Ross Barkley

[olaftab]

There is no doubt that Barkley gave opposition an add on to Grealish threat early season but of the 4, Luiz, McGinn, Traore and Ghazi, who would you leave out to bring him back in?

[ChicagoLion]

There is no doubt that Barkley gave opposition an add on to Grealish threat early season but of the 4, Luiz, McGinn, Traore and Ghazi, who would you leave out to bring him back in?

I would be rotating Traore and AEG.

[pelty]

There is no doubt that Barkley gave opposition an add on to Grealish threat early season but of the 4, Luiz, McGinn, Traore and Ghazi, who would you leave out to bring him back in?

Traore every time; he does not impress me at all.

[LeeB]

There is no doubt that Barkley gave opposition an add on to Grealish threat early season but of the 4, Luiz, McGinn, Traore and Ghazi, who would you leave out to bring him back in?

Traore every time; he does not impress me at all.

He does me. I appreciate he can be frustrating, but you can see there is a very high skill level in there and when he's fully up to speed he's going to be immense. I also trust this management team to get the best out of him.

I give it 18 months before you start to get some friendless oddbod creating photoshops of him in a Man Utd kit.

[Percy McCarthy]

There is no doubt that Barkley gave opposition an add on to Grealish threat early season but of the 4, Luiz, McGinn, Traore and Ghazi, who would you leave out to bring him back in?

Traore every time; he does not impress me at all.

He does me. I appreciate he can be frustrating, but you can see there is a very high skill level in there and when he's fully up to speed he's going to be immense. I also trust this management team to get the best out of him.

I give it 18 months before you start to get some friendless oddbod creating photoshops of him in a Man Utd kit.

Spot on as always oracle..

[eamonn]

Might be worth swapping Traore and Watkins. Ollie would be much better at helping out his full back while Bert's ability to be in the right place for close-range finishes could flourish.

[Monty]

Mourinho's been at Spurs for a year and before that Alli was already well on the way down. In fact, not even down. What even is he? Where does he play, how does he play there, what does he do that others don't? And not in a Thomas Mueller kind of way, because he doesn't have exceptional awareness or movement either.

I'm not saying he's good enough or not good enough. I just don't even know what he is.

He actually had quite a good scoring run when Mourinho came in, 5 goals in Mourinho's first 8 games. Overall 9 last season.

He's always been a more technical Tim Cahill given his ability to ghost late into the box or make runs from deep. Due to the mad high line we had in the Spurs game last season he must've had about 3 one on ones in that game but missed them all given the form he was in at the time.

If we didn't have Barkley already here I'd be all for going for him but he'd just be a luxury with what we presently have.

I remember it, people were talking about a Dele Alli renaissance. Then nothing. I think this idea about his technique comes from his ball-striking ability but for all of the close-control skills that come off another 99 fail clunkily. I remember at the World Cup, for instance, how often promising moves seemed to hit him like a brick wall.

[SheffieldVillain]

There is no doubt that Barkley gave opposition an add on to Grealish threat early season but of the 4, Luiz, McGinn, Traore and Ghazi, who would you leave out to bring him back in?

Traore every time; he does not impress me at all.

Traore for me too. I think there's a decent player in there and he'll be good for us over time but I think we look more balanced with Jack and El Ghazi/Trez on the wings and Ross in the middle. Maybe something about him being so one-footed and coming inside so often, I don't know.

[Brend'Watkins]

There is no doubt that Barkley gave opposition an add on to Grealish threat early season but of the 4, Luiz, McGinn, Traore and Ghazi, who would you leave out to bring him back in?

Traore every time; he does not impress me at all.

Traore for me too. I think there's a decent player in there and he'll be good for us over time but I think we look more balanced with Jack and El Ghazi/Trez on the wings and Ross in the middle. Maybe something about him being so one-footed and coming inside so often, I don't know.

Me too.  He's got something about him mind. Ross and Jack have a much better understanding.  I am sometimes unsure what Traore is going to do or is trying to do as he doesn't appear to look up to see the bigger picture.

[SamTheMouse]

I'd rather have Barkley than Alli too.

[Risso]

I'd rather have Barkley than Alli too.

A fit Barkley, certainly. There has to be a big question mark over how many games you'll get out of him over a season though.

[pelty]

There is no doubt that Barkley gave opposition an add on to Grealish threat early season but of the 4, Luiz, McGinn, Traore and Ghazi, who would you leave out to bring him back in?

Traore every time; he does not impress me at all.

He does me. I appreciate he can be frustrating, but you can see there is a very high skill level in there and when he's fully up to speed he's going to be immense. I also trust this management team to get the best out of him.

I give it 18 months before you start to get some friendless oddbod creating photoshops of him in a Man Utd kit.

Wow! I hope you are right! His touch is so frustrating at times, but you are right that it takes a bit of time to get up to speed. Still, I prefer Barkley to Traore in the either/or question posed here.

[Ian.]

Since Barkley has been injured I’ve thought we’ve been far more balanced, but saying that he does give us yet another dimension to our game when he is on song. I do think we’ve been more consistent with AEG and Traore on each flank.

I do like him and really want him fit, it’s another option. I don’t think he should guarantee starting though.

[Mister E]

A fit Barkley, certainly. There has to be a big question mark over how many games you'll get out of him over a season though.

That's the key issue: at the moment, I'd be sending him back to Chelsea at the first opportunity because the plan to bring him in and use him as a foil for JG is inoperable. I hope Lange is scouring other leagues for a similar no.8.

[chrisw1]

That's a bit OTT.  He's had 6 weeks with a hamstring.  I'd like to see how he gets on for the rest of the season before consigning him to the trash heap.