gareth barry - a dilemma

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Apologies, this is not intended to be a slag post.

Having been at the Swamp, my own opinion is Barry in particular, not so much cost us victory, but certainly contributed signifcantly to our defeat.

What concerned me most, is he was made to look even slower than normal by a much older Scholes.

He is certainly not the shoe-in that some fellow blues believe him to be, and has largely coasted in recent months.

His game has never been about pace, but recall him being much more dynamic in midfield at Villa, scoring a few goals.

If he is carrying an injury, he is doing nobody any favours, especially when we have cover in Ireland, whose own game and confidence would have benefited from a decent run in the side, barring his own injuries.

Aside from an impressive opening month to his City career, he has been coasting at best, albeit his performance against Chelsea, convinced me he still has it.

My question is, was it a mistake to buy him, did we need another midfielder of his type, when Ireland on the left of midfield was so good last season.

Barry was also the player with the most big-match experience in our side last night, but he was devoid of leadership, and, more importantly, drive.

Winning more free-kicks than Didi Hamman cannot continue to justify his role in the team - time for a rest?

Devils Advocate, De Jong wasn't much better - we lost it in midfield.

 

[chazmcfc]

This this this !

Still not sure he has what it takes to play champions league football...


Hamsik please.

 

[Richard]

Got to agree. He needs that extra yard of pace. If he does need an operation get him in now, with a returning Viera or Ireland ready to step in.

 

[Neil McNab]

Apologies, this is not intended to be a slag post.

Having been at the Swamp, my own opinion is Barry in particular, not so much cost us victory, but certainly contributed signifcantly to our defeat.

What concerned me most, is he was made to look even slower than normal by a much older Scholes.

He is certainly not the shoe-in that some fellow blues believe him to be, and has largely coasted in recent months.

His game has never been about pace, but recall him being much more dynamic in midfield at Villa, scoring a few goals.

If he is carrying an injury, he is doing nobody any favours, especially when we have cover in Ireland, whose own game and confidence would have benefited from a decent run in the side, barring his own injuries.

Aside from an impressive opening month to his City career, he has been coasting at best, albeit his performance against Chelsea, convinced me he still has it.

My question is, was it a mistake to buy him, did we need another midfielder of his type, when Ireland on the left of midfield was so good last season.

Barry was also the player with the most big-match experience in our side last night, but he was devoid of leadership, and, more importantly, drive.

Winning more free-kicks than Didi Hamman cannot continue to justify his role in the team - time for a rest?

Devils Advocate, De Jong wasn't much better - we lost it in midfield.

Not a mistake to buy him, where would we be without him, but we certainly need strengthening in the middle, I for one was pleased when Mancini signed Viera because it shows he realises the problem and that it's more accute than any problems we have at the back.

 

[fathellensbellend]

Apologies, this is not intended to be a slag post.

Having been at the Swamp, my own opinion is Barry in particular, not so much cost us victory, but certainly contributed signifcantly to our defeat.

What concerned me most, is he was made to look even slower than normal by a much older Scholes.

He is certainly not the shoe-in that some fellow blues believe him to be, and has largely coasted in recent months.

His game has never been about pace, but recall him being much more dynamic in midfield at Villa, scoring a few goals.

If he is carrying an injury, he is doing nobody any favours, especially when we have cover in Ireland, whose own game and confidence would have benefited from a decent run in the side, barring his own injuries.

Aside from an impressive opening month to his City career, he has been coasting at best, albeit his performance against Chelsea, convinced me he still has it.

My question is, was it a mistake to buy him, did we need another midfielder of his type, when Ireland on the left of midfield was so good last season.

Barry was also the player with the most big-match experience in our side last night, but he was devoid of leadership, and, more importantly, drive.

Winning more free-kicks than Didi Hamman cannot continue to justify his role in the team - time for a rest?

Devils Advocate, De Jong wasn't much better - we lost it in midfield.

totally agree, for a supposed top class internation he looked out of his depth.

slow, caught on the ball, never gets forward, and poor distribution.

he has an easier job for england, but then again how many hard games are there at international level.

 

[tonea2003]

thought nige was below his best last night,
i see what you are saying re barry, but i think we will see him at his best when he is on the left of a proper midfiled
i.e one without zabaleta in it. thats not a dig at pablo but he is a defender not a midfielder

 

[Rammy Blue]

posted similar in a different thread, agree entirely, he is certainly not the player i thought he was.

too slow and can't carry the ball.

 

[Bill]

100% agree with the op.

 

[PSmyth07]

If he needs surgery, then let him have it now. With Toure and Lescott coming back, we can push Kompany or Ireland into midfield.

 

[m27]

Apologies, this is not intended to be a slag post.

Having been at the Swamp, my own opinion is Barry in particular, not so much cost us victory, but certainly contributed signifcantly to our defeat.

What concerned me most, is he was made to look even slower than normal by a much older Scholes.

He is certainly not the shoe-in that some fellow blues believe him to be, and has largely coasted in recent months.

His game has never been about pace, but recall him being much more dynamic in midfield at Villa, scoring a few goals.

If he is carrying an injury, he is doing nobody any favours, especially when we have cover in Ireland, whose own game and confidence would have benefited from a decent run in the side, barring his own injuries.

Aside from an impressive opening month to his City career, he has been coasting at best, albeit his performance against Chelsea, convinced me he still has it.

My question is, was it a mistake to buy him, did we need another midfielder of his type, when Ireland on the left of midfield was so good last season.

Barry was also the player with the most big-match experience in our side last night, but he was devoid of leadership, and, more importantly, drive.

Winning more free-kicks than Didi Hamman cannot continue to justify his role in the team - time for a rest?

Devils Advocate, De Jong wasn't much better - we lost it in midfield.

I'm convinced he's struggling with his injury and it's really affecting his game. Although he's never had pace, he got up and down the park for Villa and was a regular scorer, he's just not doing that for us.

That said, I couldn't really single him out last night because (as you rightly say) we lost the game in midfield and Ireland also took an age to get into the game when he came on.

Over two legs, it was our inability to win and retain the ball in midfield that was our downfall. We simply didn't look after the ball well enough and if you give a team like United possession like we did it is only a matter of time before they score.