Barry "Messi" Bannan - again

[fredm]

The annoying aspect of both Bannans and Delphs game on saturday was the tempo they were playing at in the first half.  To me the central midfield set the tempo that the team play at and those two were strolling around as if it was a training session.  They are (in theory) PL players and as such should have taken the game by the scruff of the neck from the first minute and put Ipswich on the back foot.  Instead, by playing at such a slow pace, it allowed Ipswich to get into the game so much so that the first goal was not such a surprise.

The very fact that in the first minute of the second half, having just come out of the dressing room where presumably PL had spoken a few words, Bannan slides a first time through ball straight through the defence to N'Zogbia who slides it through to Bent and the scores are level.  From then on, we continued at a higher pace and controlled the second half.

[Concrete John]

Intended to pretty much say what Clampy said. Last season Bannan was all about "hollywood balls" however this season under Lambo he's been much more disciplined. In so many league games he's kept it simple all while working hard. He's having a good season and the abuse is silly.

With some fans some players get a reputation for something and no matter what evidence they see before their eyes, they'll always see the player they have in their minds.  Bannan might play 100 passes in a game and only 10 of these will be 'hollywood', but to some that'll be all they focus on.  It was similar with Carlos at RB being the fault everytime we lost when he played there, no matter what actually happened in the game.

I agree he should be taken off corners, but he's a technically good player and in the more passing based team Lambert is building he'll be a good asset for us.   

[tomd2103]

- it was his first time ball zipped into n'zogbia's feet that have him the space to play in bent for the first goal. Not many on our team can do that

This is the frustrating thing. We know he can do better but he needs to get the 'big time Charlie' bit out of his game. Some call for him to be sold while others can see a decent player in there that just needs fine tuning, starting with a bit of coarse tuning first..

Don't want to sound argumentative Dave, but I question if he really can do better.   I honestly just can't see any improvement in him after three seasons of being in and around the first team and he's still making the same mistakes.  His passing is all he's got as he offers very little else, but it is not even as though he's got a Sid Cowans level of ability in that area and he gives the ball away far too often. 

Saying that, I would be interested to see him play a bit further forward in the attacking midfield role and see how he did in there. 

[Chipsticks]

Even when we've been battered, he's still looked for the ball and tried to compete.

He's still learning, but he's got technical abilty and movement, and he's a proper footballer.

He'll be a great player.

I think that he's by far our best technical player, and we look a much worse side without him in it. He often plays the role of the unsung hero, with the way he gets back deep, picks up the ball - and plays a short ball forward that keeps the team ticking forward. Good example of this would be the Bent goal from Saturday and the Weimann goal at Anfield, where he has played an integral role, which allows the move to happen.

[paul_e]

Team statistics: Aston Villa

Passing accuracy of 79.6% - so roughly 1 in 5 passes given away, not ideal but certainly not giving the ball away al lthe time as some suggest.
Key passes 1.6 - as said, the highest in the team currently.
Successful crosses 2.5 - if we play narrow the midfielders being able to offer this is useful, he's miles ahead of anyone on this.

Unfortunately you can't limit it to specific games but I'dalso be willing to bet that Bannan's stats when he's alongside Westwood as much better.

[Risso]

Even when we've been battered, he's still looked for the ball and tried to compete.

He's still learning, but he's got technical abilty and movement, and he's a proper footballer.

He'll be a great player.

Completely agree.  I think alongside a proper, combatative central midfielder he'd look sensational.

[nigel]

Even when we've been battered, he's still looked for the ball and tried to compete.

He's still learning, but he's got technical abilty and movement, and he's a proper footballer.

He'll be a great player.

Completely agree.  I think alongside a proper, combatative central midfielder he'd look sensational.

He and Westwood seem to play well together and will surely get better.
I think people pick up on the missed passes and forget the good ones.
Did anyone else notice when he chased back in the second half, he didn't just whack it into the stand. He controlled, turned and beat the opponent. Quality.
I think it's great that we have a player who'll play the high risk 40 yard pass. And a 79% pass completion is pretty good considering.
If we sold him, we'd miss him 

[paul_e]

Even when we've been battered, he's still looked for the ball and tried to compete.

He's still learning, but he's got technical abilty and movement, and he's a proper footballer.

He'll be a great player.

Completely agree.  I think alongside a proper, combatative central midfielder he'd look sensational.

He and Westwood seem to play well together and will surely get better.
I think people pick up on the missed passes and forget the good ones.
Did anyone else notice when he chased back in the second half, he didn't just whack it into the stand. He controlled, turned and beat the opponent. Quality.
I think it's great that we have a player who'll play the high risk 40 yard pass. And a 79% pass completion is pretty good considering.
If we sold him, we'd miss him 

The bold bit is key.  He's currently the only midfielder we have who's taking risks with his passing, Delph, KEA and Ireland are misplacing nearly as high a percentage of passes but they're doing it with 15yard 'safe' passes.

Statistically Bannan plays 7.1 'hollywood' passes in a game and 4.6 of them are successful.  Given those kind of passes often lead to chances, or at least should, I'm pretty happy with those figures and they certainly don't show him as deserving the amount of shit he gets about his long passing.

I will agree that his corners are pretty ropey, his delivery from free kicks out wide is generally decent though.

[nigel]

Quote from an Ipswich forum.

"I like what Villa are doing this year and hope they stay up....................... think that you have some good players - Bannan was a joy to watch.

[Rigadon]

Lets not forget that dead ball routines are practised over and over again in training.  Whoever is taking the corners had been told to by the manager. 

I like Bannan.  I think those posting about him looking a better player alongside  some quality / experience are correct and I'd forward that to some of the other kids (Clark being one). 

[mr woo]

Does any current Villa player divide opinion in the way wee Barry does? People seem to either love or hate him and to be fair, I can see both sides of the argument. It's all about whether you concentrate on his strengths or weaknesses.

There is no question Bannan has ability, his control is excellent, he has that 'busy' style about him and he doesn't hide the way some of the others do when things aren't going well.

Unfortunately, those positives need to be balanced against his shortcomings. His physical stature means he gets bullied too much, I feel, especially in centre midfield where you need people to imposethemselves. His delivery isn't always what it should be and he has one of the least powerful shots I've seen from a professional footballer which means he isn't going to weigh in with many goals.

But above all, for all his control and possession, he doesn't 'hurt' the opposition nearly as much as he should. Its one thing to find a team mate, but I don't recall that many defence splitting passes or assists. It's not to say his vision won't get better with experience but you get my point.

As it stands, although I wouldn't start with him, he's certainly not one I'd be looking to shift on. I think there could be more to come from him as he matures.

[Jarpie]

Does any current Villa player divide opinion in the way wee Barry does? People seem to either love or hate him and to be fair, I can see both sides of the argument. It's all about whether you concentrate on his strengths or weaknesses.

There is no question Bannan has ability, his control is excellent, he has that 'busy' style about him and he doesn't hide the way some of the others do when things aren't going well.

Unfortunately, those positives need to be balanced against his shortcomings. His physical stature means he gets bullied too much, I feel, especially in centre midfield where you need people to imposethemselves. His delivery isn't always what it should be and he has one of the least powerful shots I've seen from a professional footballer which means he isn't going to weigh in with many goals.

But above all, for all his control and possession, he doesn't 'hurt' the opposition nearly as much as he should. Its one thing to find a team mate, but I don't recall that many defence splitting passes or assists. It's not to say his vision won't get better with experience but you get my point.

As it stands, although I wouldn't start with him, he's certainly not one I'd be looking to shift on. I think there could be more to come from him as he matures.

Ireland or is he almost universally hated?

[London Villan]

Lets not forget that dead ball routines are practised over and over again in training.  Whoever is taking the corners had been told to by the manager.   

And Lambert was shaking his head time after time as each corner drifted into the box. I can see what they are are trying to do in hitting a big man at the back, but once now and again I wish he'd just whip them in. Same with the free kicks, which are often the same routine.

[paul_e]

Does any current Villa player divide opinion in the way wee Barry does? People seem to either love or hate him and to be fair, I can see both sides of the argument. It's all about whether you concentrate on his strengths or weaknesses.

There is no question Bannan has ability, his control is excellent, he has that 'busy' style about him and he doesn't hide the way some of the others do when things aren't going well.

Unfortunately, those positives need to be balanced against his shortcomings. His physical stature means he gets bullied too much, I feel, especially in centre midfield where you need people to imposethemselves. His delivery isn't always what it should be and he has one of the least powerful shots I've seen from a professional footballer which means he isn't going to weigh in with many goals.

But above all, for all his control and possession, he doesn't 'hurt' the opposition nearly as much as he should. Its one thing to find a team mate, but I don't recall that many defence splitting passes or assists. It's not to say his vision won't get better with experience but you get my point.

As it stands, although I wouldn't start with him, he's certainly not one I'd be looking to shift on. I think there could be more to come from him as he matures.

I repeat, statistically he 'hurts' the opposition more than anyone else in the team, not as  often as I'd like but still more than anyone else.

His shooting is poor I agree, but in part that is down to him trying too hard, he's not got the power to score from 25-30yards.  I believe that, if he played further forward, he'd get more possession around the edge of the box where accuracy and quick feet would be more useful, I think he could be really effective in that role.

[Hookeysmith]

I am not against Bannan at all - in fact i agree with most that there is a very good player in there its just he thinks he is better than he is. Its no coincidence that against Reading he took every corner and we got nowhere- Westwood gets on them and we score straight away. I also agree he plays best with Westwood but we need a terrier in there to do the donkey work - a Scott parker type would be ideal.

Dont get me started on Albrighton - what has happened to this guy i will never know - it was only when he went off injured on Sat did i actually realise he was on the pitch. I can understand the support for Bannan but if Mark was not a local Villa fan then i dont expect anyone would have him anywhere near the first team