Liverpool FC Forum

JBG wrote:I'd love to have both but I if I had to choose I think signing Barry is a no brainer. He has been consistently excellent for Villa for the last five or six years and yet is still one of the most underrated performers in the Premiership (although his stock has risen considerably since he broke into the England team).

His best position is centre midfield but if Rafa signs him for that position it can only mean the end of Alonso. Alonso has a greater passing range but Barry is an excellent short ball passer, keeps things tighter than Alonso, is great at closing players down and is much better going forward. He is also very versatile and can play left midfield and at left back. If he is signed as a left sided player he would be a great improvement on Riise.

He can cross the ball well, is clever when breaking into the box, can score and is a good penalty taker. By all accounts he's a decent lad as well and is a good mate of Gerrard's from the England set up.

I'd like to keep both Alonso and Barry but I would be weary of signing Barry primarily as a utility player as we may not see the best of him if he is shunted all over the place. I would see him primarily as Alonso's replacement with the ability to fit him in at left midfield if circumstances dictate and also as an emergency left back. He's a terrific fullback but ultimately I think his talents might be wasted there.

Given that UTD paid close on £18m apiece for Hargreaves and Carrick £12m for Barry might not be too bad and I'd have no hesitation in paying that for him because serious injury aside he would slot in and perform for us no problems.

I also fancy Bentley but I'm more cautious about him. We have signed plenty of players in the Bentley category over the years who have failed to live up to expectations. He has impressed me hugely over the past three seasons (even when he was at Norwich as a lad and they went down he was one of their top three players) and he can play right midfield or in the hole. However questions have to be asked whether he has the attitude and mentality to succeed at the highest level: the ability is there but he is unproven at the highest level. Barry on the other hand has done the business year in, year out for Villa and has looked the part when he plays at international level. There was also a time about two years ago when he probably kept Villa in the Premier league on his own. He's a leader and if we want to compete for the Premiership we need as many strong willed players as we can.

Personally I think he will come to us. There may be more money on the table at Chelsea but I think Chelsea may be a chaotic place over the next couple of years for a guy like Barry.

I think that if the move is on the cards the board needs to move quickly as I could see Ferguson making a move for him as UTD's long term interest in Veloso (who is also a left sided central midfielder who can play left back) shows that they are in the market for a Barry type player.

, no more explanation needed , good post lad

puroresu wrote:I would take Bentley but not Barry.  Barry isnt that good and is overrated.  Watching him in a England shirt v Croatia where he got made to look silly was enough for me.  He looks good at Aston Villa but no way is he worth the prices being reported.  Would rather have Modric.  Barry may of looked good v poor international sides but v croatia his technical weakness was there to see.

Toffeehater wrote:

puroresu wrote:I would take Bentley but not Barry.  Barry isnt that good and is overrated.  Watching him in a England shirt v Croatia where he got made to look silly was enough for me.  He looks good at Aston Villa but no way is he worth the prices being reported.  Would rather have Modric.  Barry may of looked good v poor international sides but v croatia his technical weakness was there to see.

Consistencey? , How many players who perform both for their club and country , not many i tell you . Also on ur point on modric , well i rather go for someone who has been excellent for villa in the coming years and is adapted to this league rather then take risks that we can't clearly afford to. Watching him in and england shirt against Croatia made your mind up? Well every player has a bad game and don't forget barry is keeping frank out of the england side , i think people need to give gareth barry more credit , he's a class player and in the form that alonso is apart from the chelsea game , i'd rather have barry who' been so consistent over the seasons , 10 to 12 million wud be a good price

puroresu wrote:

Toffeehater wrote:

puroresu wrote:I would take Bentley but not Barry.  Barry isnt that good and is overrated.  Watching him in a England shirt v Croatia where he got made to look silly was enough for me.  He looks good at Aston Villa but no way is he worth the prices being reported.  Would rather have Modric.  Barry may of looked good v poor international sides but v croatia his technical weakness was there to see.

Consistencey? , How many players who perform both for their club and country , not many i tell you . Also on ur point on modric , well i rather go for someone who has been excellent for villa in the coming years and is adapted to this league rather then take risks that we can't clearly afford to. Watching him in and england shirt against Croatia made your mind up? Well every player has a bad game and don't forget barry is keeping frank out of the england side , i think people need to give gareth barry more credit , he's a class player and in the form that alonso is apart from the chelsea game , i'd rather have barry who' been so consistent over the seasons , 10 to 12 million wud be a good price

Technically Barry isnt that good and to me his just another english player on the long list who get hyped up but in reality they are not that good.

Number 9 wrote:David Bentley for me every time.Its hard to be accurate because like everyone else on here i dont see every game Blackburn play.What i can say from what i have seen he is very consistant and always a threat going forward.His crosses are excellent and he has a great shot from range too.
I watched the Blackburn v Utd game lately and he tortured them throughout the game,they could'nt deal with him.
Also he will be using next season as a stage to secure a place on the right in the England team so the effort will be there.Saying that he seems to give 100% anyway.And compared to Pennant,well id say hes twice the player.

As for Gareth Barry.I dont think we should give up on Alonso just yet,he deserves another season.There is no reason he cant regain his old form next season,he has been showing signs of it lately.He hasnt just lost his class overnight,its still there!I havent seen enough of Barry at left back to comment on how good he is there!

Keep Alonso and sign Bentely please Rafa!

ruskiy playmaker wrote:I'd be very disappointed if these two guys were our primary targets.

Toffeehater wrote:

ruskiy playmaker wrote:I'd be very disappointed if these two guys were our primary targets.

Whats wrong with that?

I mean we need a quality left mid , barry , a quality right winger bentely and now we have a good fullback interested lahm and also i think babel will be moved uptop

Striker - check
Left and right winger - check
Left back - check

stmichael wrote:All those talking about "wasting" £12 million on Barry must remember if we do sign him its almost certainly because Alonso will be sold and so assuming we'll get around 12-15 million for Alonso in net spend terms hes not eating into our transfer budget at all in fact swapping Alonso for Barry may actually give Rafa an extra £5 million to spend on other players.

ruskiy playmaker wrote:I'd be very disappointed if these two guys were our primary targets.