You don’t have to study his game carefully to see that Gavi is an intense footballer. His profile as a footballer, an all-rounder, does not only have to do with finesse in the game. He works a lot, does meters, looks around the team and, if he has to scratch, scratch. Gil Manzano showed him his third consecutive card in the last three league games. He explained it gesturally: by accumulation.
Gavi has committed 1.87 fouls per game since wearing the Barça first team jersey. In LaLiga he has made nine fouls in six games (1.5 on average); in the Champions League, six in two games (three on average). His statistics rose even in the Nationes League, in which he committed nine fouls in two games, to 4.5 per game. He has already seen four cards with Barça, which means that he sees one card for every 3.75 fouls he makes.
The number is high. To compare it, for example, with Sergio Busquets, the one from Badia has made nine fouls in eight league games and none in two Chapions games. An average, therefore, of 0.9, half that of Gavi. The yellow ones, then, have nothing to do with his adolescent face and a lack of respect from the referees. Arguably, fieryness is being punished with a fair standard.
Koeman is happy with football and Gavi’s aggressiveness. It is part of his way of playing, but he wants to nuance it so that his cards do not condition, not only the team, but also limit him during games. Logical nuances to polish for a kid who is achieving a heroism: to settle in the starting eleven of Barça with only 17 years and two months. The veterans will give you the right advice. His football, at the moment, weighs much more than his fouls.