Barry "Messi" Bannan - again

[paul_e]

Albrighton gets leniency because he has shown he has the ability to really hurt teams in this league.  I twas 2 years ago now but i's still there and lots of people are willing him to get back to that.

Personally I think he's trying to hard at the minute, he's not playing his natural game and it's hurting him.  He's not got the pace to beat his man and drive to the byline but he has go enough ability to open half a yard and hit a flat cross into the space between the defence and goalkeeper.  We need him to start doing exactly that.

I think he'd be a different player right now if Benteke had scored in the game against Tottenham where Marc put across an absolute beauty and he put it an inch the wrong side of the post.

[Chipsticks]

Somebody recently put on the transfer thread that we should "flog Bannan and replace him with Whittingham." I still can't get over that one.

[myf]

I was a big critic of Bannan but have warmed to him in recent weeks.  I also thought he has been putting in some decent corners in the games I have seen.

[paul_e]

I was a big critic of Bannan but have warmed to him in recent weeks.  I also thought he has been putting in some decent corners in the games I have seen.

He does put in some decent corners but they're predictable as they are inevitably to the big man at the back post, and even then they're often 'hung up' too much for my liking.  In fact hanging crosses is a disease that has spread throughout the club, which is weird as they're only really effective if the strikers are nodding down to midfielders who are bursting into the box, which we haven't had since Milner (and even he wasn't great at it).

[mr woo]

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.

According to Espn, he has stats of no goals scored and one assist in 18 league games this year. For a creative midfielder that's nowhere near good enough.


(Sorry if the quotes get mixed up here, trying to edit on a phone is a pain in the arse)

[1_Pablo_Angel]

He plays too deep to be getting loads of goals and assists. He keeps us ticking over at the mo - a similar role to that of Modric when he was at Spurs. He didn't get many goals or assists either considering how highly rated he was.

I think Bannan is technically very good and enjoyable to watch. People need to get off his back to be honest, the abuse I hear aimed at him is ridiculous for such a promising player that's cost nothing and come through our Academy. If his set pieces are shit and there's a better option then it's the job of the manager to do something about this. Personally I like a player wanting to do everything and take charge, it's certainly preferable to hiding.

[paul_e]

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.

According to Espn, he has stats of no goals scored and one assist in 18 league games this year. For a creative midfielder that's nowhere near good enough.


(Sorry if the quotes get mixed up here, trying to edit on a phone is a pain in the arse)

Given his role in the team currently the important statistic is key passes, i.e. passes that directly lead to a chance on goal.  His pass to nzogbia in the build up to Bent's goal is a great example.  He did exactly the right thing and go the ball to the player who was in the position to lay on the shot, that's Bannan's role in the current setup.  If he'd played all his games in the role nzogbia had on saturday then I'd expect more of a return in terms of goals and assists.

[Matt Collins]

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.

To be fair, most of their fans seemed hammered. He was probably talking about delph, who for me was excellent in the second half.

[mr woo]

Paul_e,  without going round in circles, I think we are actually arguing the same point, mate.

Bannan has the ability, but I'd want and expect more than he's contributed up to now.

[Holte L2]

There was a bloke behind me in the Lower Holte on Saturday who was giving Bannan such over the top dog's abuse every time he touched the ball that it got to the point that everyone around me was laughing.

Sounds like my dad.  I think he's christened him Fucking Bannan.

[Chipsticks]

There was a bloke behind me in the Lower Holte on Saturday who was giving Bannan such over the top dog's abuse every time he touched the ball that it got to the point that everyone around me was laughing.

Sounds like my dad.  I think he's christened him Fucking Bannan.

Also sounds like my dad... maybe Father's just have an in-built hatred for him?

[fredm]

Paul_e,  without going round in circles, I think we are actually arguing the same point, mate.

Bannan has the ability, but I'd want and expect more than he's contributed up to now.

Exactly the point I was trying to make.  It took until the 46th minute for him to slide a decent ball through their (championship) defence.  IMO he really needs to look at moving the ball forwards more often and quicker.  What is the point in coming deep for it, collected it off Baker/Clarke to simply return it straight back to them?  All it has achieved is the opposition have moved up even further to close Baker/Clarke or their outlets down. He should be collecting it and then moving it towards Zog, Albrighton etc who were the advanced midfielders, and moving forward himself for the return ball, or put a 30/40 yard ball into space for Bent, Gabby to run on to if the space is available.

[paul_e]

Paul_e,  without going round in circles, I think we are actually arguing the same point, mate.

Bannan has the ability, but I'd want and expect more than he's contributed up to now.

Exactly the point I was trying to make.  It took until the 46th minute for him to slide a decent ball through their (championship) defence.  IMO he really needs to look at moving the ball forwards more often and quicker.  What is the point in coming deep for it, collected it off Baker/Clarke to simply return it straight back to them?  All it has achieved is the opposition have moved up even further to close Baker/Clarke or their outlets down. He should be collecting it and then moving it towards Zog, Albrighton etc who were the advanced midfielders, and moving forward himself for the return ball, or put a 30/40 yard ball into space for Bent, Gabby to run on to if the space is available.

That's the point though, when he plays those 30-40 yard passes into space he gets slagged off for being 'hollywood'.  I genuinely think some people have just decided they don't like him and it will take him urning into the best player we've ever had for them to change their mind.

What he is currently is a player who works hard, makes himself available and does a decent job of moving the ball around, to see more we need everyone to move better and we probably need to see him further up field.  There's definitely quality there though, which is why i get so frustrated at all the comments about him being shit and that we should let him go for peanuts, similar to the same comments we see about Gabby regularly.

[Matt Collins]

I must say, after watching the highlights on AVTV:

- our first goal involved about 20 passes, and was better than I recalled
- Bannan was involved in most of our chances with some good passing.

[SoccerHQ]

When N'Zogbia is playing, he should take the free kicks around the edge of the box. He scored a few like that for Wigan and had a close one on Saturday. Bannan's passing needs to improve. He must stop hitting every ball with the ouside of his boot. Getting the ball on target must be his first concern, not flicking it around like trying to get it to bend.

N'zogbia was woeful at free kicks last season. Who took the corner against Reading, Westwood? Lad is a class act, much more to his game than Bannan.