Sure, but none of the players to whom we give meaningful minutes do it all the time and on such a consistent basis, especially when they offer so few positives. What exactly is Barkley’s skill? He’s not a good passer, he doesn’t score a lot of goals, he’s not tactically disciplined, he’s not a great tackler. He does win fouls because he’s a decent dribbler, which makes him a poor man’s Jack Wilshere. But Jack Wilshere also flattered to deceive for many years, which is why he’s current struggling to get playing time on a West Ham side whose midfield resembles Swiss cheese. And if your argument is that Alonso is also not great, I don’t disagree - we can use an upgrade at left back. But he’s not as consistently disappointing as Barkley. This doesn’t mean I “hate” Barkley, either, anymore than I “hated” Steve Sidwell because he had no business playing for us.
He had a couple of moments including one time when he got into a great position, did a nice turn and shot which unfortunately went straight at the keeper but he didn't do enough today. Of course, that's why it was him that was substituted by Puli which, frankly, (npi), wasn't before time.
The old saying about strikers was that when they miss you don't worry too much. When they STOP getting into position to miss, THAT'S when you start worrying.
The annoying thing is he can do all those things quite well but then he completely fumbles even a relatively simple pass. I think the description of him as a good squad player is accurate, To be clear, I never thought you did.
CHO. 18-years-old and can spray the ball around brilliantly, he is full of confidence. Pace. Takes players on. Strong on the ball. And he has just come back from injury, so there is a lot more to come from the lad.
A lot of talk going on about the game now that the lad has a very high ceiling, perhaps, ...perhaps....even as high as a certain Belgian, if his development curve continues. Alas, thats the thing in a way though, isn't it? At 18 years of age, there is no guarantee that he will continue to "get better". Thats okay though, he's pretty damn good as is
Barkley is a squad player. Had Kante been fit, he would not have played yesterday, also Kovacic was carrying an injury before the game. When RLC is back Barkley falls further down in the pecking order. When Mount and Pulisic and the rest of our younger players gain more experience, Barkley falls further down. After the Bulgaria game the English press praised Barkely for ‘coming of age’. Southgate, Sarri and Lampard all seem to pick him, so I just don’t see him as a complete disaster. I mean, it is not like the days when we desperately needed an attacking player and we ended up with the complete cluster fcuck of a non-entity in Benayoun, who was never ever good enough to play for Chelsea. Barkley is a valid squad player. There is just excessive scrutiny of Barkley on here, for whatever reasons. He only played 43 mins yesterday so I don't really understand that at all. Squad player. Barkley is a squad player.
It's also worth saying that if the ban wasn't in place we maybe would have added someone in that position, depending on whether we think RLC is going to come back sooner rather than later. As it is we're having to muddle through with guys who are inconsistent which is really the issue with Ross.
Highlights of the game. Any other day Tammy would have scored a "brace" - he was millimeters away from goal a couple of times. That is the way of football.
And yet Lampard AND the England manager keep picking him? Are we to believe that neither of them no what they are doing? If Southgate was called suthgatti and Lampard was called Lampardino I doubt anybody would be arguing about it right?
He never has for either club or country. Barkley’s entire reputation rests on being promising while young and playing well against bad teams. He hasn’t improved since he was young and he’s still pretty good against bad teams. But when he plays against real premier league competition he’s just not good enough.
We bought him while we had an Italian manager, and it was a bad idea then too. This isn’t a Lampard issue (well, having him take penalties was), it’s a squad construction issue. We bought Barkley when we had concerns about the number of home grown players in the squad and he was a buy low high upside possibility. The upside hasn’t been there (as mostly expected) while the home grown numbers aren’t an issue anymore. Lampard plays him because there aren’t a lot of other options when Kante is hurt and Kovacic isn’t 100%. I’m not sure RLC being fit will help either - RLC isn’t a pivot. (Not that Barkley really is either, but that’s moot.) Yes, Barkley does play for England but that speaks more to England lack of quality in central midfield at the moment. England are also playing Winks and Rice there, which is not great! (Rice might be good in the future, but he’s not now.) England are a decent but not great international side*, but it’s strength isn’t in midfield, and hasn’t been for quite some time. England’s best recent performance, at the World Cup, was about having a sold defense and great set pieces while playing a 3 man backline and mostly playing past the midfield by hitting long balls for Sterling. This isn’t a selling point for Barkley. Hammering Bulgaria isn’t that different than hammering Grimsby. *Yes, obviously England is better than the US, before someone inevitably brings that up. Not at all the point.
I'll take that as a 'No he cant' Nah, like I said, he's played against some good opposition for both club and country and produced some good moments. The problem is, that's normally what it is... 'moments'. But I agree with you, we need someone better and more reliable.
You put me in a Chelsea shirt and percentages say I’ll eventually produce a moment of competence.* That Barkley can isn’t terribly meaningful if the vast majority of the time he can’t. I think he’d be a solid player for a bottom ten side. But we should do better. IMHO, he basically plays the same position as RLC, but does it much worse.
Well, on that last part, if he comes back at his best RLC can be a very decent player for us. I'd think we'd have looked to try and bring in someone else, as well as Puli, if we'd only got Ross.
Here is the thing with RLC. The lad has talent, bags of it, big, strong robust player.Perfect for an attacking midfielder, not a winger or a wide player of any sort.He's quick off the mark as opposed to blessed with pace. He's not going to get time on the field at the expense of Abraham, or IMHO Bats in cup games. When he does come back into contention, somebody is not going to be making the squad at all, let alone the bench. Some of the pieces are falling into place as the season rolls along, namely CHO will start when he can, Willian will have to play his way "out" of the team, Pedro is going to get a look in and Kante will be one of the first three on the team sheet every week. I'm thinking that this could well be Barkleys last season with us, loaned out or sold in the summer. Of course, this is all contingent on RLC living up to last seasons form.
Barkley should be gone regardless of what happens with RLC. We don’t play a formation that has a spot for RLC at the moment against better teams, though I think we would if we switched to a 4-3-3. That would, however, likely mean dropping Mount for RLC to a large extent.
I think RLC is a far more talented player than Barkley. I also don’t think he and Pulisic are very similar. Pulisic can’t really play in midfield.
The way I see it is that RLC, Mount, Puli, WIllian, Pedro, etc., can ALL be good players for us and, although they're clearly not exactly the same, they can do similar jobs for in bringing the ball forward and developing attacks, both on their own and in combination with others. Although some are obviously more suited to one system than another, I don't think someone's 'place' has as much meaning in a very talented attacking midfield/forward line that I think frank's trying to develop. Of course, that's outside of an out and out CF in tammy or Giroud.
I do wonder, and have for a while since the emergence of Mount, if Lampard will revert to the diamond he played in himself with Ballack. That, of course, would pigeon hole Kante...but I think that should be the case anyway.