Jon Mcleod
Andrew MacdougallBarry fails audition?
Barry fails audition?
Gareth Barry is now seen a regular in the England midfield and last night’s game against Belarus will probably not have diminished those sentiments. But there will be tougher nights for England and when they come England will need a quality defensive midfielder. On the evidence of last night and previous ones, question marks still surround Barry.
The ‘holding’ midfielders role has two primary functions. Firstly, when your team has the ball the ‘holding’ player must act as a century on duty, searching the horizon for potential counter attacks and creating a visual presence to deter teams from launching directly at your goal. Aesthetic long-range passes and ‘tippy tappy’ football are an appreciated extra, though not obligatory.
The second function of the defensively minded man in the middle is to make vital interceptions and, yes tackle opponents who are intent on skipping around your penalty box with malice of forethought.
Now Barry performed task one quite comfortably against Belarus, as he generally has during his burgeoning England career and even added the garnish of a well-executed progressive pass or two.
But when Belarus took control of the match after England’s first goal, Barry did not control the zone around the around the D. In Belarus’ goal, three times the Aston Villa man could have made a challenged but he lacked the snap to stop the move.
Barry was once a fine centre half but that does not make him a fine defensive midfielder. Many great defenders have failed in that role, including Jamie Carragher against Germany in 2000 at Wembley, because the different positions require different attributes. Defensive midfielders need aggression (much underestimate, see Tom Huddlestone), discipline/tactical awareness (see Steven Gerrard) and mobility/sharpness (see Gareth Barry).
Indeed Barry would never claim to be a ‘holding player’ and it is not where he operates for Aston Villa. Were he as high profile as too Gerrard or Lampard, no doubt he too would be offering suggestions as to “how to get the best out of Gareth Barry”.
Who knows if he can develop that snappiness, acceleration and aggression to become an effective shield for England? At this stage Owen Hargreaves is still a better long-term bet.
Really Long Link
Gareth Barry is now seen a regular in the England midfield and last night’s game against Belarus will probably not have diminished those sentiments. But there will be tougher nights for England and when they come England will need a quality defensive midfielder. On the evidence of last night and previous ones, question marks still surround Barry.
The ‘holding’ midfielders role has two primary functions. Firstly, when your team has the ball the ‘holding’ player must act as a century on duty, searching the horizon for potential counter attacks and creating a visual presence to deter teams from launching directly at your goal. Aesthetic long-range passes and ‘tippy tappy’ football are an appreciated extra, though not obligatory.
The second function of the defensively minded man in the middle is to make vital interceptions and, yes tackle opponents who are intent on skipping around your penalty box with malice of forethought.
Now Barry performed task one quite comfortably against Belarus, as he generally has during his burgeoning England career and even added the garnish of a well-executed progressive pass or two.
But when Belarus took control of the match after England’s first goal, Barry did not control the zone around the around the D. In Belarus’ goal, three times the Aston Villa man could have made a challenged but he lacked the snap to stop the move.
Barry was once a fine centre half but that does not make him a fine defensive midfielder. Many great defenders have failed in that role, including Jamie Carragher against Germany in 2000 at Wembley, because the different positions require different attributes. Defensive midfielders need aggression (much underestimate, see Tom Huddlestone), discipline/tactical awareness (see Steven Gerrard) and mobility/sharpness (see Gareth Barry).
Indeed Barry would never claim to be a ‘holding player’ and it is not where he operates for Aston Villa. Were he as high profile as too Gerrard or Lampard, no doubt he too would be offering suggestions as to “how to get the best out of Gareth Barry”.
Who knows if he can develop that snappiness, acceleration and aggression to become an effective shield for England? At this stage Owen Hargreaves is still a better long-term bet.
Really Long Link
