Barry Bannan-What does he do ?

[supertom]

Is it just me or has Bazza gone and done a Rooney? His lustrous mane seems thicker and fuller than previous years. I wonder whether the lads gone and had a syrup. His hair seem like it was thinning a little a year or two back. I reckon he could have hidden away in the summer after some patch work.

[Mister E]

Last night was a classic example. In the second half he gave the ball away or ran into one of their players (i forget which) and the chap behind me went beserk. A minute or two later he laid a superb ball out to the flank and the chap behind me did'nt say a word.

I've seen (or heard) this done so many times at Villa Park (not just to Bannan) it's not funny.

Yes, and what the detractors miss are the interceptions and break-up play that both BB and Westwood do.
Petrov used to get the same criticism - "square-ball passing", "doesn't put his foot in", etc - when the reality is that their game is different; they do other things well that benefit the team.

[Matt Collins]

I agree. Bannan gets far more frustrating groans for standing back from a 50/50 than say herd does from repeatedly giving the ball away. He does need to improve in some respects there, but frankly I'm quite enjoying watching two 22 year olds with the composure to get the ball down, give it an get it back, and pick a good forward pass on a number of occasions each per game. It sure beats the anti football we had to watch last year

[QBVILLA]

I agree. Bannan gets far more frustrating groans for standing back from a 50/50 than say herd does from repeatedly giving the ball away. He does need to improve in some respects there, but frankly I'm quite enjoying watching two 22 year olds with the composure to get the ball down, give it an get it back, and pick a good forward pass on a number of occasions each per game. It sure beats the anti football we had to watch last year

Well said

[Jarpie]

Has Bannan been tried on either side/wing or as AMC? Would probably be a bit too slow though for the wing.

[LeeB]

I agree. Bannan gets far more frustrating groans for standing back from a 50/50 than say herd does from repeatedly giving the ball away. He does need to improve in some respects there, but frankly I'm quite enjoying watching two 22 year olds with the composure to get the ball down, give it an get it back, and pick a good forward pass on a number of occasions each per game. It sure beats the anti football we had to watch last year

Here here.

[spaf]

Last night was a classic example. In the second half he gave the ball away or ran into one of their players (i forget which) and the chap behind me went beserk. A minute or two later he laid a superb ball out to the flank and the chap behind me did'nt say a word.

I've seen (or heard) this done so many times at Villa Park (not just to Bannan) it's not funny.

Yes, and what the detractors miss are the interceptions and break-up play that both BB and Westwood do.
Petrov used to get the same criticism - "square-ball passing", "doesn't put his foot in", etc - when the reality is that their game is different; they do other things well that benefit the team.

Reminded me of this great Xabi Alonso interview in the Guardian in which he talked about the differences between english and spanish football.

There is a pause as Alonso reaches, again, the crux of the issue. A single English word he returns to that, unpacked, analysed and investigated, explains much. "I don't think tackling is a quality," he says. "It is a recurso, something you have to resort to, not a characteristic of your game. At Liverpool I used to read the matchday programme and you'd read an interview with a lad from the youth team. They'd ask: age, heroes, strong points, etc. He'd reply: 'Shooting and tackling'. I can't get into my head that football development would educate tackling as a quality, something to learn, to teach, a characteristic of your play. How can that be a way of seeing the game? I just don't understand football in those terms. Tackling is a [last] resort, and you will need it, but it isn't a quality to aspire to, a definition. It's hard to change because it's so rooted in the English football culture, but I don't understand it."

[Chris Smith]

It's an interesting read but I think he's pretty much got his wish, tackling is all but gone from English football. Defenders still might have to do a bit but for a midfield player it's becoming a last resort, the days of Roy Keane crunching into everything that moved are long gone. Most teams are far more adept at keeping possession so as soon as you go to ground you're out of the game. Combined with the willingness of refs to produce a card for the first mistimed challenge means that the game has changed irrevocably.

[LeeB]

It's an interesting read but I think he's pretty much got his wish, tackling is all but gone from English football. Defenders still might have to do a bit but for a midfield player it's becoming a last resort, the days of Roy Keane crunching into everything that moved are long gone. Most teams are far more adept at keeping possession so as soon as you go to ground you're out of the game. Combined with the willingness of refs to produce a card for the first mistimed challenge means that the game has changed irrevocably.

I've played for years and I love a well timed crunching tackle almost as much as scoring.

But I know full well that throwing in a few 'reducers' early on is a tried and tested way of intimidating opponents and I guess when you think about it in isolation I suppose it's not really on.

Throw in the ever increasingly litigious society we live in and you can see why there's been a big push towards it.

[PaulWinch again]

The thing I find frustrating with him is his desire to loft a pass. I understand it as an occasional option, but there's times when he could play a through ball along the deck and he chooses to loft it and it gets cleared. Just keep it on the floor Barry.

[LeeB]

The thing I find frustrating with him is his desire to loft a pass. I understand it as an occasional option, but there's times when he could play a through ball along the deck and he chooses to loft it and it gets cleared. Just keep it on the floor Barry.

I think he's pulled it in a bit, but it's something he's capable of too and with the experience he's gaining his judgement will improve.

[Mister E]

... Bannan gets far more frustrating groans for standing back from a 50/50 than say herd does from repeatedly giving the ball away...

Another myth: a strong-tackling game-disrupter can't possibly deliver passes. Wrong.
Last season Herd played some sublime passes as well as getting onto the end of moves for goalscoring opportunities.
It's not his key strength, but he ain't bad at it.

[seanthevillan]

... Bannan gets far more frustrating groans for standing back from a 50/50 than say herd does from repeatedly giving the ball away...

Another myth: a strong-tackling game-disrupter can't possibly deliver passes. Wrong.
Last season Herd played some sublime passes as well as getting onto the end of moves for goalscoring opportunities.
It's not his key strength, but he ain't bad at it.

Herd's passing accuracy is less than 70%, though he hasn't played centre midfield so far so its not fair to compare directly.

I like Herd but he is clearly more limited than Bannan and never gave the impression that he was completely comfortable on the ball or good under pressure.

[N'ZMAV]

Herd and Bannan would play different roles. Very difficult to compare them to each other.

[N'ZMAV]

Bannan is alright, as long as he doesn't keep on thinking he has the long passing ability of David Beckham. Stick to a more simpler passing game and no-one will get on his back.