The elite awaits Joan García

In his first season as a starter at the top level, the 23-year-old continues to perform way beyond his current level of experience.

It’s going to be a long, hard season for Espanyol. Of that, we can be pretty sure. Manolo González’s side have picked up seven points from eight games so far, while going by the underlying numbers, their expected goal difference is the third-worst in the division (-7.9). Over the long term, all signs point towards a relegation battle.

To be clear, that’s no slight on Manolo González. While clearly working with a talent deficit based on the majority of their competitors, Espanyol have at least looked like a coherent group who know their limitations, and are raging against them in every game. The energy levels are good, there’s a generosity to their work, and they’ve shown they can vary their approach without the ball, rather than just dropping off and accepting the opponent’s superiority.

As long as that’s the case, Espanyol will keep their head close to the surface, straddling the margins, and in the shout to pick up results when they have their day. The goal is to be in the game for as long as possible, and hope the key moments at both ends go their way.

On that front there’s both good news and bad news. Starting with the bad, it’s becoming clear that the best player in Espanyol’s squad is their goalkeeper. As for the good, Joan García might be well be talented enough to render that fact not so ominous.

Agility between the sticks

In their narrow defeat at the Benito Villamarín last weekend, it took 10 shots on Espanyol’s goalframe before García could be beaten. Indeed, it was the second time already this season that he’s made 10+ saves in a single game, while no player on record has ever done so twice this early into a LaLiga campaign (via Opta).

Of course, conceding so many shots on target is a symptom of a bottom-end side. If your goalkeeper is top of the saves chart – as Joan García is this season – then you’re either one of the weaker teams in your division or one who should be taking notice of the alarm bells.

For Espanyol though, this is their reality. They’re not going to magically start dominating games or controlling them with possession, with their mastery of the ball serving to do the defending for them. Their task is to try and limit big chances, not stop chances. When they can do no more as a team, what happens between the shot and Joan García is a dimension which will have a big say in their season.

In the 23-year-old’s short time as a first team goalkeeper, Espanyol can be confident they’re going to come out on the right side of that battle come the end of the season. Through García’s 29 league appearances at senior level, he’s conceded eight goals fewer than expected based on the quality of shots on target faced. That’s a significant amount based on his playing time.

If you take that performance as a measure of his workload, García has the best goals prevented rate of any goalkeeper with 25+ starts in the top two tiers of Spanish football since the start of last season (+1.40). And across Europe’s big five nations, covering the top two divisions in each, only Gianluigi Donnarumma has a better such rate (+1.51).

García has been plenty sharp out of the gate this season too, in what’s his first top-flight campaign as a starter. Granted, it’s still early to draw big shot-stopping conclusions this early into a specific season, but we can already see the ways in which Espanyol are benefitting from the performance of their number one, as they did last term.

After eight games, the Catalan side have an almost identical xG conceded total (15.47) as fellow promoted side Real Valladolid (15.49). Yet by the performance of their goalkeepers, we’ve already seen a four-goal swing in favour of Espanyol when it comes to goals conceded. While García has prevented roughly two goals more than we’d expect, Valladolid’s Karl Hein has conceded roughly two more than expected.

In the margins that will make up this season’s relegation outcome, that’s an important early advantage. What’s more, the 23-year-old’s record through just over 2,500 minutes of senior league football tells us that García should be able to maintain and extend those margins throughout the campaign.

Being a good shot-stopper is valuable in itself, and it’s going to be plenty important for Espanyol this season. However, as far as García’s longer term credentials go, his ability when it comes to producing saves is only part of a wider package.

Goalkeepers who make big interventions are valuable assets; goalkeepers who can do that while interpreting play and giving you an extra pair of feet are game changers.

Take the former Elche goalkeeper Edgar Badia, for example. Badia is the owner of the second-best shot-stopping season on record in LaLiga (via Opta), preventing an heroic 11 goals for Elche in 2022-23. Despite posting a sensational individual season and doing so in a team who had just gone down, making him a relatively easy transfer target for bigger clubs, nobody made a move for him.

In today’s game, it’s getting harder and harder for even the elite shot-stoppers to escape being penalised for shortfalls in other areas of their game; specifically in possession. For Espanyol, it is both fortunate and unfortunate they don’t have that problem with Joan García.

Finding the free man

When we think of goalkeepers who are skilled in the art of distribution, we naturally tend towards the big teams. X team can’t win the title until they have a goalkeeper who’s good on the ball (as well as being good with his hands).

Those who can do both are expensive, which puts them out of the range of less powerful sides. Along with that, there’s generally a difference in responsibilities of goalkeepers on the spectrum of relegation scrappers to title contenders. For sides aiming to win trophies domestically and in Europe these days, very few have number ones who aren’t making a tangible contribution with the ball at their feet, while at the bottom end of the scale, what you do with your hands can be enough.

In that respect, you might wonder how much Espanyol would benefit from having someone of the former profile. Certainly, if you gave Manolo González the chance to add a specific attribute to his team, ball-playing goalkeeper would be pretty far down the list in their current situation.

At the same time, he’ll be glad he’s got one.

Of goalkeepers who’ve attempted 20+ long passes from open play in La Liga this season, only three have done so with a completion rate of 50% or better. Those three are Barcelona’s Marc-André ter Stegen (59%), Villarreal’s Diego Conde (51%) and Espanyol’s Joan García (50%). In other words, two goalkeepers on sides with aspirations of a top-four finish (or better) and one merely hoping to live to see another top-flight season.

The other differentiator is that García has been hitting all corners of the field with impressive efficiency, while attempting more long passes from open play than the league average. He’s found a teammate with every other long pass so far, while attempting an average of seven per 90.

We all know what a long pass looks like, but the context surrounding them is — of course — what separates a good and a bad one.

In the example below against Rayo Vallecano, we can start to see some extra layers of detail on what ultimately goes down as a completed long pass. Specifically, it is the execution of the ball here that stands out.

Bearing in mind that Rayo Vallecano are one of the elite pressing teams in European football, the clipped pass to the touchline is a necessary tool at some point of the game if you’re going to bypass the pressure while retaining the ball. Under pressure from Sergio Camello, digging out this drilled pass with little backlift — one which carries speed and limits time for Rayo players to close in while the ball is travelling — is one that would have made Iñigo Pérez gulp.

Indeed, without having a majorly defined role in build-up play — at least not one which makes it blindingly obvious to bigger clubs — García is still finding plenty of ways to benefit an Espanyol team who aren’t in the business of taking major risks.

Above all, there’s an understanding to García’s play that goes beyond just carrying out the standard passing functions of a goalkeeper (pass short when it’s on, loft one out into a wide area when it’s not). With every chance he can find, García is looking to set Espanyol up to either mount an attack or be in a position to keep the ball with the intention of building one.

In another example, away to Real Madrid — a game in which you have to relieve pressure and keep hold of the ball in spurts to survive — the 23-year-old refuses to submit to the home side’s pressure and play safe. As anyone who’s watched Espanyol even a handful of times will know, opponents are quite happy to let Leandro Cabrera (bottom right) take a pass deep in his own half. He is the least threatening option and the most likely to cough the ball up.

With that in mind, García turns down a longer ball back into the opposition half, looks off the open Cabrera, and even seems to surprise Vinícius Júnior with the pass he does choose. Even with the Brazilian remaining at close distance, the punch on the pass from García — right into Omar El-Hilali’s stride — allows Espanyol to escape down the side and avoid coughing up possession.

A necessary tool at the Bernabeu, if you can manage it.

Shortly before in the same game, we saw García playing a decisive part in actually producing Espanyol’s opening goal. Seeing that Dani Carvajal was still in an advanced position, García goes right after the temporary right back Arda Güler — filling in out of necessity — and looks to test what has become a weak spot in Real Madrid’s defensive shape.

Again, there’s plenty of intelligence here beyond the execution of managing to find Jofre Carreras with a pass that goes from one penalty area to another (which is sublime in itself). García is alive to the full picture, and hunting the passes that can make a tangible difference to what Espanyol can do once the ball is released back into general play.

Experience is no obstacle

As referenced earlier, one of the most impressive things about García’s performances in 2024 is the fact he’s played very little football for a senior goalkeeper. He’s made 29 league appearances for Espanyol, 14 of which came in the second division last term. Prior to 2024, he had only played two league matches at senior level.

And yet, we know very well that some of the top teams in European football have already seen enough to be convinced of García’s ability (and perhaps specifically his long-term projection). Arsenal had him as their number one target to replace Aaron Ramsdale in the summer, but Espanyol rejected multiple bids and held out for his €30 million release clause. More recently, Atlético Madrid are said to be showing interest as they, presumably, start to think about life after Jan Oblak.

At the same time, goalkeepers of García’s profile and age are unlikely to be available for very long with where the game is at today. With the specificity of the position and rounded attributes that are now required, big clubs have to be quick to make their judgement and then their moves — as Arsenal very almost were with García.

In fact, across Europe’s big five leagues, there are only six goalkeepers aged 23 or under who have started 5+ matches this season (so as to indicate a pretty safe starting berth). That scarcity of players already featuring in premier competitions makes targeting talent at that position much more of a detailed scouting effort across different leagues and lower levels of competition, providing you’re not quick onto the select few who might be available and tick the right boxes.

In Joan García’s case, we know the big fish were circling with intent before he even started to play regularly at the top level. And based on what we’ve seen now that he’s here, that group is rapidly about to become a school.

By Jamie Kemp (@jamiemkemp)