Bannan speak out against Mon… Part 2

[pauliewalnuts]

We all had reservations about his size, but he should of at least had a chance before this season.

I thought loaning him to Blackpool was exactly what he needed last season, he wouldn't have been selected ahead of Milner or Petrov.

Xavi and Iniesta wouldn't have been selected ahead of Milner and Petrov last season.

*wink*

[Bosco81]

He's down as 5ft5 on Wikipedia, and that french fella who scored last night was 5ft4.

He didn't always play for Blackpool but then didn't he piss Holloway by going out on the piss when he shouldn't have.

[jembob]

In my view, history will show MON's reign at VP as being positive but his limitations became apparent 18 months ago. Watching England's turgid performance against France last night reminded me of so many Villa home games last season, as Cappello came out of the same dinosaur mould as MON. France embarrassed England last night by showing what could be done by passing the ball and retaining possession and Villa should be striving to incorporate much of that into the game. Bannan really needs to stake his place in the team now and if can carry on showing the attitude he has in recent games then he will do great. I'm not bothered so much about his size but he may well prove to need a minder against some more physical teams. Blackburn will be another good test for him Saturday.

[TheSandman]

To be fair having seen what they can do I can't help but wonder what would have happened had we given them a go towards the end of last season in place of tired or out of form players. After all, Spurs probably have the emergence of Bale to thank for their getting into the top four and it's not like we were a long way off from making it instead. I'm not guaranteeing that anything would be different or better but it's just one of those what ifs.

It is the age old situation of a player emerging from the shadows under a new manager. Any manager who has served a few years at a club will start to have tried and trusted players that he feels he can rely upon and this will lead to an inbuilt reluctance to try something new or different. 

[Mac]

Agreed.

Managers have different opinions on players and what they look for.

That's why Cahill's at Bolton.  Tosser. MON not Cahill

[lordmcgrath5]

Would prefer him to do his talking on the pitch.  Kids of today, you would have thought he would refer to his manager as Mr or Msr Houllier rather than just Houllier.

What he said.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

It will be interesting to see his reaction when dropped. I have an horrible feeling, based on his time at Blackpool, that young Barry may turn out to be a Johnny Big Bollocks and think he's better, more deserving than he is. If he uses his intelligence, he could develop to be a great player for us, providing he bulks up a bit and continues to add to his game. Something tells me he won't have the patience. I hope I'm wrong.

[jembob]

It will be interesting to see his reaction when dropped. I have an horrible feeling, based on his time at Blackpool, that young Barry may turn out to be a Johnny Big Bollocks and think he's better, more deserving than he is. If he uses his intelligence, he could develop to be a great player for us, providing he bulks up a bit and continues to add to his game. Something tells me he won't have the patience. I hope I'm wrong.

Sometimes it's that edge or imbalance that makes players great. To succeed at the highest level in any business you also need an ego and I also think that he might have trouble controlling his. Let's hope he proves us wrong and that he uses it as a strength rather than let it undermine his career.

[damon loves JT]

He'll be ok. If football doesn't work out for him, he can always go back to sitting on a toadstool with a fishing rod

[Dante Lavelli]

A year or two ago I spent some time in Latin America and started to play for a team in Mexico City. Most the guy's on the team were around my height but we got coached in how to play against bigger stronger players, how to use their size against them. A bit like a football judo. I'd never been taught anything like that in the UK.
It really annoys me no end when you hear pundits etc asking why as a nation we can't produce players like a Xavi or Iniesta. It's because in the modern game both of them would have been dismissed as being too diminutive before they even kicked a ball and Steve Claridge would have been picked instead.

And if any of you 5’10"+ freaks disagree I’ll kick your ankles in.

That's interesting Darth as it ties in with a conversation I had the other day.  I was chatting to a Guatemalan that was a youth player at Werder Bremmen around the time that Klose was there.  Anyway he said that in Europe the coaches did not understand how to use small players (Guatemalans generally reach your ankles) or indeed coach them. 

I'd hope that Houllier is using some of the techniques that you're talking about as NRC, Bannan and Albrighton are all small.

Maybe Alan Wright could go to Latin America, learn these techniques, and become a specialist coach.

[Brigada1874]

In my view, history will show MON's reign at VP as being positive but his limitations became apparent 18 months ago. Watching England's turgid performance against France last night reminded me of so many Villa home games last season, as Cappello came out of the same dinosaur mould as MON. France embarrassed England last night by showing what could be done by passing the ball and retaining possession and Villa should be striving to incorporate much of that into the game. Bannan really needs to stake his place in the team now and if can carry on showing the attitude he has in recent games then he will do great. I'm not bothered so much about his size but he may well prove to need a minder against some more physical teams. Blackburn will be another good test for him Saturday.

I think it's too bigger test for him

Joking aside these comments could come back to bite him on the arse if he gets put back on the bench when the first teamers come back both here and in his national squad.

[Darth Villa]

A year or two ago I spent some time in Latin America and started to play for a team in Mexico City. Most the guy's on the team were around my height but we got coached in how to play against bigger stronger players, how to use their size against them. A bit like a football judo. I'd never been taught anything like that in the UK.
It really annoys me no end when you hear pundits etc asking why as a nation we can't produce players like a Xavi or Iniesta. It's because in the modern game both of them would have been dismissed as being too diminutive before they even kicked a ball and Steve Claridge would have been picked instead.

And if any of you 5’10"+ freaks disagree I’ll kick your ankles in.

That's interesting Darth as it ties in with a conversation I had the other day.  I was chatting to a Guatemalan that was a youth player at Werder Bremmen around the time that Klose was there.  Anyway he said that in Europe the coaches did not understand how to use small players (Guatemalans generally reach your ankles) or indeed coach them. 

I'd hope that Houllier is using some of the techniques that you're talking about as NRC, Bannan and Albrighton are all small.

Maybe Alan Wright could go to Latin America, learn these techniques, and become a specialist coach.

That doesn't suprise me. Most of the guys I played with over there were a quite suprised that I'd never been taught to play that way. The stuff that the coaches were teaching us was fairly simple but it worked. You don't have to be built like a brick shit house to put someone much bigger off balance without fouling them. Like you say the Latin American chaps are generally a little smaller than the Europeans so this kind of coaching is their bread and butter.

I do like the sound of Alan Wrights Pixie army though!

[Archie]

Probably MON would have objected the size isue even to Maradona!

[Simba]

A chant for wee Barry- with apologies to Russel Crowe:

Maximus! Maximus! Maximus!

[KevinGage]

As a fellow 5'7" giant I can sympathize completely with the big man. I had a trial at Forest as a teenager and was told that I was too small to be anything but a parks player. Being told that you’re probably too small is pretty tough to take as a teenager it's not like you can do a lot about it. I didn't really take football that seriously after that. Bannan will have had this his whole life so he's got to be mentally tough. I can fully understand that now he’s getting a bit of press attention he’d like to redress the balance a little. I bet his size will be the first thing he’s asked about in an interview.

A year or two ago I spent some time in Latin America and started to play for a team in Mexico City. Most the guy's on the team were around my height but we got coached in how to play against bigger stronger players, how to use their size against them. A bit like a football judo. I'd never been taught anything like that in the UK.
It really annoys me no end when you hear pundits etc asking why as a nation we can't produce players like a Xavi or Iniesta. It's because in the modern game both of them would have been dismissed as being too diminutive before they even kicked a ball and Steve Claridge would have been picked instead.

And if any of you 5’10"+ freaks disagree I’ll kick your ankles in.

Interesting post.

I think it's just so ingrained in this country to look for the bigger more physical player, probably due to the weather conditions and pitches in this country. The bigger players with less technique become more effective in these conditions at a young age plus there is a focus on team results above individual development from parks football upwards.

The knock on effect is that when a lot of these players turn pro they have huge gaps in their technique. They can get up and down all day, motor and get stuck in but are deficient in things like controlling a ball, picking a pass, vision, awareness et.c

Aside from the height issue, as TTV say's it also doesn't help in Bannan's case that he's so skinny.

It will be interesting to see how he gets on versus a physical side like Blackburn. Man United was a huge test for him and he passed that with flying colours, not looking at all out of place against their lot. He also played well v Fulham and Blackpool but they're the kind of sides who try to play the game properly. Most Allardyce sides are a throwback to a bygone era and if Bannan can make them look like mugs it bodes well for the future.