Gareth Barry

[TFC]

Hasnt put a foot wrong of late, been solid every game. Fuck me our fans must have some of the shortest memories in the Prem.

Edit - some of our fans.

 

[Dave Ewing's Back 'eader]

Hopeless. With NdJ back he should be no where near the first team.

Slow, clueless and the first touch of a donkey.

What I noticed about Bazzer today was that the touch was sublime in our half and round about the halfway line but the more he ventured towards the PieEaters penalty area the worse it got.

 

[squirtyflower]

Was class, and a steadying influence as always
Well done Gareth, and a big fuck off to the moaning twats

 

[Mad Eyed Screamer]

Passed to Wigan way too much today, hardly ever passes forward... did get the odd vital tackle in though

 

[mcfc1996]

It amazes me how anybody can have a go at Gaz Baz.

 

[bert38]

He's been one of our key players this season. Reliable performer who knows his job. Watch how he gets goalside of the opposition when we are not in possession. Watch how he knits everything together. Now those who want Yaya in that role- watch how often he gets goalside or conversely the number of times he just ambles back and lets everyone else do his running.

Barry is the kind of player that all successful teams need. Just look at the rags and how we think of their shit players, fletcher etc-the key is they always perform to a level. Consistency brings success.

Ok I will admit he was poor today but the guy looked knackered. He has had a top season and a real candidate IMO for player of the year.

 

[Bill]

by his very high standards he did'nt have a good game, he'll be back next week.

 

[leighton]

I never rated him since he came to the club. He is so inconsistent with form during his time here. The only reason we signed him was because M Johnson was injured if he wasnt injured back then we wouldnt have bothered with Barry.

On current form he is the one to drop out for De Jong. Vieria has been decent with his run in the team and deserves his place ahead of Barry. Saying that Yaya wasnt up to much today not even that it seemed to be once we got the goal we took the foot off the gas.

We were lucky not to concede a goal as well. McCarthy had 2 decent chances and Conor Sammon right at the death was inches away from getting them a point. Mancini needs to be sorting out a more attacking play against teams like Wigan we dont need 2 players sitting in the midfield at home we should be looking to kill teams off here and then rest a couple of players.

 

[dref619]

fuck me , there's some short memories knocking about. hes been outstanding for most of this season

 

[mcfcliam]

longg post anyways as you can tell i dont rate him he isn't good enough and he will be gone soon i hope
but thats my opinion

What exactly "isn't he good at"? The things that he's needs to do, he's excellent at. He doesn't need pace, he doesn't need to be able to shoot, he doesn't need to be great in the air. He needs to be able to pass a ball, control a ball and read the game. Barry is usually excellent at all three, these are his main strengths.

Why "don't you rate him"?

Do you know why we play crab players? That whole slow tempo thing is quite purposeful; it's because we use them to shift the ball around as a link point for the movement of others. This allows everybody in front/side of Barry to test the defence of the opponent using their off the ball movement.

For example, think of Barry stood exactly on the centre spot, with play in front of him. Silva with the ball on the left wing has a bit of a go running at a defender or maybe Balo makes a bit of movement. If it works, Silva passes his man or gets the ball to Balo. If it doesn't work, he passes it back to Barry, who then has a look around the pitch and decides that Richards on the right wing can have a go. If Richards' movement doesn't work, it goes back to Barry who then thinks that maybe Yaya can have a go, etc.
The idea is that we keep possession through each phase of play - we can attack an opening, and if unsuccessful we don't lose the ball. This is why we look slow on the buildup, we are literally probing the opposition defence for weaknesses. This is another reason why Waddle is a fucking idiot; he cannot understand that charging all guns blazing through the centre gets you absolutely nowhere in this game and hasn't done since about 1935. He also like to say we play "Italian", which we don't. Turn on ESPN now, Milan and Juve are playing, Italian football is closer to what United play than what city play. We play closer to Dutch, for anybody who cares.

The above is a very simplified example but it makes the point; Barry is the conductor of the whole orchestra. This is why him and NDJ are such a fantastic pair to have in the centre. One conducts the orchestra, the other stops the other orchestra from playing.

Finally, Barry is paramount against teams like Wigan who come to park the bus. Because he shifts the play from one side to the other, the defensive organisation of teams has to change (as you attack from a different angle), and as soon as they slip, we exploit it.

As I say, Barry is very good at what he does and I'm not sure exactly what you think he's paid to do on the pitch.

OWNED LEE!

Barry is the glue to the midfield, holds everything together...yes, I agree he gives away a lot of fouls but on form, he is good at picking up the ball in midfield and freeing the forward players...he's also an excellent game reader as Damocles said.

Knowing Barry is there means that the other midfield players can get into more space knowing that he is there to try and retain possession and start again if we lose the ball.

He does have his flaws but so do most players.

Just because he doesn't do the most glamorous of midfield jobs, people think he's shit.

I don't think Lee even came up with a valid response and it was quite a pathetic reply, no offence Lee.