Barry/McCarthy

[Furey1878]

I think the lack of creativity has as much to do with McCarthy as it is to do with Barry. They're similar players with their defensive abilities, but neither are really able to get an attack going. McCarthy runs around a lot, closing down and making tackles, which I think can make him look better than he is at times. McCarthy is fairly quick for a CM so he can be handy on the counter attack, but I think Barry has a better range of passing.

I like McCarthy but I can't see him becoming a creative box to box midfielder. I hope that I'm either wrong or that he will later go on to occupy Barry's position with any of Besic, Cleverley or Barkley beside him.

There have been many times when McCarthy has played worse than Barry but naturally Barry is the one who's slaughtered by the fans.

 

[Stephenlloyd]

If Martinez persists with this partnership then when the opposition is attacking McCarthy and Barry need to sit outside the box and not go into it. The space left outside the box for the opposition is a worry for me. If one of them drops into our penalty area then the other has to be disciplined enough to stay outside with maybe Barkley/Cleverley dropping deeper to fill in.

As far as going forward McCarthy is far too slow with his passing and needs to quicken up his game. That said there needs to be better movement in front of him so he does have an outlet. If they are playing together, and something I've noticed, Barry has been pushed further forward more lately, probably due to his better passing than McCarthy.

At home we only need one player to sit deep with Barry or McCarthy pushed further forward. Or play only one of them with Besic coming in, who I would like to see given more of a go at DM with McCarthy and/or Barry further forward.

Disagree with your last point
Like pushing Barry or McCarthy forward
IMO they aren't good enough to play further forward and bringing besic in for one of them is basically like for like and won't improve nothing

Barry is not going to turn into David silva all of a sudden

Martinez had a system 2yrs ago were Baines and Coleman played like wing backs and McCarthy covered the right and Barry the left

Teams set up last season to stop our full backs and we were left with 2 sitting midfielders that didn't do much
And while Barry occasionally can play a very good 30/40 yard pass
This for me is outweighed by him getting caught in possession and being to slow to react to runners making him a liability

Look at all the top teams they play one sitting midfielder and one playmaker
Cazorla fabregas and toure all get close to 10 goals and 10 assists
Even Liverpool with Henderson & Milner will chip in with goals and assist this year

While our 2 Last season probably got 2 goals and 2 assists between them?

Martinez supposedly this tactical genius needs to start earning his money

 

[Zatara]

Besic has to take over from barry before jan.

 

[Blue Cheese]

Both playing average for me, they don't move the ball forward fast enough, Cleverly would make a better box to box man when he's fit and struggling to understand why he won't give Besic a run.

 

[sportbillyblue]

This used to be our best CM partnership.

I've been to 3 games so far this season inc. Villareal. Barry has not been as bad as many in this thread make out, he was arguably our best man against Villareal especially once McCarthy went off. I don't think McCarthy has been as good as he is capable of being, he hasn't hit anything like decent form yet .. a few games aside the same could be said of him last season too.

If Martinez thinks his 'set-up' is correct, then he should juggle the personnel .. I'd start with Besic in for McCarthy.

 

[Deco]

It's a tough one because I don't think either Barry or McCarthy have shown they're irreplacable.. McCarthy has had his moments but would he offer that much more than Cleverley in the same role? I'm not so sure.

I just think that as a duo it isn't great. Whether it means playing Barkley alongside either of them, I don't mind which of them he plays with but I think Ross' future has to be in CM.

 

[MACCA75]

We've got lots of central midfielders, I'm starting to think though, that to progress, we are going to need another.

 

[Baines' left foot]

We badly (myself included) overate mccarthy as blues mate, hes a decent player not the next roy keane by a kong shot, been shown since barrys decline that i think

He's definitely overrated by us. Barry on the contrary, gets far too much stick. I don't know about McCarthy. I reckon he could become one of the best defensive midfielders in the league, but just not a 'box to box' midfielder. He isn't dynamic enough for it.

 

[meagher94]

Besic offers more going forward than Barry or McCarthy. Drives forward with the ball and often looks for a forward pass. Dunno where this myth comes from that he offers no more than those two.

 

[beachy]

Problem is when you throw Barkley into the mix, it inevitably means Rom is isolated.

Play Ross deeper alongside McCarthy, and give Rom a strike partner.

 

[chippy1722]

Personally I would like to see Besic before both of them. Barry gets more stick than he deserves, McCarthy has been nowhere near as good as last year but the season has only just started. Barry gets stick but he is always looking for the ball and probably has more touches than any other player on the pitch so is probably bound to maybe misplace a few. I'll be interested to see see what change RM makes to the CM, if he ever does make one.

 

[Goat]

Jamo is boss, been a little off the boil recently but I put that down to shockingly bad tactics from the utter buffoon we employ that picks teams.

Gaz Baz is a great player with a great mind, sadly, his legs aint what they were and he should be getting phased out of the team and replaced with the Bosnian Zidane.

 

[marty mcfly]

All we need now is a link to some spurious website from your good self and that's point proven I suppose...

Let's be honest that or anything else isn't going to make a difference and where's the "we" - oh yea 14.9% at last count.

 

[Pienaar'sdisciple]

Nope, it doesn't work and it shouldn't. Its one of the most uninspiring midfields in the league. We use it to cover the lack of defensive organisation in the team.

 

[riddick]

I think the biggest problem is that we have 2 defensive midfielders and we still get cut open in a minute. We are shambolic defensively, hve been been for about a year. I dont get how we have 6 defensive outfield players and still are as woeful at defending as we are.