Barker

[bluenoz 30,689]

3 hours ago, Shetland Bear said:

Was just reading Jordan Campbell's post match article in The Athletic and he made a really interesting point about Barker. As 12 of the squad were away on international duty, there was only a handful of players left to work intensively on the tactical setup. He believed this is why Barker got the nod whilst Jack/Hagi/Jones were all away as he had a chance to work on the shape, specifically when nullifying Celtic when they had the ball.

 

It may explain that while he maybe had a quiet game from an attacking point of view, he was trusted to be disciplined and be a key member of the team defence, which I'm sure we can all agree was the most impressive part of our overall performance yesterday. 

I don't but any of that. Based on that logic, Jermaine Defoe should have started then.

All players were back in training on Thursday. There was plenty of time to discuss tactics.

[slimjim1690 4,534]

1 hour ago, Rangers_no1 said:

Am I the only one that thinks his pace is overstated? 

I dont see this fast player that many suggest.

No your not mate, I think the same, don't get me wrong he is quick over the first couple of yards but I've seen him get caught up with quite often, that and the fact that he often seems to want to turn back is annoying as well, I keep trying to work out what it is Gerrard and Beale see in him or what the plan is and the only conclusion I can come up with is that they think if he can keep the opposition wing backs busy then maybe that prevents them from getting forward often but then again that doesn't explain why he gets a place against the usual 10 behind the ball shit we normally play against, it's a complete mystery to me, hopefully if Roofe gets fit then maybe he'll play off the wings alternating with Kent and Barker gets to keep the bench warm.

[JCDBigBear 10,810]

Barker would be first out of the door for me.  An absolute waste of a jersey.  God knows what Gerrard or whoever saw in him.

[Dennis Reynolds 1,329]

11 hours ago, Shetland Bear said:

Was just reading Jordan Campbell's post match article in The Athletic and he made a really interesting point about Barker. As 12 of the squad were away on international duty, there was only a handful of players left to work intensively on the tactical setup. He believed this is why Barker got the nod whilst Jack/Hagi/Jones were all away as he had a chance to work on the shape, specifically when nullifying celtic when they had the ball.

 

It may explain that while he maybe had a quiet game from an attacking point of view, he was trusted to be disciplined and be a key member of the team defence, which I'm sure we can all agree was the most impressive part of our overall performance yesterday. 

That is a decent take that, they were tactically fucked and basically had no shape for most of the game Barker was decent at executing what was needed, dragging their wing back and turning them into a full back and leaving their CB's with far too much of the ball. 

Would imagine coaches would be happy with him for it, Barker. 

[MrMckee 3,420]

Didn't actually think he played bad at all. I remember him doing some good work in the first half and dont remember him giving the ball away really. I think the fact we didn't need to counter meant he didn't really get seen as you would expect him to. He's not the best player but don't understand why he gets slated so much and hagi doesn't? Hagi imo has been worse this season and a total let down so far.

[Tiger Shaw 30,358]

I used to play amateur football, at training I was fucking outstanding, fast, sharp as a tack would beat men for fun probably looked one of the best players in our squad, when we played 5s I would bang in double figure goals every time but I could never replicate that on the pitch on the Saturday,  was a totally different player. Played midfield and was solid defensively, used to put it about a bit so still got picked every game but could never reproduce the flair and attacking abilities I showed in training and at 5s, don’t know if it was a mental thing but it just didn’t happen for me. This is probably the same issues Barker has he must be showing something in training  that the coaching staff like but can’t take that form into the match for whatever reasons. Gerrard will eventually lose patience with him and he’ll be gone. 

[SeparateEntityMyArse 53,624]

Mere glimpses of ability, not much more. He's not doing enough in an attacking sense, but similar to Morelos on Saturday he played his part in the team shape that was the most important factor in our win.

There was one opportunity I felt sorry for him, he was in acres of space on the right and could have been fed in to attack space then Duffy. Kent instead played a wasted high ball forward and possession was lost.

Ultimately though for what he's offering, anyone could come in and do the same with the same return.

[graeme_4 34,375]

10 minutes ago, SeparateEntityMyArse said:

Mere glimpses of ability, not much more. He's not doing enough in an attacking sense, but similar to Morelos on Saturday he played his part in the team shape that was the most important factor in our win.

There was one opportunity I felt sorry for him, he was in acres of space on the right and could have been fed in to attack space then Duffy. Kent instead played a wasted high ball forward and possession was lost.

Ultimately though for what he's offering, anyone could come in and do the same with the same return.

Jones had one opportunity this season, away at Motherwell, and looked far more effective than Barker. 

I don’t think Jones should be near our first 11, but he’s a much better option.

[Smile 26,600]

16 minutes ago, graeme_4 said:

Jones had one opportunity this season, away at Motherwell, and looked far more effective than Barker. 

I don’t think Jones should be near our first 11, but he’s a much better option.

Jones would also not have been beaten to the ball by Brown who looks like he's running in treacle, Barker has no fight in him and looks lightweight.

[GaryMc 2,394]

Barker just has no awareness of anything around him. So often he just does something that you're scratching your head at.

There was one moment in the game where I think it was Morelos who flicked on a good header and Barker just didn't have a clue where the ball would likely go and seemed to jog forward letting them get the ball back. If he had the awareness and anticipated the header he'd have been straight through on goal as he is quicker then their defenders.

He does wee things like that all the time. Makes the wrong run etc. It's one thing having pace and a bit of skill but his football brain isn't there. If he was a nutter who tried all sorts of things in a game that didn't always come off you'd go fair enough but he looks scared to make an impression on a game.