Gareth Barry? Where did it all go right?

[Notorious J.I.M]

Arsenal made an enquiry about him at the weekend and will soon have some money from the sale of Adebayor to Barca (funded by the sale of Ronaldinho to Citeh) and having lost Flamini they need him more than Liverpool. Add Hoyte into the deal, all payments up front and Bob's your Uncle. Barry gets Champions League footy, Villa get an up and coming right back and the Scousers get fuck all for all their dallying!

ETA and with the money Villa make we can firm up our interest in Milner and Michael Johnson to boot.

 

[TrippyLondoner]

God i hope he goes to arsenal instead of the liverpool scum in that case!

 

[Kizmet]

Arsenal made an enquiry about him at the weekend and will soon have some money from the sale of Adebayor to Barca (funded by the sale of Ronaldinho to Citeh) and having lost Flamini they need him more than Liverpool. Add Hoyte into the deal, all payments up front and Bob's your Uncle. Barry gets Champions League footy, Villa get an up and coming right back and the Scousers get fuck all for all their dallying!

ETA and with the money Villa make we can firm up our interest in Milner and Michael Johnson to boot.

not a bad state of affairs all round, to be honest. I think Milner's decent.. so the saved Barry money might go on him or downing or perhaps bentley. Who knows?

Perhaps Barry has his heart set on Liverpool.

 

[sleaterkinney]

Arsenal made an enquiry about him at the weekend and will soon have some money from the sale of Adebayor to Barca (funded by the sale of Ronaldinho to Citeh) and having lost Flamini they need him more than Liverpool. Add Hoyte into the deal, all payments up front and Bob's your Uncle. Barry gets Champions League footy, Villa get an up and coming right back and the Scousers get fuck all for all their dallying!

Wenger would never pay that kind of money for a player like Barry, it's just villa trying cack-handed to put pressure on us.

 

[Notorious J.I.M]

Wenger would never pay that kind of money for a player like Barry, it's just villa trying cack-handed to put pressure on us.

The price won't be as high if they pay all the money now and throw in Hoyte. Anyway Rafa is allowing Carson to go for £4 million after quoting £10 million to Villa. Perhaps O'Neill is prepared to lower his valuation for another club but is digging his heals in with Rafa due to the way Liverpool have gone about their business?

 

[jonnyd1978]

Liverpool (and Barry) have just been shabby from start to finish in the whole affair, as far as I can see. Benitez endlessly talking up a non-existent deal in the papers, Gerrard publicly tapping the player up on England duty, and then the club refusing to pay the asking price for an under-contract international regular. Barry claims he wants CL football, but then goes pissing and moaning about Villa doing nothing to keep him (despite his mind being made up since the Trinidad & Tobago match, according to O'Neill), and slates the manager in public and doesn't have the balls to hand in a formal transfer request. The sad thing is, he's an excellent, intelligent, versatile player who has shat very publicly on his own doorstep, and has been hung out to dry by the club that claimed to want his services, in arguably the most important season of his career. Let him rot in the fucking reserves, I say.

The way I heard is that Barry almost moved to Portsmouth a couple of years ago but MON persuaded him to stay on the proviso that he could go if a "Big" club came in for him with a decent offer. Maybe it's MON behaving shabbily by going back on his word.

 

[TrippyLondoner]

The way I heard is that Barry almost moved to Portsmouth a couple of years ago but MON persuaded him to stay on the proviso that he could go if a "Big" club came in for him with a decent offer. Maybe it's MON behaving shabbily by going back on his word.

Do you have any proof of that?

 

[revol68]

Yep, but if Carrick, who has one running speed and can't tackle, is worth £19million then the value becomes a little more understandable.

hahaha go fuck yourself you bitter scouse cunt.

Michael Carrick has shown himself as central to a side that have won back to back Premiership titles and a Champions League title. His calmness, vision and passing execution are fantastic and as for his tackling well I don't know if you actually watch him but his defensive positioning is excellent, he rarely has to engage in last ditch tackling because his reading of the game is so good.

 

[TrippyLondoner]

Once again tarannau reveals he knows fuck all compared to everyone else.

 

[revol68]

Once again tarannau reveals he knows fuck all compared to everyone else.

he's a Liverpool fan the last time he had a reason to take a keen interest in football there was still the pass back.

 

[stupid kid]

hahaha go fuck yourself you bitter scouse cunt.

Michael Carrick has shown himself as central to a side that have won back to back Premiership titles and a Champions League title. His calmness, vision and passing execution are fantastic and as for his tackling well I don't know if you actually watch him but his defensive positioning is excellent, he rarely has to engage in last ditch tackling because his reading of the game is so good.

Yeah but come on, he was incredibly expensive, a lot of your fans don't seem to like him all that much and you could've won the league twice without him. He's part of the team but he's clearly not the keystone.

 

[revol68]

Yeah but come on, he was incredibly expensive, a lot of your fans don't seem to like him all that much and you could've won the league twice without him. He's part of the team but he's clearly not the keystone.

He was expensive, yes, but players of his type are very few and far between and that was the market price. I would say that Carrick has been a large factor in the two premiership titles, just remember back to when it was John O'Shea or even Alan Smith pulling the midfield passing strings .

A lot of Man Utd fans don't appreciate what he does but then Man Utd have as many muppets supporting them as the next club, as can be testified by the amount of grown men walking around with Ronaldo 7 on the back of their replica shirts. I mean it's bad enough to be wearing a replica shirt in the pub (what do they expect to happen? An emergency call up by Ferguson via the interactive red button?) even worse when it's got such an obvious player as Ronaldo on it.

Carricks return to fitness and form half way through the season was a big factor in United maintaining their momentum.

 

[brixtonvilla]

The way I heard is that Barry almost moved to Portsmouth a couple of years ago but MON persuaded him to stay on the proviso that he could go if a "Big" club came in for him with a decent offer. Maybe it's MON behaving shabbily by going back on his word.

And maybe your auntie's got hairy bollocks and is actually your uncle. Do you have anything to substantiate that? Like, say, maybe a sell-on or release clause in Barry's renewed contract? Or is this a "some bloke in the pub told me" factoid?

 

[andyefc]

barrys a shithouse its not like villia r gonna be strugglin with relegation couple of decent signings and they could overtake the mighty reds

 

[aylee]

And maybe your auntie's got hairy bollocks and is actually your uncle.

Phrase noted for future use, particularly against scousers.

 

[stupid kid]

The Alonso deal is off, Juve signed someone else. Can't really see Liverpool having Barry, Gerrard and Alonso in the same squad, and no new winger. I wonder if the Keane signing has fallen through yet...

 

[Notorious J.I.M]

Interestingly Barry is rejoining the Villa squad for pre-season training tomorrow as well.
Barry back in training

 

[sleaterkinney]

Good, hope he stays there.

 

[stavros]

Re. Carrick, I've long thought he had a very continental style and would be appreciated more in Italy, Spain or France. He doesn't insist on playing at breakneck speed and always going for the spectacular, which is what the top level of the English game is marketed to appreciate. A similar argument can be applied to Barry, although he will go for goal more often.

 

[maximilian ping]

He was taken off at half-time against croatia. A fringe player from a team that didn't make euro 2008.

I can't see why we're in for him, he's an average player imo and it's a position where we are very strong. 12-14 million would be about right, MON is having a laugh.

boo hiss. barry was a revelation for england. first player to not panic and lose the ball in midfield for ages. and he assisted for most of their goals

 

[revol68]

boo hiss. barry was a revelation for england. first player to not panic and lose the ball in midfield for ages. and he assisted for most of their goals

Carrick is much better than him but didn't get a call up for some unknown reason.

TBH I don't know why Liverpool are soo keen they have Alonso and Mascherano in the middle.

 

[kained&able]

reckonm alonso not going to juve wil kill the barry deal which will kill then bentley deal.

dave

 

[maximilian ping]

Carrick is much better than him

wee wee talk

 

[kained&able]

i reckon carrik is a better passer & positionally but bsrry is more hard working and better going foward.

dave

 

[STFC]

Barry's a decent enough player. Is he worth £20m? Probably not, but is any player 'worth' the price quoted? Villa clearly don't want him to go, but if he does then they want to get as much as they can possibly for him.

Carrick is class, anyone can see that. Clearly he learnt it all when he came on loan to us as a youngster. He was much more of an attacking player then, but he was, and still is, quality.

 

[revol68]

i reckon carrik is a better passer & positionally but bsrry is more hard working and better going foward.

dave

Barry is much more english, aye.

Surely England have enough hard workers and bombers forward, Carrick is exactly what they need. Also if you can pass and position yourself well you just don't have to work so hard.

 

[stavros]

I've long gone for a Carrick-Hargreaves deep-lying midfield axis, similar to Pirlo and Gattusso for Italy or Xavi and Senna for Spain (current holders of the World Cup and European Championships respectively). It means the Rooney's space doesn't get overcrowded and allows the wide men to get forward more. And yes, it could possibly mean dropping both Gerrard and especially Lampard.

 

[jonnyd1978]

And maybe your auntie's got hairy bollocks and is actually your uncle. Do you have anything to substantiate that? Like, say, maybe a sell-on or release clause in Barry's renewed contract? Or is this a "some bloke in the pub told me" factoid?

Nothing to substantiate it no! Heard it on BBC radio...probably Monday night if I recall correctly from a journo. It does seem to fit though as I remember Barry was in a bit of limbo a couple of years back...the Villa fans loved him but he never really seemed to have a settled place in the team. I remember he was seemingly playing centre back one week, then left mid, then left back then centre mid etc! Didn't his first England cap come under Hoddle at either left back or the left side of a back 3? Time has addled my mind!
It could be that MON said he wouldn't stand in the way of a big move...these things happen in football. And if the offer is of the value as has been reported then it's certainly comparable to the Carrick/Hargreaves fees recently paid for similar type players (positionally speaking!).

 

[aylee]

I've long gone for a Carrick-Hargreaves deep-lying midfield axis, similar to Pirlo and Gattusso for Italy or Xavi and Senna for Spain (current holders of the World Cup and European Championships respectively). It means the Rooney's space doesn't get overcrowded and allows the wide men to get forward more. And yes, it could possibly mean dropping both Gerrard and especially Lampard.

Too conservative. Hargreaves is essentially a defensive midfielder and Carrick tends to drift around. I think that recent history shows that England are at their most effective when they have one midfielder who is constantly pushing forward to support the front man/men, and one to guard the defence. The best duo for that role has been Barry and Gerrard, although maybe Hargreaves and Gerrard deserves a few more tests.

Carrick's now made 14 England appearances, including 5 as a sub, which surprised me - I thought it was fewer.

 

[stavros]

Too conservative. Hargreaves is essentially a defensive midfielder and Carrick tends to drift around. I think that recent history shows that England are at their most effective when they have one midfielder who is constantly pushing forward to support the front man/men, and one to guard the defence. The best duo for that role has been Barry and Gerrard, although maybe Hargreaves and Gerrard deserves a few more tests.

Carrick's now made 14 England appearances, including 5 as a sub, which surprised me - I thought it was fewer.

You make a good case, but Hargreaves is capable of the odd maraud forward, and Carrick would provide him with the opportunity to do that. International football is hugely dependent on the ability to keep the ball, and both are excellent at that. Ideally, I'd play them with Rooney running off a centre forward with a couple of proper wingers to push forward and support (Bentley, Young, Lennon, Downing, etc). I still remain unconvinced by Gerrard at international level, with perhaps him showing the difference between the English domestic game and the international scene.