gareth barry - a dilemma

[Unknown_Genius]

He's a decent player but a complete cart horse unfortunately.

Our midfield is too negative at the moment.

I think Mancini has noticed central midfield is an area we need to strengthen, hence the signing of Vieira, and the rumours linking us with Gago, and Flamini.

 

[ono]

I honestly don't rate him. I've been saying it for months that we have nobody in midfield who can carry the ball or keep possession. I've been saying for months that away from home it is a massive problem and the reason players like Robinho and Adebayor are less effective. Without going into that now, i honestly think we need to have a serious look. The centre of midfield is the most important part of the team for me and we are seriously lacking.

At the minute i feel we just have players who can 'do a job' but i look at our midfield and i just don't see us controlling the game away at teams in the top half of the league.

Again, if he's carrying an injury all of this might be a little unfair, but if he is, then he needs to get it seen to. I'd imagine the reason he hasn't is down to the World Cup, which is a shame because it's hindering his performance for us if true.

 

[pee dubya]

I thought he was one of our most composed players last night, but agree that sometimes he goes missing and doesn't really have the physical attribures to impose hismelf on the match.

I think he does have the attributes, thats whats dissapointing, he's a big lad, he holds the ball weel, can pass. But were not really seeing it!

I don't know, maybe you're right, but he seems to be playing on the periphery of the game, rather than taking control of it. When he got hold of the ball i thought he did well, but didn't get it often enough.

 

[The Fat el Hombre]

Nah I'm not sure about writing Barry off, I still think he's a very good player

As has been mentioned Nige ahd a very quiet game last night, which was a shame. Maybe we were too defensive with Nige Zab and Barry in the middle, and we would have seen more of them if Ireland was in front of Nige and Barry

 

[Failsworth_Blue]

Decent player but thats about it IMO. Doesn't win many tackles, doesn't create much, doesn't score goals, doesn't control the midfield and has no pace. When he signed i thought he was a good buy although i was told by a couple of villa fans i know that he's not as good as people make out and goes missing far too often and i'm beginning to see the point they were making

 

[Paylor_Shade_Of_Blue]

Anyone who has been to training will know that Barry isn't slow at all.

Unfortunatley I fear he isn't the type of player City fans appreciate - he isn't the enforcer type like De Jong and he isn't the constant motion of a Tevez
What he is is an intelligent player that reads the game well, provides cover and can deliver educated passes - long or short. It's also about what he doesn't do with the ball - he makes the opposition choose a different route by his coverage and makes them pass sideways or back.
He is class - he was at villa and he is for England - lets not start on him already!

This is exactly what he can do, and showed it at the start of the season, but for some reason, isn't doing it now.

 

[GaudinoMotors]

Anyone who has been to training will know that Barry isn't slow at all.

Unfortunatley I fear he isn't the type of player City fans appreciate - he isn't the enforcer type like De Jong and he isn't the constant motion of a Tevez
What he is is an intelligent player that reads the game well, provides cover and can deliver educated passes - long or short. It's also about what he doesn't do with the ball - he makes the opposition choose a different route by his coverage and makes them pass sideways or back.
He is class - he was at villa and he is for England - lets not start on him already!

This is exactly what he can do, and showed it at the start of the season, but for some reason, isn't doing it now.

When you say Now - do you mean last night?
Thought he'd been playing well recently

 

[tolmie's hairdoo]

Anyone who has been to training will know that Barry isn't slow at all.

Unfortunatley I fear he isn't the type of player City fans appreciate - he isn't the enforcer type like De Jong and he isn't the constant motion of a Tevez
What he is is an intelligent player that reads the game well, provides cover and can deliver educated passes - long or short. It's also about what he doesn't do with the ball - he makes the opposition choose a different route by his coverage and makes them pass sideways or back.
He is class - he was at villa and he is for England - lets not start on him already!

Not starting, Gaudino. What Barry does in training is another thing. He is hardly competing with pace merchants in De Jong, Ireland and Komps in the central positions.

You can only really gauge his attributes in a real match situation, and last night, he did not engage the opposition quick enough.

More worringly, against a player such as Scholes, whose best years are well behind him. He also appears to over-rotate when he runs, like his legs are quick enough to keep up with his brain, and falls over. Hopefully not a sign that he is already on the downward spiral of his career.

Yes, there is an art to winning free-kicks, relieving some of the pressure, but most of the time, they are nothing free-kicks, based on him not having the out ball we all that he possessed.

It does make me smile when we go on about our guys being the best of this and that.

The football word is a big place and we are having to learn the hard way what improvements we need. The likes of Yaya Toure and Gerrard are exactly the type of players this City midfield is missing.

We were in double figures last season scoring from midfield. Take our wingers our of the equation, and Barry and De Jong are not chipping in.

Compare that to Fletcher, Carrick, even Gibson, when he plays, they all provide a scoring threat.

Our central two/three don't even get the opposition to concern themselves with this.

 

[Paylor_Shade_Of_Blue]

This is exactly what he can do, and showed it at the start of the season, but for some reason, isn't doing it now.

When you say Now - do you mean last night?
Thought he'd been playing well recently

Recently he's seemed really slow, isn't closing down and breaking up the oppositions midfield play, and is offering nothing going forward - sideways/backwards passes more often than not. We all know what he can do, but he isn't doing it.

 

[johnwaynebobbet]

I think he is nursing a injury. He looks a little labored at the moment.