2 minutes ago, Remodez said:

That's not improvement. He's always had those strengths. The problem is he can't play well for more than a few weeks in a whole season. 

I agree at his best he's a very good squad player but until he can perform more consistently (at least do a Fabregas and perform well for the first 6 months of the season and tail off towards the end) I just see him as a waste of squad space.

In fairness to Fabregas, you could tell he had real physical limitations when he came to Chelsea, you could also see it at Barcelona. I think his injuries at Arsenal caught up with him and being run into the ground there. But despite all that, he was so good on the ball that he was worth all the money we paid, probably the best playmaker we've had at the club. 

So I think with Cesc it wasn't really his fault, with Ross it's just more a mental block in his head, sometimes he shows up, sometimes he doesn't. To be fair, a lot of the time Barkley's bad performance gets overshadowed by a goal he scored, the Leicester game for example, I thought he was awful in that game but because he scored everyone claimed he had a solid game. 

20 minutes ago, Slojo said:

To be fair, a lot of the time Barkley's bad performance gets overshadowed by a goal he scored, the Leicester game for example, I thought he was awful in that game but because he scored everyone claimed he had a solid game. 

I agree, I seem to remember a couple of occasions where we had men over on the break and he made the wrong choices.

Hopefully we can get Havertz and the difference will be night and day.

Edited August 9, 20205 yr by 2211

Apart from him occupying a home grown spot, can't see reasons to keep him when we get Havertz. This is his second full season at Chelsea, really should have nailed that starting spot with the transfer ban this season. He had his good patch, but never put 5-6 decent games in a row.

He just isnt good enough. I would think he would be one of the easiest players for us to sell.

Sell 

If he’s happy being a sub then so be it but he has absolutely no chance of a starting spot. 

Remember MVG, Pier Luigi Casiraghi and am sure there are others.

You need back ups, you expect them to b benchwarmers and then the football gods step in. 

Absolutely. Barkley is the second best substitute material in this team behind Giroud. The team is still young, there will be a lot of new players, new style... we will need to acknowledge the possibility of trailing more often than we would want to. And Barkley has some of the best cameos coming off the bench. On the other hand some guys like CHO, RLC and Abraham lack the energy and mentality to turn the games and they have some of the worst performances as substitutes. 

Keep him. 

Edited August 11, 20205 yr by Droopy

Barkley is a great squad player, no reason to sell him.

On 10/08/2020 at 11:31, jack_super_class said:

He just isnt good enough. I would think he would be one of the easiest players for us to sell.

Surely West Ham beckons as a make weight in a Declan Rice deal

15 hours ago, Droopy said:

Absolutely. Barkley is the second best substitute material in this team behind Giroud. The team is still young, there will be a lot of new players, new style... we will need to acknowledge the possibility of trailing more often than we would want to. And Barkley has some of the best cameos coming off the bench. On the other hand some guys like CHO, RLC and Abraham lack the energy and mentality to turn the games and they have some of the worst performances as substitutes. 

Keep him. 

No idea what you're seeing when watching him! The bolded bit is particularly ironic.

He's ponderous and indicisive on the ball, the quality of his final ball in particular seems to be getting worse recently! Not a player you can rely on to change a game when needed. He's had a few good moments but like with his time at Everton, consistancy is his problem and there's been few signs of that getting any better.

57 minutes ago, jack h said:

No idea what you're seeing when watching him! The bolded bit is particularly ironic.

He's ponderous and indicisive on the ball, the quality of his final ball in particular seems to be getting worse recently! Not a player you can rely on to change a game when needed. He's had a few good moments but like with his time at Everton, consistancy is his problem and there's been few signs of that getting any better.

Agreed, not sure what he's smoking there. RLC especially is levels above him in talent, that ball he gave to Tammy on the counter attack against Palace was sublime. Then you get Barkley who can't even square a ball properly against Leicester when it's 4 vs 3. CHO and Tammy also have more potential. 

Barkley is 26 now, he can improve but not a great deal, very inconsistent. If we can get a good bid for him we should take it, I think a side like West Ham would pay a decent amount for him. 

3 hours ago, jack h said:

No idea what you're seeing when watching him! The bolded bit is particularly ironic.

He's ponderous and indicisive on the ball, the quality of his final ball in particular seems to be getting worse recently! Not a player you can rely on to change a game when needed. He's had a few good moments but like with his time at Everton, consistancy is his problem and there's been few signs of that getting any better.

also didnt TA score 2 -3 goals in the las 6-7 matches as a sub too? i can remember one against pool then another which RLC assisted.

Doesnt Barkley count towards the english/home grown quota or is that scrapped off ? 

54 minutes ago, brownindian said:

Doesnt Barkley count towards the english/home grown quota or is that scrapped off ? 

Think that has long been scrapped.

He does however count towards the quota of players who have bags of potential and on a given day look world class but for the majority of the season turn out to be not all that so you are all for off-loading them and then out of the blue they have one good game and you kinda go round in circles. We seem to have had plenty of that type of player in recent seasons!!

Never got the agg with him, perfectly decent squad player.

Played well when he came on. Much better understanding of the role and helped with team cohesion. If he could only find that final pass!

had a very good game tonight, apart from missing the sitter.

thought he outshone kova today..

Genuinely don't understand why so many people want him sold, not many better squad players around and he seems to be more than happy to play that role aswell.

I've been telling you for months. The guy brings energy, he is very sharp offensively and he ain't crybaby. 

Could he be our missing piece that ties everything up nicely?

3 hours ago, smileysmiles said:

thought he outshone kova today..

Definitely, but I think it's only fair to point out that Barkley was playing in Kovacic's usual position. 

Barkley did very well. No one denies he is super talented. He just can't show it in constant manner... Anyway this midfield trio is not the way to go. If we played that against Liverpool we'd been 5-0 down in the first half. 

Offers more than RLC at the minute who I would to shift out on loan for the season. 

When all are fit I would start with Kante and Kova with Kai at 10.  For me, it's Barkley and Mount as first choice back ups.  RLC goes on loan to see if he can recapture the Sarri form and Jorginho is sold (too slow for Frank's style etc).  Hopefully Gilmour can show the Liverpool / Everton form and we 'll be fine otherwise we might be a player short with injuries.