gareth barry - a dilemma

[simon23]

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?

we

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

we lost it tactically in my opinion....th manager puts the team out and tells them how to play....

 

[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?

we

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

we lost it tactically in my opinion....th manager puts the team out and tells them how to play....

The flip side to your argument is that the D-Day landings were perfectly planned - would they remotely have been a success if the soldiers hadn't carried out the task to the ultimate test of their capabilities?

The saying goes, you can do little once they cross that white line.

 

[mike o]

Its deffo his injury,hughes said as much earlier in the season

Sure once Viera's fit Barry will be rested or have an op

 

[grim up north]

who next?

 

[Jnr Kisby]

Corradi/Samaras/Bianchi/Vassell/Jo/Sturridge/Elano/Robinho/Barry *geordie accent* whose next? You decide.

 

[ono]

he's got tonnes of ability on the ball and can read the game very well. he has the ability to affect the game when he isn't on the ball, but, I agree that he hasn't been showing enough recently. pace isn't a priority in the centre of midfield, but he does look laboured atm. you do start to wonder if he's perfectly suited to our needs. he has a great left foot but we see it so rarely, it's a big disappointment. my bet is he needs an op, probably a rest. hopefully he can up it a notch.

I've not seen him do anything with the ball that would suggest he has tonnes of ability. I've seen him do a Cryuff turn that throws off a half arsed attacker but more frequently i've seen him struggle to control fairly simple passes, i've seen the ball getting stuck under his feet and i've seen him badly misplace some fairly simple passes.

I'm not saying this doesn't happen to anyone else, i'm just saying from what i've seen and imo i don't think he has any more ability on the ball than any other average premier league midfielder.

 

[zapbranny]

Villa fan here. Barry is a decent player, he might not be playing well for you but some of the things you describe is not form it's him. He isn't quick and he never will be. He used to fit in our counter attacking by playing quick through balls or down the channels. But he is never going to be a box to box midfielder. In some respects he is a bit of a luxury player similar to carrick. It's only now we have milner in centre mid that we can see he did hold us back in some regards.

I really can't see how he gets in over Ireland and would have gladly swapped last season. Things won't improve if you play him on the left, the only way forward is to choose either de Jong or Barry as a dm. Play Barry if you're expecting a lot of posession. The way you are lining up I can see him not getting much game time and maybe moving on.

 

[carlitocool]

This this this !

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


Hamsik please.

Hamsik would be nice but I think he'll want to move to a bigger club. We should go in for Costa.

 

[Big Brother 2]

He is a good player and will come good. He has has good games this season but also bad. He is a quality midfielder

 

[Nelly's Left Foot]

Villa fan here. Barry is a decent player, he might not be playing well for you but some of the things you describe is not form it's him. He isn't quick and he never will be. He used to fit in our counter attacking by playing quick through balls or down the channels. But he is never going to be a box to box midfielder. In some respects he is a bit of a luxury player similar to carrick. It's only now we have milner in centre mid that we can see he did hold us back in some regards.

I really can't see how he gets in over Ireland and would have gladly swapped last season. Things won't improve if you play him on the left, the only way forward is to choose either de Jong or Barry as a dm. Play Barry if you're expecting a lot of posession. The way you are lining up I can see him not getting much game time and maybe moving on.

That sounds about right to me. He is an intelligent player who can see a pass but will never get close to Irelands ability as an attacking midfielder.

Doesnt sound like he is going to have an op either so maybe he will just miss the odd game or two.