Was Gareth Barry the Player You Expected?

[Damocles]

Given a choice between Barry and De Jong (especially if we get a creative m/fielder), i would take De jong every game. Barry has always IMO been the most overated player in the EPL though that has been superceded by that fuckwit Berbaflop!!

Funnily enough, I think De Jong is overrated by some Bluemooners....in my opinion, of course.

De Jong is a terrier in midfield, he always puts a shift in and plays with his heart on his sleeve. He's also the proverbial 'hardman', and more than a few people who have hit AJ early on in the game have had a De Jong ankle snapper to deal with a few minutes later, to put them in their place. They didn't do it again.

He is the player that we love to love, he dies on the pitch every game, protects the tricky players and stands tall in front of the back four looking midfielders square in the whites of their eyes and challenges them to come and have a go. He's our version of the 300 Spartans.

All that is great, but as a player, he is lacking in some departments. His shots are WAY off, he hasn't got much pace and his passing isn't great. Hell, his tackling isn't inch perfect (or it is and he's the best tackler ever).

But it doesn't matter. That's the scientific aspect of the game, the German, methodical, ultra-professional, ultra-chiselled mould of a midfielder. We have that in Garth Barry, the guy who is the footballer that every footballer likes, the perfect technician.

De Jong brings the heart of the Kippax onto the pitch, he is everything that has always been great about City, he is Buzzer on the wing without his shinpads, Kinkladze taking it round 5 players, Goater rounding Neville in the Derby. He is a bit shit, not really the most sophisticated of players, but he is the living, breathing fight of the team. Let's face it, City are a bit shit, City aren't the most sophisticated European club, but WE are the living and breathing heart of Manchester. De Jong personifies this as a player, the belief that true effort, desire and the spirit of a warrior can outdo all of the fancy tricks put in front of it. He is Rocky to Barry's Ivan Drago.

There is something fundamentally likeable about De Jong, about his attitude off the pitch and about the way he plays on it. All this Abu Dhabi stuff is great, and the Torres', Messi's, and these cultured, continental midfielders that will come in will be lovely to watch, but we are not Real Madrid, and we are not the Harlem Globetrotters. There is something different about City and no matter who we bring in to the club we MUST not lose that identity. Not for all of the trillions of dollars that the Sheikh has.

Is he overrated? Probably, but that's besides the point.

De Jong sums up the spirit of the City. Not technically the greatest thing ever, but by pure determination we fight our way to the top table of football.

 

[blue_bird]

Funnily enough, I think De Jong is overrated by some Bluemooners....in my opinion, of course.

De Jong is a terrier in midfield, he always puts a shift in and plays with his heart on his sleeve. He's also the proverbial 'hardman', and more than a few people who have hit AJ early on in the game have had a De Jong ankle snapper to deal with a few minutes later, to put them in their place. They didn't do it again.

He is the player that we love to love, he dies on the pitch every game, protects the tricky players and stands tall in front of the back four looking midfielders square in the whites of their eyes and challenges them to come and have a go. He's our version of the 300 Spartans.

All that is great, but as a player, he is lacking in some departments. His shots are WAY off, he hasn't got much pace and his passing isn't great. Hell, his tackling isn't inch perfect (or it is and he's the best tackler ever).

But it doesn't matter. That's the scientific aspect of the game, the German, methodical, ultra-professional, ultra-chiselled mould of a midfielder. We have that in Garth Barry, the guy who is the footballer that every footballer likes, the perfect technician.

De Jong brings the heart of the Kippax onto the pitch, he is everything that has always been great about City, he is Buzzer on the wing without his shinpads, Kinkladze taking it round 5 players, Goater rounding Neville in the Derby. He is a bit shit, not really the most sophisticated of players, but he is the living, breathing fight of the team. Let's face it, City are a bit shit, City aren't the most sophisticated European club, but WE are the living and breathing heart of Manchester. De Jong personifies this as a player, the belief that true effort, desire and the spirit of a warrior can outdo all of the fancy tricks put in front of it. He is Rocky to Barry's Ivan Drago.

There is something fundamentally likeable about De Jong, about his attitude off the pitch and about the way he plays on it. All this Abu Dhabi stuff is great, and the Torres', Messi's, and these cultured, continental midfielders that will come in will be lovely to watch, but we are not Real Madrid, and we are not the Harlem Globetrotters. There is something different about City and no matter who we bring in to the club we MUST not lose that identity. Not for all of the trillions of dollars that the Sheikh has.

Is he overrated? Probably, but that's besides the point.

De Jong sums up the spirit of the City. Not technically the greatest thing ever, but by pure determination we fight our way to the top table of football.

And that, my friend, I cannot argue with (although Im a bit young for Rocky!).