And there I was fearing he would be the one to miss his penalty 

Played well today I thought. Played a beat backheel to Alonso that lead to the awarded penalty.

I think he’ll retain his place for the Arsenal game too.

If we keep him healthy and he contributes like this everyday - then we got ourselves a real bargain. 

 

I like Ross' attitude, physique, first touch, shot power. 

I don't like Ross' lack of initiative, vision, passing range, shot accuracy. 

1 hour ago, evissy said:

I like Ross' attitude, physique, first touch, shot power. 

I don't like Ross' lack of initiative, vision, passing range, shot accuracy. 

I like that hes English

2 hours ago, evissy said:

I like Ross' attitude, physique, first touch, shot power. 

I don't like Ross' lack of initiative, vision, passing range, shot accuracy. 

Agree! Not convinced at all & Kovacic starts all day for me.

I think the next step for him is to add some intelligence to his game, for Arsenal's goal (see 2.06 above) Willian appeared to create some space and offer himself for the pass - so Barkley wasn't entirely at fault for the goal - but that doesn't mean he should have played the pass unless he knew there was no risk of a possession turnover.

20 minutes ago, the special one said:

I think the next step for him is to add some intelligence to his game, for Arsenal's goal (see 2.06 above) Willian appeared to create some space and offer himself for the pass - so Barkley wasn't entirely at fault for the goal - but that doesn't mean he should have played the pass unless he knew there was no risk of a possession turnover.

He lost the ball in a similar area and fashion for aguero's opener in the charity shield. 

I don't think he has the footballing intelligence to make it to the very top of game. He has some good attributes, but mentally he isn't there for me.

46 minutes ago, the special one said:

I think the next step for him is to add some intelligence to his game, for Arsenal's goal (see 2.06 above) Willian appeared to create some space and offer himself for the pass - so Barkley wasn't entirely at fault for the goal - but that doesn't mean he should have played the pass unless he knew there was no risk of a possession turnover.

I think he is sort of hiding. I think he can play with more intelligence but I feel he is looking at players like Jorginho and Kante to carry and is sort of support for them. Shy style. It will cost him if he continues that way. 

However I would really like to see him succeed. 

16 hours ago, evissy said:

I think he is sort of hiding. I think he can play with more intelligence but I feel he is looking at players like Jorginho and Kante to carry and is sort of support for them. Shy style. It will cost him if he continues that way. 

However I would really like to see him succeed. 

The good news is if he shows any slight form of competence, we will be able to make a hefty profit on him.  Even if he doesn’t, we will still probably sell him for more than we paid.  And if he becomes a good or great player, then we can just keep him.  I see all 3 options as a win for us.

18 hours ago, evissy said:

I think he is sort of hiding. I think he can play with more intelligence but I feel he is looking at players like Jorginho and Kante to carry and is sort of support for them. Shy style. It will cost him if he continues that way. 

However I would really like to see him succeed. 

Exactly what I was saying about him and RLC they seem to be playing it safe not making the harder killer pass or tryìng to take a man on Leaving that for others to do they both need to take the risk at times and grab the game by the scruff of the neck 

12 hours ago, Cone said:

Exactly what I was saying about him and RLC they seem to be playing it safe not making the harder killer pass or tryìng to take a man on Leaving that for others to do they both need to take the risk at times and grab the game by the scruff of the neck 

I disagree about Barkley. He seems to regularly want to run at his man and have a pop. A lot more than RLC. Arsenal was a perfect example when he flicked the ball over the guy's head then dribbled with the ball and hit a very good effort that was well saved by Cech.

54 minutes ago, STATS said:

I disagree about Barkley. He seems to regularly want to run at his man and have a pop. A lot more than RLC. Arsenal was a perfect example when he flicked the ball over the guy's head then dribbled with the ball and hit a very good effort that was well saved by Cech.

that was a good move by Barkley on that play & shortly after he was subbed off - right now Barkley seems to be the better player than RLC - RLC is still work in progress - Barkley is a more complete article

I think he’s played okay so far but hasn’t done enough to warrant a place in the starting 11, conversely I thought Kovacic was excellent when he came on, going forwards as well as when he came back towards his own goal to help the defence.

Had we not signed Kovacic I’d have expected Barkley to get a long run in the team and time to build some momentum. Sadly Kovacic is a far superior player and I think once up to full speed he’ll be picked ahead of Barkley. 

Kovacic is clearly better, but Barkley is a perfect player to have on rotate and come on as a sub. He can even start a few games and I won't have any complaints

On 23/08/2018 at 14:28, JJP said:

Kovacic is clearly better, but Barkley is a perfect player to have on rotate and come on as a sub. He can even start a few games and I won't have any complaints

Kovacic is technically better and has a good football IQ, but I would say Barkley is more dangerous outside the box as a goal threat. Sometimes you need that goal threat in games where just technical ability isn't enough. 

I'm glad we have both him and Kovacic. At least there's genuine quality on the bench instead of having the fear of Bakayoko coming onto the field.

I thought we missed his presence yesterday. Kovacic and Jorginho play easy on the eyes football, but sometimes you want somebody who will force it a bit more. I would prefer to see Kovacic against the more open sides, It would suit his game better. When we are playing against these defensive sides, you need somebody in there that will force it more and give the defenders something else to think about, I think that is what Barkley would have given us yesterday.

I keep saying it. People give him sh*t, but he's the only legit goal threat outside the box we have from midfield. 

1 hour ago, enigma said:

I keep saying it. People give him sh*t, but he's the only legit goal threat outside the box we have from midfield. 

When will that threat turn into actual goals & assists though? He's played what 7 games for us this season including pre season & hasn't scored and I can't remember an assist although I could be wrong.

1 hour ago, rtwelch said:

When will that threat turn into actual goals & assists though? He's played what 7 games for us this season including pre season & hasn't scored and I can't remember an assist although I could be wrong.

Not seen him threaten the goal from outside the box like people keep saying either. Tbf i can't remember too many shots. One good one against Arsenal that Cech saved but that's about it. 

1 hour ago, rtwelch said:

When will that threat turn into actual goals & assists though? He's played what 7 games for us this season including pre season & hasn't scored and I can't remember an assist although I could be wrong.

Played the ball into Alonso against Huddersfield which led to the penalty.

I think saying he’s played 7 games when for and using it against him is a bit bizarre when four of those were pre-season friendlies where the focus is on fitness and one of those games he started on the bench.

He played well against Huddersfield and Arsenal and when you think he missed over half a season with injury last year he’s looked strong and fit.

I think he was unlucky not to have kept his place against Newcastle but will still see plenty of game time this season.

Like everyone else, barring Jorginho, he’s on a steep learning curve to adapt to Sarri’s system.

He’s not looked out of place when he’s been on the pitch, if the second goal against Newcastle hadn’t been deflected in for an own goal he was there for an easy tap in.

At this point I am just grateful that we've got Barkley and Kovacic competing for a midfield spot and not just playing Bakayako as he is the default choice like last season.

Both offer us something different & depending on the opposition both should be rotated, like someone mentioned previously against teams who park the bus Barkley may be a better option (maybe play both and rest Kante) but against better opposition who may look to press us Kovacic would certainly be the better choice.

Good performance from Barkley last night, strong run and good pass for our goal and was pretty industrious for a lot of the game. 

A few questionable passes though, something he needs to improve. I think Kovacic is comfortably ahead of him at the moment but a reassuring performance from him.