For weeks Xavi has been enjoying watching the emergence of Pau Cubarsí. Even before the first sessions under his command, the coach had already had great things to say about the centre-back. Pau has been one of the talks of the Barça youth team for a long time.
A very demanding label has accompanied his name: the best La Masia power plant project in recent years. Hence, it doesn’t take long for names like Puyol or Piqué to appear in the conversation.
Since he made his debut with the first team, the most striking thing has been, above all, his clairvoyance in getting the ball out. In matches as complicated as in San Mamés, Cubarsí played as a center back, but he served almost as a midfielder., seeing the game in its face, dividing and filtering passes with a lot of sense. But, after the match against Osasuna, where he started again, Xavi wanted to highlight another aspect of his game.
“He gives us a lot of things, getting the ball out, aggressiveness, he defends well. Everyone emphasizes that he is very good in getting the ball out, which he is, but he doesn’t lose a duel. And he doesn’t do two meters: it’s a matter of attitude and personality. He plays with a determination that is wonderful,” said the coach.
Iban Cuadrado, Pau’s coach in Juvenil B last season, expressed himself along these same lines to SPORT a few months ago. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen a defender like that in the Barça youth squad.“His thing is knowing how to enjoy defending, he has it innate, in other cases it is acquired with experience, in his case it is standard.”
The data also underlines the central defender’s defensive level: Cubarsi has only been dribbled once in the last five games. At only 17 years old, he has known how to take advantage of opportunities and is already competing with much more experienced footballers like Christensen.
Already at Barça Atlètic this season he formed a formidable pair with Mika Faye, another of the revelations of the subsidiary this season. In recent months, both of them were aiming for the first team, but at the moment Cubarsi is being the young central defender who has convinced the coach the most.
Waiting to count on again Iñigo Martinez y Marcos AlonsoCubarsí continues to add minutes in the elite in what seems like only the beginning of a long journey in the first team.
2024-02-01 14:34:56
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