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Chang Elephant
Forum God
Gareth Barry is superb, but 32. One good signing in CM and we are ****ing well there.
What's 32 for a sitting midfielder though mate. At least two proper seasons left in him. Gibson only 26?
Chang Elephant
Forum God
Agreed he's great for now, but would just like to see a midfield evolve over 5 or 6 years and DOMINATE
Jozzy
Player Valuation: £10m
I think age won't affect Barry very much, he's never been very quick or relied on his pace, some players you just know age will affect but most of Barry's strengths passing, tackling, positioning, work rate, defending and leadership. Most of those are not really affected by age, I can see him be still playing for possibly another five years.
evilwebby
Player Valuation: £50m
McCarthy & Barkley will both improve a lot.
McCarthy provides the workrate, cut and thrust that eventually wears opposition teams down, while Barkley is hopefully going to grow into the classic inspirational playmaker.
I love what Barry brings to the team but he's a known quantity and might be too much to expect him to improve. Also with all due respect, I also think the role of the holding midfielder is easier to play, which is why guys like Gibson can do a good job in there too.
McCarthy provides the workrate, cut and thrust that eventually wears opposition teams down, while Barkley is hopefully going to grow into the classic inspirational playmaker.
I love what Barry brings to the team but he's a known quantity and might be too much to expect him to improve. Also with all due respect, I also think the role of the holding midfielder is easier to play, which is why guys like Gibson can do a good job in there too.
The midfield is fantastic at the moment. The key, as is often the case in the past decade, is keeping hold of them. I'd love both to be with us for the next decade.
TheFinnFan
Finners
Bobby will build team around them.
Billy Dean
Player Valuation: £70m
just about the right age to keep going until John Lundstram breaks through
Agree 100%. We enjoyed the holy trinity knowing that they were ours and would always be ours until we decided. Nowadays when we see talent our first thought is that we hope we can get a season or two out of them before the rich clubs come in for them. The only way we will keep hold of Barkley and McCarthy (if they keep progressing) is if BK sells the club to a rich arab or yank or if Barkley heeds the wise words of Stevie Ggggg
Or if we make the Champions League this season and can use that as a springboard...
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