Aug 29 2008
Michael Ballack hurt his foot against Portsmouth on August 14 and had to leave the match. He played last week, though it seems he probably should not have, as Chelsea has sufficient depth to prevent aggrevating injuries, Now Ballack will be out for two weeks, missing Sunday’s match against Tottenham as well as Germany’s two World Cup qualifiers.
It is an injury which, like Steven Gerrard’s, seems convenient. Continue Reading »
Aug 27 2008
After Liverpool’s defeat of Standard Liège, it was announced that Steven Gerrard would undergo surgery Thursday morning to correct a groin problem that has bothered him for the last month. The Reds’ captain decided to play through the pain this weekend against Middlesbrough as well as tonight, though against the Belgian champions he was a none factor and Rafa Benitez probably would have been better served with somebody else in the lineup. That Liverpool does not have somebody to fill that spot may have contributed to the decision to play Gerrard, and thanks to the upcoming break in the club schedule for World Cup qualifiers, Liverpool should only have to go one match without Stevie G.
Aug 27 2008
Liverpool may be one of the eight teams in the top pool for tomorrow’s Champions League group stage draw, but they were the closest of the thirty-two teams to being out of the tournament after the final round of qualifying finished today.
Aug 24 2008
It will be suggested that Middlesbrough was done wrong on Saturday, and if you look at how and when Liverpool scored their two goals, the suggestion is persuasive. But Liverpool’s 2-1 victory is no more unjust than Middlesbrough’s 1-0 win would have been. That both of the Reds’ goals came after the 85th minute - one deflection from a Jamie Carragher shot; another, a laser beam from Steven Gerrard - is an irony of timing. It does nothing to change the rest of the match, a rather evenly played affair that had Liverpool continue their struggles in the opponent’s third. For Middlesbrough, the match showed Gareth Southgate’s team may be ready to take another step forward in spite of their loss. Continue Reading »
Jul 31 2008
By now, we should all know: The ratio of a.) attention given to Gareth Barry’s transfer saga to b.) the positive effect on final scores either Aston Villa or Liverpool can expect to receive from his services is way out of control. To illustrate this, I not only linked all the articles on Gareth Barry that I have access to (below, but I do this with almost every post, so it’s not that big of a deal), but I created this uber-scientific chart to illustrate the relation between contribution and attention:
As you can see, red line higher than blue line. But don’t quote me on that. Throughout my highly funded study, Barry remained a versatile midfielder who doesn’t score goals, is approaching the point in his career when his skill set should start dwindling - a valuable contributor to any club, for sure, but not somebody who is going to dominate any matches.
If you asked Martin O’Neill who he would most readily do without when given the choice of Barry, Ashley Young, or Gabriel Abondelyour, it will be a very short conversation. Barry goes. The midfielder has more in common with Nigel Reo-Coker in terms of role, scope, and contribution than either Young or Abondelyour.
I don’t think he’s an £18 million player, but Martin O’Neill only needs to find one club to agree with that evaluation to make my view wrong. If some thought £19-£20 million was overpaying for Robbie Keane, what will they think when/if the Barry deal happens?
Speaking of the newest Red, let’s look at the same analysis done on possible-future-Barry-teammate Keane:
Keane’s overall contribution is higher than Barry’s (the guy did score 23 goals last year), but it’s still pretty far below 1 (whatever “1″ is supposed to mean here). The attention he’s received - otherwise known as red line - is dwarfed by Barry’s.
OK - I’m getting bogged down by this high-level, academic conversation Let’s leave all this science-talk for the journals and get back to the paper talk.
The drama behind the will-he, won’t-he entailed in the Gareth Barry saga has gotten out-of-control. He is clearly a good player, as evidenced by his increasing profile within Fabio Capello’s England men’s national team. In May’s international friendlies, he showed the potential to form a great partnership with Steven Gerrard, sitting deeper in midfield and jumping into the attack as opportunity dictates. He would fit in well playing behind a line of attackers featuring Gerrard, Ryan Babel, and Dirk Kuyt, working with Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso to bring the ball out of Liverpool’s end and into the attack.
While those were a lot of words dedicate to how Barry could help Liverpool, they are not words which apply exclusively to Barry. Somebody so inclined could make the argument that the aformentioned Reo-Coker, three years younger than Barry who Aston Villa last season for £8.5 million, casts a similar shadow. Is Gareth Bary worth upwards of £10 million more than Reo-Coker? Middlebrough’s Stewart Downing is a different kind of midfielder but is also three years younger, would be a very interesting addition given Fernando Torres, Keane and Gerrard to target, and would probably be cheaper than Barry. Sulley Muntari just moved to Inter for much less than £18 million. How nice would Muntari have looked in a midfield with Gerrard and Mascherano?
As the reports continue to come in about how Martin O’Neill does not want to sell, Barry wants to move, Liverpool’s tabled another offer, et cetera, remember the evidence: the charts in addition to the comparable players. If Liverpool were able to get this player they have sought all summer, where would have rank amongst their players? You’ve got Gerrard and Torres and Mascherano, the true heart of this team. Keane’s just been added, and Babel’s a young and promising starlet. Jamie Carragher’s got a special and important role on this team at the back. Barry, if he came, would blend in, not stand out. He would be the midfield Dirk Kuyt. It’s not like this is Frank Lampard we’re talking about here.
Step back and think about how absurd this Gareth Barry-thing has gotten. It will give you something comical (and positive) to associate with all those stories clogging up your RSS feed.
And now having written about this, I can delete all those items from my feeds.
Quotes
“Aston Villa can announce that Gareth Barry will be staying with the club following the interest from Liverpool over recent months. During discussions in the past few days, a final deadline to conclude this episode was set that all parties were aware of and agreed to. This deadline has now passed and so Gareth will remain with Villa.” - Aston Villa
“Naturally we’re all absolutely delighted that Gareth will be staying at Villa Park and relieved to find a resolution and closure to the saga.” - O’Neill
“We are still trying to sign the players that we need and if we need to sell someone now, OK, we will do so. If we can do it (the Barry deal) before the end of the transfer window, we will continue to try.” - Rafa Benitez, manager, Liverpool
Links
Barry refuses to give up on move
Barry the hatcher: A true Villain is born
Reds urge Barry to hand in request
Villa adamant Barry is staying
O’Neill tries to close door on Barry transfer
Barry’s Liverpool move still on
Barry staying at Villa after Liverpool run out of time
Villa declare Barry move to Anfield dead
O’Neill’s relief at Barry stay
Barry stays at Villa
Reds miss deadline to sign Barry
Villa call off Barry move to Liverpool
Barry staying at Villa
Villa claim Barry is staying
Villa claim Barry stays, despite Reds interest
Liverpool hold fresh Barry talks
Reds and Villa ‘agree Barry fee’
Villa end negotiations with Liverpool over Barry