Injury, limited first-team opportunities and a period of bedding in have meant Garcia has struggled to find the form that made him a huge crowd favourite at Benfica – but he is hoping he has turned the corner after an impressive display at Newcastle recently.
“I think the games against Stoke and Newcastle have been my best for City so far and I enjoyed the win at St James’ Park,” he said.
“I have not shown my best form so far because I was out with an injury for a month and it takes time to adapt to the Premier League. The set-back came at a bad time for me and it’s been hard to get going.
“It was an emotional moment scoring at Newcastle because it had been a frustrating period for me in the weeks leading up to the game.
“I had been out of the team and needed to get back to full fitness and I wasn’t happy because I desperately want my season to get going to show my true form, but it hasn’t been easy
“Now I feel great and I needed the goal and performance at Newcastle. I can give the team a lot more and I hope to get the opportunity to show what I can do in the coming weeks. I want to get some momentum and playing over the Christmas period where the games come thick and fast could be the perfect opportunity to do that.”
Garcia replaced the suspended Gareth Barry at St James’ Park and was part of a City team that played some breath-taking football at times. The timing of his goal, just before the break, was perfect.
We definitely played very well,” he said. “If we maintain those standards I think we can chase down Manchester United in the coming weeks. We’ve done it before and we can do it again.
...Javi Garcia...
“If we play as well as that, we are going to be very difficult to stop and, if we continue to have that attitude, we’ll be very hard to beat.”
