Gareth Barry Finally Makes England Tick
Gareth Barry was a precocious young 19 year-old with a great left foot, when he made his England debut as a substitute against the Ukraine in May, 2000. At that time it looked like Gareth was going to be an England regular for years to come.
But once Sven Eriksson took over the England manager job in 2001 that all came to an end.
For whatever reason, Sven didn’t rate young Barry and slowly but surely he was left out of the England squads completely. He continued to play well for his club Aston Villa, whom he joined from Brighton in 1997 when a 16 year-old. From 1998-2002 Gareth played 27 times for the England Under-21 side but it is only very recently that he has been recalled to the England squad.
Thanks really to new manager Martin O’Neil and the good sense of Steve McClaren that Barry has made a return to the England squad. In the last international break Barry at last got a chance to start in central midfield with Steven Gerrard in England’s vital games with Israel and Russia. England’s regular midfielder Lampard was out injured.
During the game with Israel Barry immediately built a rapport with Gerrard on the field and the players actually complemented each other’s play. What a concept! The continual pairing of Lampard and Gerrard had never really been a success for England but because they are undoubtedly the best two English midfielders they always seemed to get the nod. The problem – they are far too similar in style. Great club players no doubt but not good together for England.
After England’s two excellent victories against Israel and Russia at Wembley in which Barry was little short of a revelation, Steve McClaren, to his credit, kept faith in Barry when Lampard returned from injury for Saturday’s game with Estonia. It was an easy victory but remember that Estonia is ranked 127th in the world and anything other than a win for England would have been a massive upset.
But it will be a completely different game for England (ranked 9th) when they have to face Russia in Russia on Wednesday. This is the real test for England and we expect to see Barry and Gerrard again as the starters in central midfield. But we do expect another win, even though the match is being played on a plastic pitch, with all it’s uncertainties. A win will guarantee England qualification for next years’ finals.
We hope McClaren will keep faith in this midfield partnership, which really works. Maybe we can actually think about winning something next year if we select the best team for England rather than the best 11 players available. What a concept!
Stick with your winning formula. Dont ever change it like Rafa Benitez. What’s the point changing a winning team if they are winning matches for you regularly?
So Barry should start all the time ahead or the more prolific Lampard. Dont make that mistake McClaren!
squaretan – agree – They also rescued McClaren with two great performances when some of his stars were not available – so they deserve to stay in the side.
I would think that McClaren should start Lampard for the game vs Russia ahead of Gerrard. Since both of them are similar in style, why not Lampard against Russia since Gerrard played the full 90 minutes against Estonia?
We could then compare and see which of these 2 deserved the place more and who should start on the bench.
As for berry, I hope he does keeps his place if owen hargreaves returns. Hargreaves should be his biggest rival.
WELL DONE ENGLAND!! KEEP IT GOING!!
ridder8 – it was a good win for England because even through Estonia are hopeless, these games are often harder than they look – a good professional win for England and now three 3-0 wins on the trot – let’s hammer Russia on Wed.
1 name
HARGREAVES
God he puts on a few good performances and everyone thinks he should be a reguler, well not me, second choice yes, first no, that belongs to hargreaves.
Hargreaves ought to be the first choice for that position, since it’s obvious that Barry isn’t good enough, when Englang meet qualified opponents… his game simply isn’t good enough. He’s not a particularly good tackler, plus his passing needs improvement.
Ridder8 – do you really think this is the time for Englang to experiment? Lampard has just returned from injury and isn’t near his best yet, and if England loose on wednesday, their dreams of qualifying look far from being realized with Russia going ahead.
How can anyone dismiss Barry when hes made a bigger difference to our performances than anyone? Barry steps in and all of a sudden the tea start playing as a unit. Tomas and Dan, Gerrards been far worse than Barry in the last three matches, why dont you call for him to be dropped?
Because Gerrard’s potential is far greater. And since they don’t play the same position, they have nothing to do with each other. Hargreaves should step in for Barry when fit, but as long as he isn’t, Barry should play.
It just… Barry isn’t as good as the others. You might not see it against weak teams, but when the opposition is stronger, you’ll see the problem. It might show against Russia, but if it doesn’t, you’ll see it at the Europaen Championship against the best.
I wouldn’t give too much credit to Barry for the last couple of victories. Fact is that the opposition has been crap, and England weren’t really threatened.
Barry has done nothing so far to deserve to be dropped, so he should stay in the team until he does, simple as that
Barry isnt as well known as Lampard, therefore he isnt as good.
notrub – not sure that logic holds up.
bunch of gays.
i agree with the statement ‘drop gerrard, put lampard’
gerrard has no form no, and lampard he’s just magnifiecent this season..remember when before he was injured, he used to score every single match for chelsea.therefore, drop gerrard!
Squaretan, in order to have player playing well, you have to know that they have to play well in order to keep their place. As simple as that. Barry should not be dropped until his performance satrt dropping, but once they do it is time to bring Owen back in.
Stevie and Fat Frank should fight for one spot and Owen and Barry of the other. That way you have two player fighting for one position rather than four for two positions.
notrub, I like ure logic!! From it we can derive that since Jonnie Wlaker is more popular than Lapmard…
How about Kevin Nolan, he’s good enough for the England team….
Are we really experimenting if we put Lampard in for Gerrard? I won’t call it experimenting. Lampard has what it takes, he has enough chance as Gerrard to be in the England squad. He could also score goals, more than Gerrard too, i daresay. So why not play Lampard, give him the chance to win back the England fans!!!
Kevin Nolan, good enough for England? C’mon, i would rate Mark Noble above him!
ridder8 – Because Lampard has played one match and 15 minutes since August 25… he’s not in form.