Ross Barkley

[simboy]

This Barkley injury is a little odd. It reminds me a little of the injury to Jack a few years ago when he was out for what seemed an age. I think he missed two or three months. When he came back he was fitter and stronger than he had ever been. Barkley impressed and seem to add something when he played earlier in the season, although a little off the pace early on in games I thought. Hopefully he will come back ready to kick on, if Smith does keep his promise of getting him back in the England squad before the Euros then we will have got a good player who can help take us to the next level.

[brontebilly]

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.

Think Jack is more of a goal threat out wide though so we are losing out on that by moving him to 10. AEGs work rate has improved a lot so maybe Targett is getting more protection. Certainly Jack at 10 works a lot harder without the ball than Barkley ever did. It's Traores flank where we got overloaded v Chelsea and United.

We did have a somewhat easier run of fixtures during Barkley's injury (West Brom, Burnley, Palace) where both AEG and Traore did very well. Despite both scoring, that wasn't the case really v Chelsea and United.

Definitely need both Barkley and Trez back in the squad, will be picking two from four then. To be honest if Barkley is fit, I think Smith picks him every time. He walked into the starting team v Liverpool despite back to back wins before it.

[ChicagoLion]

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.

Another 5 to 10 games is my guess.

[Lastfootstamper]

This Barkley injury is a little odd. It reminds me a little of the injury to Jack a few years ago when he was out for what seemed an age. I think he missed two or three months. When he came back he was fitter and stronger than he had ever been. Barkley impressed and seem to add something when he played earlier in the season, although a little off the pace early on in games I thought. Hopefully he will come back ready to kick on, if Smith does keep his promise of getting him back in the England squad before the Euros then we will have got a good player who can help take us to the next level.

I don't think he's missed a game injured since, has he? A couple(?) due to illness, but despite assorted cloggers' finest efforts and a hectic workload, he's not troubled the treatment room.

[Risso]

This Barkley injury is a little odd. It reminds me a little of the injury to Jack a few years ago when he was out for what seemed an age. I think he missed two or three months. When he came back he was fitter and stronger than he had ever been. Barkley impressed and seem to add something when he played earlier in the season, although a little off the pace early on in games I thought. Hopefully he will come back ready to kick on, if Smith does keep his promise of getting him back in the England squad before the Euros then we will have got a good player who can help take us to the next level.

I don't think he's missed a game injured since, has he? A couple(?) due to illness, but despite assorted cloggers' finest efforts and a hectic workload, he's not troubled the treatment room.

You're right, considering how much he gets chopped down, his last times of being out for any length were with the shin injury in the Championship, and the kidney damage before that.

[ChicagoLion]

Truly great players have to have physical resilience to become great.
Jack seems to have this.

[cdbearsfan]

FFS.

[OCD]

Hopefully he's fit by the time we're next able to play.

[eamonn]

He's not needed, send him back
The kids are alright

[The Edge]

He's not needed, send him back
The kids are alright

Have to disagree there mate. I'd sign him in a heartbeat.

[eamonn]

Me too if he wasn't always hamstrung by his hamstrings.

[TelfordVilla]

But he is

[Dante Lavelli]

I made this up entirely myself:  Delaying his come back is a tactic to keep his price down for a January swoop.  We can point to the fact he has missed X games so we cannot possibly pay the asking price.  We also get a fully recovered player if he does sign. 

[Three Spires Villa]

A great player, but his injury’s seem to last a bit

[Mister E]

I thought he had a poor game tonight. I know that sounds harsh, but his passing was indifferent, his energy was low and he seemed to play into the defensive traffic rather than finding the space.
Maybe that's too harsh, given the time he's had out with injury ....