, and this tactical analysis will look at why this would be a good move for both parties, but with notes of caution. The scout report will explore García’s positioning and movement abilities but will also highlight several areas where she needs to improve her game, which will be key in her individual development.

Positioning

The analysis will first look at Lucía García’s positioning around the field, focusing particularly on her different roles during the ongoing season and giving us a better understanding of where she could fit into Manchester City’s current system, were she to make the move to the Academy Stadium.

Athletic’s primary formation in 2021/2022 has been a 4-2-3-1, which has been deployed in 73% of their games. This has allowed them to play a mostly long-ball style of football that looks to force gaps to open up in opposing defensive lines, and García, as the left-sided forward in that setup, has played a major part in these tactics. Here, she has positioned herself on the outside of the Atlético Madrid Femenino defensive line, trying to pull the defenders towards her and preventing them from becoming compact.

In order to exploit the spaces when they appear, Athletic’s attacking line regularly morphs into a front four when the team has possession, with Mariana (number 26) moving forward to join Peke (number 22) in the central area on this occasion. This has given them a better chance of scoring goals when they have the opportunities to do so, and having this amount of space to operate in would not be possible without García and the other winger staying wide and stretching the opposition. Therefore, this is one way in which she has been critical to their attack this season.