NipHolmes said:Petetheblu said:Ever since that England v Germany match where Gazza was the only player who tried to keep his position, whilst his team mate's went to sleep, where a 19 year old whippet (Ozil) out pace a 27 year old bloke who's never had pace and should have never had to be in that position anyway. People have had it in for him, he's almost become the embarrassing turrets mate on a night out at a classy restaurant.
Well for the last two seasons he's more than held his own in a fantastic league winning side and I might add, at long periods our best player.
Some of the crap aimed at Barry is embarrassing and reaks of school boy analysis.
His legs are slowing and he loses the ball quite often. Compare his passing range from deep with Yaya and it's way below. Fernandinho likes to run with teh ball and can do Barrys jonb, again Barry is below that level. Rodwell can tackle as good as Barry, he has an engine on him and he like to run forward too. Barry again is lacking.
Barry has experience, he can read games very well but make no mistake he is waning. Compare him to the other likely top 6 teams for player in the same position.
United - Carrick
Chelsea - Luiz/Mikel
Arsenal - Arteta/Diaby
Spurs - Sandro/Paulinho
Liverpool - Lucas
I'd only give him the no over Mikel and Arteta (who is a better passer but not as good as a defender obviously). That speaks volumes for me. Why would a team aiming for the top keep a player who struggles to get into the likes of Liverpool or Spurs? Barry is a very expensive squad option for us to keep. He is a warrior like figure who brakes play, roughs teams up and keeps things ticking. The problem comes when our opponents have more pace and aren't frightened to target Barry and therefore give him a nightmare. We won the title with him and for that he deserves respect, we must look at the future rather than dwell on the past. Time to move on and have younger players who are our future in our main point of focus. Any games spare when we mull over Barry and Rodwell must be given to Rodwell this season and we say Goodbye in the summer.
Barry didn't play in the home game v Dortmund, Roberto decided to experiment and play a more open game with Garcia as the lone holding midfielder, leaving Milner on the bench with Barry injured I think, allowing Dortmund the freedom of the pitch. Think Graham Taylor summed Barry up best when he said he never plays a 10 or a 6, he's a players player who is consistently a 7.5.Caveman said:That's not entirely true. Barry is sometimes our best player and is often reliable for us, however, when we're at our worst Barry is often part of or the problem. His lack of pace and mobility is so exposed at CL level where the better sides (Dortmund who are the best team I've ever seen play live, Madrid and München), quick counter attacking (Napoli) and quick passing/movement sides (Ajax) have completely exposed his weaknesses and make our midfield look poor (must admit it wasn't just him; Dortmund Madrid and Ajax made him and Yaya look poor due to a lack of mobility in centre mid compared to those sides).hallstreetblue said:It's the people with very little football knowledge that don't rate him.
There also was a prolonged spell last season where he was very average, even against poor Prem sides. Didn't seem to play well for ages.
He's been a great player for us though, arguably our third best player in the title winning season. But the upgrade has been much needed and is the right time to integrate someone else into his starting place and limit his game time. He may still be important for us and will still have MOTM performances - he's still a very good player - and hopefully we'll use his abilities at the right times against the right teams. He may not be the integral starter he once was for us but he will be an important squad player.
Didsbury Dave said:Barry still starts for me. He offers something noone else in our squad can, and that's momentum. When the ball comes to him he has one touch and passes forward. He's like a pendulum doing it and its a massive loss when he isn't. I will try to explain this a bit clearer: city on-song are all about speed of ball movement. Barry finds silva or ageuro or yaya every single time, without a pause, and this allows them to open defences up. It sounds like nothing but you watch him. He's constantly releasing players in promising positions. The fact that he does this so often keeps the opposition on the back foot and disorganised whilst our flair players pick holes.
I agree he's slow but he's a clever 'coverer' and in a correctly balanced team that shouldn't be an issue. Garcia is too slow to play alongside him, for example.
Until we find someone who does this-maybe fernandinho can- then he starts for me. A hugely underrated cog in our on-song unit.