Gareth Barry

[Anonymous]

He needed a rest, i'm sure he would liked to have done this but we didn't have that option, Ireland is injured.
I've a feeling this is a bit tongue in cheek but i'm sure you will get a bite.

He's needed a rest since November if I remember correctly. He's supposed to be at his peak. I'm not being tongue in cheek at all.

Barry's an enigma for me. I can see that he has some qualities, but to my eye, he has too many weaknesses. He's far too one footed, he's not very agile, his passing is incredibly inconsistent (check out the number of assists he has this season), and he's too slow.

Part of it is down to the system we've been playing. Barry is best utilized either played in a 433, or playing as he does for England as the water carrier in front of the back four. But it's the same problem we had under Hughes, that when you play Barry and De Jong in a 442, we lack creativity, not just in the form of balls up top to the front men, but the right ball to our wide players as well.

 

[tufty]

its scary how one of englands finest can be so totally "owned" by a belgian, (fellaini). doesnt bode well for the world cup for me.

 

[Freestyler]

In a shower of shit, he (along with Robinho) stank the most.

I've not really commented on him this season, but frankly I don't see what others see. I think he's vastly overrated,

How he ever gets into our team ahead of Stevie is beyond me.

Barry is a class act and a proper english midfielder, the guy just needs a rest, team selection means he plays, with no injuries barry would of been rested, he has to play, theres no one else.

 

[tufty]

dont you be michevious and think i meant anything else other than one of englands finest being owned by a belgian being i meant a midfield player of any other country who might be playing in the world cup.

dont you dare!

 

[kenzie115]

Barry's a classy midfielder but lacks steel. In the game today where Everton were in our faces from the off we needed Vieira more than Barry. He's shown already this season that he'll shirk away from a battle, that's not his type of thing.

As for the person who mentioned all the stats, Winston Churchill once said "There are lies, damned lies and statistics."

You can use statistics to show pretty much everything you want, Barry has a high successful pass percentage because he rarely tries anything risky, normally just playing the ball 5 yards to his left or right. He has a high tackle percentage because he only tackles when he's confident he can get the ball, not a bad thing but the likes of de Jong will try and get the ball in more 50/50s and as the name suggests, you're not going to win them all.

We've not seen the Barry of last season who drove Villa forward in games, pushing on and scoring vital goals but being solid in defence. Maybe he needs to know he's not undroppable?

 

[dchitz]

probably got into the team ahead of stevie today mate cause he was injured.

 

[ardwickboy]

Gareth Barry is a top quality player....end of story.

I agree, everyone, get off his back.

 

[Ric]

In a shower of shit, he (along with Robinho) stank the most.

I've not really commented on him this season, but frankly I don't see what others see. I think he's vastly overrated,

How he ever gets into our team ahead of Stevie is beyond me.

Um, he doesn't get in the team ahead of Ireland? Ireland's injured - when fit he's been in Mancini's starting XI every time.

Barry didn't play well today, but then no one did so it's unfair to make Barry the scapegoat. Just out of interest, given the players available today, who would you have picked ahead of him in centre mid?!

 

[blue saturday]

NDJ=pitbull getting the ball back BARRY=picking up passes from mids/defence and distributing ,in the system we have played today they were overrun and not effective

 

[bluedan12]

kenzie 115; ''He has a high tackle percentage because he only tackles when he's confident he can get the ball, not a bad thing but the likes of de Jong will try and get the ball in more 50/50s and as the name suggests, you're not going to win them all.''

Its not just the tackle %, its the number of tackles he makes, twice as many as de jong, maybe de jong just doesn't think he can win that many? And as to barry's, he is in the top 20 in terms of creating chances, i can think of a few examples tonight, ball over top to bellamy for one.
I agree that you can use stats to prove any point you want to make, so to those who think barry should be dropped ahead of de jong, some stats in de jong's favour?