{"id":74527,"date":"2026-08-23T10:45:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T10:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/74527\/"},"modified":"2026-08-23T10:45:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-23T10:45:08","slug":"versatile-spain-international-could-become-barcelonas-primary-right-back-this-season-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/74527\/","title":{"rendered":"Versatile Spain international could become Barcelona&#8217;s primary right-back this season &#8211; report"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Hansi Flick has constantly experimented with players and their positions throughout pre-season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He has tried out Xavi Espart and Brian Farinas at right-back and in midfield, Eric Garcia at centre-back and right-back, and Jules Kounde in the same two positions as well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sport.es\/es\/noticias\/barca\/inesperado-regreso-kounde-central-abre-133523214\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">SPORT<\/a>, Eric could be set for an important positional change under Flick this season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The versatile Spaniard is set to be one of Bar\u00e7a\u2019s main options at right-back and should hold the starting berth ahead of Kounde.<\/p>\n<p>Eric gaining ground at right-back<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fc-barcelona-v-atletico-de-madrid-uefa-champions-league-2025-26-quarter-final-first-leg-24-1-1024x68.jpeg\" alt=\"Pau Cubarsi, Eric Garcia, Barcelona players\" class=\"wp-image-197733\"  \/>Eric Garcia could feature at right-back this season. (Photo by Eric Alonso\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The shift was visible during the Joan Gamper Trophy, when Jules Kounde returned to central defence while Eric operated on the right side.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The move appears to be more than a one-off pre-season experiment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Flick is understood to be increasingly convinced by Eric in the position after the Catalan delivered strong performances there last season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The coach has already communicated to him that he will be used in that position more regularly going forward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This would represent a significant change in Bar\u00e7a\u2019s defensive structure. Kounde has spent several seasons established at right-back, but his return to central defence is an interesting solution.<\/p>\n<p>Flick likes what Eric offers<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eric\u2019s natural position is centre-back, but his technical quality makes him an interesting fit on the right.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He is comfortable in possession, can step inside during build-up and offers more control than a traditional attacking full-back. In a Barcelona side that wants to dominate the ball, that profile has obvious value.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His versatility also gives Flick flexibility without forcing major structural changes during matches.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eric can begin at right-back, move centrally when necessary or even help in midfield depending on the game state.<\/p>\n<p>Eric\u2019s stock keeps rising<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/atletico-de-madrid-v-fc-barcelona-copa-del-rey-3-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Eric Garcia of FC Barcelona\" class=\"wp-image-195752\"  \/>Eric Garcia is a key component in the Barcelona backline. (Photo by Aitor Alcalde\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For Barcelona, this would be another example of Eric\u2019s value growing under Flick.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He has gone from being seen largely as a depth option to becoming one of the coach\u2019s most trusted and useful players.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His ability to cover multiple positions has always helped him, but the difference now is that he may finally be developing a more defined role.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More importantly, he has also been appointed as <a href=\"https:\/\/barcauniversal.com\/flick-confirms-barcelonas-provisional-captains-raphinha-together-with-eric-and-pedri\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">one of the provisional captains<\/a> by Flick and could see a permanent armband role when the squad vote happens.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Eric is no longer a fringe player and has developed into a bona fide star. It remains to be seen how his 2026-27 season at right-back plays out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hansi Flick has constantly experimented with players and their positions throughout pre-season. He has tried out Xavi Espart&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74528,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[92,222,927,223,930],"class_list":["post-74527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-barcelona","tag-barcelona","tag-barcelona-news","tag-eric-garcia","tag-fc-barcelona","tag-hansi-flick"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74527"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74527\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}