The conundrum of how to use Barry and Milner

[john@staustell]

It seems like Bobby has said to Milner this year - "you said you wanted to play central midfield, now's your chance so get out there and do it!" James puts a lot of effort in, but doesn't seem to get anywhere. Strange to say but we seemed to be crying out for a bit of Barry-type stability from the start yesterday.

Bobby says we should learn the lessons (again, after yet another last-second defeat to SCUM). Now I'm not that given to criticising Mancini too much but surely lesson number one is:

If you are 2-0 up against the Scum at half time, take off Dzeko or Balotelli, move Milner to the left and bring on Barry next to Nige.

Isn't that obvious, or is it me?

And get James back on the bench!

[Dubciteh]

I think Barry may have Vieira's role for this season which is a shame as he is more vital than people give him credit for.

Of all teams i thought we would of been able to hold onto a two goal lead, even if it was an undeserved lead. We were too deep we should of pressed from the front. I personally, would of brought on SWP and Johnson and tried to press there fullbacks back, evra and smalling had freedom of the pitch as Balo and silva wandered aimlessly.

Another regret yest is even though we lost and played terrible we didnt use our full bench to give everyone a run, essentially we got fuck all out of the game except a dent in confidence and an embarasement.

[kinkylola]

I thought we had a lot of problems when milner was moved out wide and then eventually replaced. Barry is just too slow to cover ground in the middle of the park, and milner, while not overly fast, is not slow, and can run all day closing down players in the middle. IMO milner is a much better partner for dejong in mid.

One thing I don't like about our midfield is how often players seem to be out of position though. I know yaya will wander ... that being the case de jong and milner should work a lot harder to maintain their positioning, imo. De jong was all over hte place yesterday, though when milner was in the middle I thought he did a good job of chasing everything down and being a general all action kind of guy. Barry tried to do that (i guess?), but all he ended up doing was slowing everything WAY WAY down, while not helping hold possession, and make some really shitty attempts at over the top passes. If that's really what we want in mid, get rid of barry, i'll play for 1/10th his wages and i'm much faster.

[Chinners]

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of stick Barry gets .... unreal

[kinkylola]

He is obviously highly rated by people who know a lot more about the game than I do ... Mancini, Capello are two ... and if I'm wrong or missing something than I will hold my hands up and admit it. But I just can't tell exactly what it is that he's supposed to be excellent at. can someone help me out? Not being sarcastic.

[CityGer]

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of stick Barry gets .... unreal

I know. We would have won that game if Bobby had brought him on at half time.

[Dubciteh]

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of stick Barry gets .... unreal

In fairness, me and John praised him and kinky said hed rather Milner, hardly the worse is it?

[Chinners]

Agreed, it wasn't this thread, just the genral stick he seems to get in the main. imo I think he anticipates stuff very well and nips it in the bud before most other players even realise there is any danger. It would be nice if he was a tad quicker, granted.

[Dronny]

Agreed, it wasn't this thread, just the genral stick he seems to get in the main. imo I think he anticipates stuff very well and nips it in the bud before most other players even realise there is any danger. It would be nice if he was a tad quicker, granted.

Also I think Nige plays better with GB than Milner, we are certainly better balanced that's for sure.

[BobKowalski]

It seems like Bobby has said to Milner this year - "you said you wanted to play central midfield, now's your chance so get out there and do it!" James puts a lot of effort in, but doesn't seem to get anywhere. Strange to say but we seemed to be crying out for a bit of Barry-type stability from the start yesterday.

Bobby says we should learn the lessons (again, after yet another last-second defeat to SCUM). Now I'm not that given to criticising Mancini too much but surely lesson number one is:

If you are 2-0 up against the Scum at half time, take off Dzeko or Balotelli, move Milner to the left and bring on Barry next to Nige.

Isn't that obvious, or is it me?

And get James back on the bench!

I agree. Bringing Barry on HT and withdrawing Mario we would have likely shut the match out and if it had been a competitive game then we would probably have done that however I can't help feeling that if Mancini had swapped Mario for Barry we would be complaining about 'negative' tactics and sitting back and not 'going for it' etc etc.

My own view is that Hart was spot on when he said we didn't come out with the right mentality. It was almost if the 1st half had been too easy which in a way it was. They played better but we scored the goals (which is something everyone wanks over when manu do the same) and to be honest I can't recall Hart making much in the way of a real save 1st half either and that was against their 'better team'.

Fact is it wasn't so much a personnel problem as an attitude problem and we got a huge kick in the pants for our pains. We should have won the match from 2-0 up. That we didn't is a timely reminder that if you don't put in 100% and concentrate for 90+ minutes you get fucked.

Oh and Barry is imo an excellent player. He reads the game well. Breaks things up quietly and gets things moving. Tactically disciplined and does what Mancini tells him to do. Milner is getting a run out as Mancini already knows what Barry can do. Barry is a clever player first and foremost which is what managers like Mancini and Capello value. I can see Milner playing in the 'lesser' games and Barry in the more high profile so I don't think its a conundrum as we will have a lot of games.

[MR IMAINEROAD]

I agree about Barry. He reminds me a bit of the great Bobby Moore, not the fastest player but an amazing reader of the game. He stops things before they happen so most people (including me) don't realise what's happening.

[bluebananamilksheikh]

I agree about Barry. He reminds me a bit of the great Bobby Moore, not the fastest player but an amazing reader of the game. He stops things before they happen so most people (including me) don't realise what's happening.

I am not one of these people that gives Barry loads of stick, but to compare to Bobby Moore FFS Come on !!!!

[Ted Hughes]

We shouldn't need to bring Barry on when we're two up.

Milner was given a big chance to take centre stage & didn't do the job as well as Barry does. Bob will only give him so many opportunities before relegating him to squad player staus, then out the door.

[sandman]

I honestly believe that both have proven that they are not coping with our current level aswell as they should and they are certainly not even potentially good enough for where we want to be.

I'd list the pair.

[david yearsley]

We shouldn't need to bring Barry on when we're two up.

Milner was given a big chance to take centre stage & didn't do the job as well as Barry does. Bob will only give him so many opportunities before relegating him to squad player staus, then out the door.

This^

[blues2win]

The fact that Mancini is looking for a top class midfielder; Nasri or maybe Scheider still; tells you that neither Barry nor Milner will play in the big games this season. If Nasri comes no doubt Yaya will sit more which may suit him and all those moaning about his lack of stamina.

Personally I think we'd miss those amazing barnstorming runs with the ball although I accept that the recovery time afterwards presents a problem if we lose the ball.

[twosips]

You've gotta hope that signing Nasri or someone means the following for Swansea

.... De Jong ... Yaya ....

Nasri .... Silva ..... Balo/Aguero

......... Tevez/Aguero ..............

Should see Yaya drop deeper. He's got the quality to dictate play. No more Milner and Barry then.

[the_georgian_genius]

How to use Barry and Milner?

It's simple, you play Barry because he is vital to our team and is a very very good player and you bench Milner and only use him when needed because he is very very average.

[irblinx]

Away from home against bigger teams I'd use Milner in the advanced midfield role (ala Yaya last season) and Barry next to Nige. Yaya can sit on the bench for me in big games, he's a luxury that we can't afford, hopelessly unfit for a professional athlete.

[Rag_hater]

I think it has become fashionable amongst our fans to blame any loss we suffer on Barry's speed.He is not slow enough for it to be an issue IMO.
In a recent study he has been shown to be faster than Essien.You don't hear chelski fans moaning that Essien should be dropped because he isn't fast enough.I would say most people would pick him to play when he is fit regardless of his slowness.Would the Barry haters swap Essien for Barry? Is Essien better than Barry?If the answer is yes then you would swap our Gareth for someone who is slower