Can we afford to let Barry go?

[pass2silva]

No neutral ever believes me when I say this, but Gareth Barry is a fantastic football player.

I think it was on this forum tht I read th words "failure to appreciate Barry is a failure to understand th game of football."

Sums it up perfectly for me.
I struggle to understand how anyone with am ounce of understanding of th game, who watches us play live, can not appreciate what Barry offered to our team.

We will miss this player

 

[slick]

Barry had more good moments than bad but his bad moments were horrendous and they were becoming more regular.

He's been a good servant to the club but imo we are getting rid at the right time, I still wish him all the best for the future.

 

[greasedupdeafguy]

Hart/Pants

Micha/Zab Lescott/Nasty Kompany/Demi Clichy/Kolarov

Navas/Nasri Yaya/Rodwell Fern/Millner Jovetic/Silva

Aguero/Guidetti Dzeko/Negredo


We will be ok. Milner is the answer.

Milner doesn't have the first touch, the passing range, vision or awareness of Barry. Apart from that he's ideal.

passing range or vision?
go 4.55 of this video

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV_MJQhXaUk[/youtube]

 

[Bluep*ss]

I am also sorry to see Gaz Baz go. He did have a couple of bad games , relatively few mediocre games, and plenty of superb games. I do think he has slowed down and he won't be the player at his peak again but still do a job somewhere. I thought he would end up at NY City.

 

[obliquerays]

A really classy professional for the club, its a wrench to see him leave.
The reason I think its best for him and us that he goes now, is that he strikes me as a player who must play regularly to be on top of his game. Similar to Tevez he needs to almost play himself into full fitness and sharpness and I would not see him being suited to a bit part/back up role that some have suggested.

 

[simon23]

If you watch the video from the main city website you will see why we are having problems in midfield with yaya and ferd

In the Hull match there are two occasions when both players are pushed right up and there is a huge space infront of our back 4....the first of these is on the chance that the lad puts wide after skipping around lescott (who gets caught in two minds cause there is a huge space infron of him where the defensive midfielder should be) and the second occasion on where they score the goal that is disallowed........the player goes into the space between lescott and kolorov ...lescott is watching the play in front of him and kolorov has two men...one infront of him who scores and one behind him/tot he side of him........nasty is out of positon beciase about 8-10 secs earlier he is caught alongside Ferd further up the pitch trying to colse down a huge empty space in front of him again (this time it is yaya who is out of position and well off the play......

Wish i could screen shot the two incidents but no idea how to...the second one is at 3mins 30 secs on the official highlights video...stop it at that point and look at the position of nasty and ferd and yaya

the first one stop it at 2.50 just after we have lost the ball and you will see yaya pressing the ball along with 2 other city players.....ferd is in the middle of the pitch but slighly more advanced than yaya......with 2 hull players stood free 10 yds further towards our defensive line (near or in the centre circle)............this is the big space that cuases lescott so much trouble...........

the problem with this full pressing game is that it leaves huge spaces for the opposition to exploit if we dont get the ball and leaves us without depth/cover in midfield in front of our back 4...i believe that not all the players should be pressing and that one of the midfielders at least should be responsible for shielding the back 4 at al times when we dont have the ball...at the moment when we lose....everyone presses and we are exposed at the back with our back 4 having huge spaces infront of them for opposition players to run at them from........regardless of how good our centre halves are this is a very bad situation....

there is also a thrid occasion where it happens late on in the game where kolorov makes a challenge after a player runs in behind him......from a pass by huddelstone.......again at the start of the move ferd is pressing the ball (along with milner who is on the left side)...yaya is moving in that direction as well and huddlestone gets the ball from another player inbetween the back four and the pressing midfielders...yaya moves accross to tackle him but isnt quick enough (he doesnt snap into a tackle like a gareth barry or NDJ for isntance)...this allows huddlestone to play the through ball

all this is worrying as now we have lost a true class covering midfielder who would have been in position to stop all those incidents which if they happen against better teams will result in us conceeding goals/losing games...........barry may not be the quickest but his reading of the defensive game was superb and he was usually in the right place at the right time to breal up the opposition play........

 

[dennishasdoneit]

I've watched City since 1978. My favourite ever player. I'm actually in tears. As sad as that sounds. Loved watching him play.

Fucking ell Bert he was good but he was no Kiki Musampa!

Haha he wasn't indeed. He was a joy to watch. His first touch, the way he zipped the ball around; his vision and awareness. His ability to bully the opposition. He was always goal side..Loved the guy. Who will do Yaya's work now?

agreed. his ability to bully the opposition was an integral part of his game.

Remember when we beat chelsea 1-0 when they were champions and we,d just lost to wba in the league cup. Chelsea rarely lost to anyone at that time..Barry was outstanding in midfield( as he was time and again against the top four sides) and tackled like a man possessed throughout the match..when Rameries collected the ball just short of the half-way line it was Barry,s blockbuster of a tackle that knocked him into orbit and triggered the lightning counter-attack which led to Tevez breaking away and slotting home the winner.

Defence to attack in seconds..trademark Gazbaz.

As another poster has said, Silva had him as his player of the season when we won the title, at least one of the worlds most skillful midfield players appreciated the hard work you put in to provide the balance that every winning team needs.

All the best Gareth, consummate professional, no headlines, no moaning, plenty of tracking back, plenty of good solid midfield play..You will be missed at City..GOOD LUCK FOR THE FUTURE.

 

[argyle]

Right now we have Fernandinho, Yaya and Milner for a central midfield role (Garcia isn't good enough and Rodwell would be good but we can't rely on him as he is always injured).

Only Milner out of the three is a solid tackler. The midfield of Fern' and Yaya were overrun in midfield against Hull. Yaya goes forward and takes an age to get back leaving Fern' exposed.

Failing to address a player who can sit in front of the back four will kill us this season when we want to do well in all competitions, especially in Europe.

Really don't know why we let Barry go. Going to be a costly mistake imo.

 

[conormcfc]

I echo the sentiments of many. A brilliant servant for the club and worth every penny of the fee we paid.

So many big performances in crunch games, with the MOM performance against the Rags at the end of the title winning season and the 1-0 semi final springing to mind immediately.

A key figure in that title winning team and I think must people will look back on him as such.

it also speaks volumes about his technical ability as a player that Martinez was so interested in taking him.

 

[CitytillIdie74]

Absolutely gutted he's gone!
Good luck GB