Flat track bully at it again.

Had this been a decent team, he would have gone missing like he does for us

It must be a first to have a regular starter for England not considered good enough for Chelsea.

58 minutes ago, Dixons said:

It must be a first to have a regular starter for England not considered good enough for Chelsea.

Its an interesting point but I'm not so sure if Cahill, Glen Johnson and Wayne Bridge didn't find themselves in a similar position. Wasn't Glen kept out by Pablo, Cahill by Luiz, Terry and Rudiger and Wayne by Ashley Cole?

 

33 minutes ago, Andy North said:

Its an interesting point but I'm not so sure if Cahill, Glen Johnson and Wayne Bridge didn't find themselves in a similar position. Wasn't Glen kept out by Pablo, Cahill by Luiz, Terry and Rudiger and Wayne by Ashley Cole?

 

I dont think Glen johnson was ever a regular starter for englamd while he was here. Neville was number 1st choice right back.

Bridge was behind cole for club and country.

Cahill was a starter for the majority of his chelsea career. Certainly dont think you could deem him not good enough until possibly his last season, by which time he was no longer a regular starter for England either.

I think Barkley is a unique case in that respect, i think he is excellent in games against lower level opposition, some players dont apply themselves in those type of games, but Barkley really imposes himself. 

The trouble is, as soon as he comes up against a decent side that press, and dont allow him as much time and space on the ball, he finds it difficult to consistently make the right decisions, and he is either forced into making mistakes, or plays so safe that he doesnt make enough 9f an impact. 

So it makes sense how he looks great against bulgaria or serbia, where teams are less organised, and the slower pace of international football, but put him against any decent premier league side, and he struggles.

18 minutes ago, big blue said:

I dont think Glen johnson was ever a regular starter for englamd while he was here. Neville was number 1st choice right back.

Bridge was behind cole for club and country.

Cahill was a starter for the majority of his chelsea career. Certainly dont think you could deem him not good enough until possibly his last season, by which time he was no longer a regular starter for England either.

I think Barkley is a unique case in that respect, i think he is excellent in games against lower level opposition, some players dont apply themselves in those type of games, but Barkley really imposes himself. 

The trouble is, as soon as he comes up against a decent side that press, and dont allow him as much time and space on the ball, he finds it difficult to consistently make the right decisions, and he is either forced into making mistakes, or plays so safe that he doesnt make enough 9f an impact. 

So it makes sense how he looks great against bulgaria or serbia, where teams are less organised, and the slower pace of international football, but put him against any decent premier league side, and he struggles.

I agree. I think he'll only ever be a squad player as long as Kovacic and RLC are around.

Barkley has great technical ability, but the thing that lets him down and the reason why I think he will never be a top class player is he plays with his head down. What I mean is that the best players play with their head up taking in their surroundings so they know instantly when the ball is received what to do, the position of their team mates/opposition, and to plan the next move ahead.  This is why when given time on the ball he plays well because he's got time to do all the things he should be doing before he receives the ball, but press him and he needs extra touches to work out his next move which is usually a sideways/back pass because the initial option is now closed.  Receiving/spatial awareness is what separates the good from the great midfielders and it's no surprise that Lampards was the best in the business.

I know it might not interest some, but he was caught dancing with his top off in a night club in the AM. Now that to me is nothing, but isn't he still injured? He's an injured player who's going to night clubs getting smashed? 

Before the season started Ross couldn't have had it better this season, transfer ban, countless of injuries, strong preseason and a manager who wanted to give him the chance and he's completely blown it I think. His highlights of this season are missing a penalty, getting subbed off at halftime, and dropping his chips in the back of a taxi. Needs to sort himself out, don't become another Drinkwater. 

Edited November 24, 20196 yr by Slojo

21 minutes ago, Slojo said:

I know it might not interest some, but he was caught dancing with his top off in a night club in the AM. Now that to me is nothing, but isn't he still injured? He's an injured player who's going to night clubs getting smashed? 

Before the season started Ross couldn't have had it better this season, transfer ban, countless of injuries, strong preseason and a manager who wanted to give him the chance and he's completely blown it I think. His highlights of this season are missing a penalty, getting subbed off at halftime, and dropping his chips in the back of a taxi. Needs to sort himself out, don't become another Drinkwater. 

I agree.

Although it's one of those "nothing stories" he only needs to look to Lamps to see how a player should be behaving if he wants to make it to the top. You'd think Jody would be having a word with him and pointing out how it can all go downhill very quickly.

7 minutes ago, Nibs said:

I agree.

Although it's one of those "nothing stories" he only needs to look to Lamps to see how a player should be behaving if he wants to make it to the top. You'd think Jody would be having a word with him and pointing out how it can all go downhill very quickly.

Can't stand gossip myself Nibs, boys will be boys, we all do stupid stuff and with money we would be even more stupid. But it doesn't bode well when you're an injured player and you're going out in nightclubs getting sh*tfaced. I don't hear this from any of our young players, Ross is 25 now. This season was perfect for him to cement his place here, I actually think he's blown it, when RLC comes back, Kante is already back, Mount has been in good form, I can't see how he even gets his game here. And Billy Gilmour is going to get the minutes every now and then, I wouldn't be surprised to see Barkley offloaded in January at this point, a shame. 

Edited November 24, 20196 yr by Slojo

1 minute ago, Slojo said:

Can't stand gossip myself Nibs, boys will be boys, we all do stupid stuff and with money we would be even more stupid. But it doesn't bode well when you're an injured player and you're going out in nightclubs getting sh*tfaced. I don't hear this from any of young players, Ross is 25 now. This season was perfect for him to cement his place here, I actually think he's blown it, when RLC comes back, Kante is already back, Mount has been in good form, I can't see how he even gets his game here. And Billy Gilmour is going to get the minutes every now and then, I wouldn't be surprised to see Barkley offloaded in January at this point, a shame. 

I agree on him going and think it will be down to the Championship don't think he is Premier league now, the game is too fast for him to react.

1 minute ago, Strider6003 said:

I agree on him going and think it will be down to the Championship don't think he is Premier league now, the game is too fast for him to react.

I think he's definitely PL level, he plays well for England. But Chelsea material I don't think so, last season we saw some very good games from him under Sarri. To me though he's inconsistent, he doesn't play well against top opposition with a high press and he's always playing with his head down taking too many touches and disrupting the play around him. 

6 minutes ago, Slojo said:

I think he's definitely PL level, he plays well for England. But Chelsea material I don't think so, last season we saw some very good games from him under Sarri. To me though he's inconsistent, he doesn't play well against top opposition with a high press and he's always playing with his head down taking too many touches and disrupting the play around him. 

I think he has played well for England against the lesser sides and your second sentence is why I think he needs to drop a level as I don't think he can change this.

He's a real enigma.

I thought a lot of his problems were that he wasn't really being coached well. At Everton that seemed to be the case and i can't imagine Conte gave that much of a sh*t about him which is why I was excited about the prospect of Sarri (who was known for reviving a lost cause or two in Naples) coming in and coaching him.

For a while things looked promising and then there was that purple patch in October when it looked like he was finally starting to furfil some of his early promise but then he reverted back to type.

Part of me thinks we should keep him as squad filler because there will be two or three games a season he will bring his A game and potentially win us crucial points but if the chance of getting £30-40m while giving his place to Gallagher arises that would be quite the tempting prospect aswell.

Edited November 24, 20196 yr by Argo

Just now, Strider6003 said:

I think he has played well for England against the lesser sides and your second sentence is why I think he needs to drop a level as I don't think he can change this.

I think if he's brave enough to move abroad Serie A will suit him down to the ground.

1 minute ago, Argo said:

I think if he's brave enough to move abroad Serie A will suit him down to the ground.

Perhaps we should let Inter know first.....................

I think he’s good enough for Arsenal.

40 minutes ago, Dean said:

I think he’s good enough for Arsenal.

Too good

I dont care, he's not good enough anyway and when Loftus Cheek comes back his chances of playing are even slimmer than they are now. He will be sold in the summer.

Yeah I’m not a fan of Barkley. While he has a lot of talent, his footballing brain lets him down.

Big parallels between him and RLC both on and off the pitch. One has got his head down and all we see is him talking about how he can't wait to get back onto the pitch for Chelsea, the other is out again this season getting pissed and not heard a peep from him professionally. 

This is why RLC will go down in years as a great Chelsea player and Ross will be quickly forgotten.

Should try and force a move to Burnley for the sake of his career.

He might push for a move himself though not sure who will take him.

Reckon he'd be well suited for a team like Bayern tbh, slower pace, more time on the ball etc

Edited November 25, 20196 yr by the special one

On 25/11/2019 at 13:37, Strider6003 said:

He might push for a move himself though not sure who will take him.

Everton might want him back, West Ham?

4 minutes ago, jack_super_class said:

Everton might want him back, West Ham?

Both probably in transition with new managers likely to appear on the horizon........

2 minutes ago, Strider6003 said:

Both probably in transition with new managers likely to appear on the horizon........

Everton have a director of football so not sure how much manager input matters in transfers.