tribalfooball.com - December 19, 2006
Liverpool midfielder Luis Garcia has pleaded with fans to accept
his attempted tricks and flicks.
"I hear everything the fans shout," Garcia told Liverpoolfc.tv of
the groans that sometimes accompany a failed flick or back heel. "I
don't like it when they blame or boo me, but it's something I have
to live with. I understand they get frustrated when my pass doesn't
go through.
"I get frustrated myself, I hate it when there's a back heel which
doesn't work or a pass which is cut out but I can't stay frustrated
long.
"This is the way I play and I have to get on with the game. I want
the fans to understand I am trying, that if something I do doesn't
work, if I give the ball away, it's not because I don't care.
"Every play I do is because it's the best thing I can think of at
that moment, and, as a player, you've normally got to follow
instinct. It's not because I want to show off.
"I'm trying to close that big gap between the best of me and the
worst. If I'm playing it's because the boss thinks my best is
greater than my worst, that the best things I do can change
something and the worst is not so bad he cannot have it on the
pitch but sometimes people make me feel it is.
"People like a player who doesn't lose the ball and also like a
player who does something that's nice to see, but how many players
do both? Zidane - not many others. That's why you need different
players, someone like Xabi who can keep the ball, and someone like
me who sometimes loses it because I'm trying the more difficult
pass. I'm trying to learn when to do it and I think I'm much better
than in my first season."