I have come to like Barkely being in the squad and in the team. He is inconsistent but over the past 6 months he has improved and is more often at his best. I don't think he is a 90 minute player in the biggest games but he is great for an hour, his first touch is quick and reliable, he has fast feet, trys to play forward and a good awareness of both space and the players around him.  If he was a more regular scorer he would be a regular starter.

 

Averaged the most shots from outside the box per 90 minutes of any player in the Premier League last season (minimum 5 appearances).

That's my boy! (Also quite impressive considering Ruben Neves is in that list).

4 hours ago, ozboy said:

I have come to like Barkely being in the squad and in the team. He is inconsistent but over the past 6 months he has improved and is more often at his best. I don't think he is a 90 minute player in the biggest games but he is great for an hour, his first touch is quick and reliable, he has fast feet, trys to play forward and a good awareness of both space and the players around him.  If he was a more regular scorer he would be a regular starter.

 

100% agree. A year or so ago I was adamant that he was sold and raise funds, but he is perfectly good as a squad player and has definitely improved. Cup games like this and coming on a sub he is more than good enough and a good player to have.

Only issue is that him and RLC are similar players, but as of recently Barkley is above him in the pecking order for me.

4 hours ago, PloKoon13 said:

Averaged the most shots from outside the box per 90 minutes of any player in the Premier League last season (minimum 5 appearances).

That's my boy! (Also quite impressive considering Ruben Neves is in that list).

I don't think of that as a positive considering how many goals he scored last season...

He was exceptional last night bar his miss. Fantastic performance and definitely MotM.

Let's hope he keeps it up.

Always a fan of Barkley and I think he will be even better with the added quality in the team. I think he is massively underrated at times on here.

4 minutes ago, SlantyTown said:

He was exceptional last night bar his miss. Fantastic performance and definitely MotM.

Let's hope he keeps it up.

Great performance but MoTM? Yeah thats hard considering Kai scored a hat trick haha

1 minute ago, driller97 said:

Great performance but MoTM? Yeah thats hard considering Kai scored a hat trick haha

Havertz and Abraham were definitely up there too, as was Mount. There were a lot of great performances all over the pitch, but for me Barkley stood out big time. He was holding the ball really well, didn't give away possession and his passing was great. Nice goal to finish it off too.

Havertz will rightly get all the headlines, but Barkley was the unsung Barnsley hero.

19 minutes ago, SlantyTown said:

Havertz and Abraham were definitely up there too, as was Mount. There were a lot of great performances all over the pitch, but for me Barkley stood out big time. He was holding the ball really well, didn't give away possession and his passing was great. Nice goal to finish it off too.

Havertz will rightly get all the headlines, but Barkley was the unsung Barnsley hero.

He did great last night in my book as well.

I know they aren't everyone's cup of tea, but here are the Whoscored stats and as you can see, he ran Kai very close with a 9.6 vs the 10 for Kai  !

 

13 hours ago, Argo said:

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.

Il be honest at the start of the summer he wouldve been one i wouldve sacrificed, but in all fairness, he is playing pretty well nearly every time he steps onto the pitch, and with RLC looking way off returning to anything like his best, i would be happy to keep Barkley around now, as he offers a bit a physicality that we sometimes lack. 

I also think that one of his main pluses this calendar year, is the fact he is always fit, which is important if he is goning to be kept around as a squad player. 

Nice post, Sexy.

That also highlights how good Caballero was for us last night too. 

6-0 was a massively flattering scoreline to us. Barnsley could easily have nicked quite a few goals last night too if it weren't for Willy.

19 minutes ago, big blue said:

Il be honest at the start of the summer he wouldve been one i wouldve sacrificed, but in all fairness, he is playing pretty well nearly every time he steps onto the pitch, and with RLC looking way off returning to anything like his best, i would be happy to keep Barkley around now, as he offers a bit a physicality that we sometimes lack. 

I also think that one of his main pluses this calendar year, is the fact he is always fit, which is important if he is goning to be kept around as a squad player. 

I think that the midfield 3 of a 4-3-3 that has Havertz 189cm and Barkley 189cm both in it, with maybe someone specialist like Rice 185cm in the DM role, is going to make for a pretty imposing trio.

And with both Havertz and Barkley as goal threats in addition to the forwards ... that's a nice head ache for our opponents for sure. Only problem is that doesn't leave a role in midfield for Mount, Kovacic, Jorginho or Kante 🙂

Edited September 24, 20205 yr by Sexyfootball

4 minutes ago, SlantyTown said:

Nice post, Sexy.

That also highlights how good Caballero was for us last night too. 

6-0 was a massively flattering scoreline to us. Barnsley could easily have nicked quite a few goals last night too if it weren't for Willy.

Yes on another night in the parallel universe I had us winning 10-5 LOL. Cabellero saved 9/9 that were on target ... good for him !

14 minutes ago, SlantyTown said:

Nice post, Sexy.

That also highlights how good Caballero was for us last night too. 

6-0 was a massively flattering scoreline to us. Barnsley could easily have nicked quite a few goals last night too if it weren't for Willy.

I know Barnsley had a fair number of shots but how many were genuine sitters? I think we're so use to shots flying in from all angles that we think they're better chances than they actually are.

32 minutes ago, Sexyfootball said:

I think that the midfield 3 of a 4-3-3 that has Havertz 189cm and Barkley 189cm both in it, with maybe someone specialist like Rice 185cm in the DM role, is going to make for a pretty imposing trio.

And with both Havertz and Barkley as goal threats in addition to the forwards ... that's a nice head ache for our opponents for sure. Only problem is that doesn't leave a role in midfield for Mount, Kovacic, Jorginho or Kante 🙂

Dont get me wrong im all for Barkley staying as a squad player, but i wouldnt have him in team regularly over Mount, Kante or Kovacic! 

Him and Mount seem to have a nice relationship together on the pitch, they combined really well against everton and watford last season, and when mount moved centrally last night, they looked good again.

Lots of good options though. 

Barkley has improved. He has always been hit and miss but now that Frank has him play a max of 60mins, Barkley is more efficient. His best football is when he stops thinking and goes for it on instinct, fast and decisive actions

He's better than Loftus-Cheek who I think might benefit from a year out on loan. 

Not liking these rumours of Barkley going, even for an over inflated price, it would be stupid in a season squad depth is needed more than ever.

Edited September 24, 20205 yr by Argo

Just announced to Villa on loan , a good move for him he will do well for them. 

Why would we do that? He's one of the more valuable squad options we've got. I don't understand that at all.

Edited September 30, 20205 yr by abramovich

Just now, abramovich said:

Why would we do that? He's one of the more valuable squad options we've got. I don't understand that at all.

Agree I don’t think it’s a great move for us but at this stage of his career he needs game time.

when I see he didn’t start last night I guessed something must be in the pipeline. 

Are we mad? If any one should be shipped out it should be Loftus Cheek the treacle runner...does that mean RLC stays along with Jorinho?

Does that also mean we've free up a space and wages for Rice? Especially if Rudiger is on his way out too...hopefully we can keep Sarr?

Edited September 30, 20205 yr by doctorblue

I am kind of baffled. Always positiv when he came on, good squad player and Frank ships him out? 

Strange. Presumably they are going for Rice then if we are shipping him out.

That’s crazy. I would have kept Barkley over Loftus Cheek based on what we’ve seen this season.

Maybe Lampard has faith in Loftus Cheek rediscovering best form.