Ross Barkley

[PeterWithe]

And when he do something of class, that brilliantly weighted ball to an unmarked Jack, he inexplicably miscontrols.

Good thing these days is that the sports science team should be able to see if his physical stats are improving.

[Allan C]

Barkley was poor tonight but so we’re the rest of them. Let’s wait till the end of the season before rushing did judge him. He’s a quality player in my opinion. The comparisons with McCormack and Drinkwater are just baffling, it’s almost as if people want him to fail

[Luke8]

What I would say to anyone writing him off, or saying we shouldn’t sign him, is that he has only played ten games for us. And been pretty good in  a handful of them.

Maybe it won’t work out, but I think players like Trezeguet, Targett and Luiz showed last season that you need to give it a bit longer. It’s different obviously; he is older, playing in a better and more settled team but I still
think I’ll be giving him a bit longer before making any final judgment.

[PeterWithe]

As a fanbase the qualities we seem to admire most in a player are workrate and effort, for reasons of fitness or other, he isn't showing quite enough yet.

I still think he'll improve with games, he's class. Mostly.

[brontebilly]

As a fanbase the qualities we seem to admire most in a player are workrate and effort, for reasons of fitness or other, he isn't showing quite enough yet.

I still think he'll improve with games, he's class. Mostly.

He doesn't need more games to improve his workrate though. That should be the bare minimum expected even if having a stinker. Barkley seems to think it's beneath him for whatever reason. Might be the reason he has never progressed past promising in his career.

[dave17]

I really like him and get the impression he likes it with us. It’s it rocket science to see he needs careful management which is the obvious worry. Chelsea will clearly want 30-40m and for 15-25 games a season that money might be better spent elsewhere

[Luke8]

I really like him and get the impression he likes it with us. It’s it rocket science to see he needs careful management which is the obvious worry. Chelsea will clearly want 30-40m and for 15-25 games a season that money might be better spent elsewhere

I’m not sure his injury record is that bad is it? Since his really bad injury, he was in the matchday squad 28 times last season and 36 the season before that (in just the Premier League) and may well make 32 appearances this season.

It’s a factor, and I’m certain the club will monitor it, but again it’s a case of see how it goes and evaluate based on the whole season.

[chrisw1]

He's a fantastic player but still struggling post injury.  I think Smith is trying to play him into form as he knows the impact he can have when he's firing.  But it's hard work watching him struggle like he has the last two games.

I honestly don't know what I'd do.  It's ok trying to nurse a player back to form when the team is mostly playing well and winning, but we're struggling to carry him at the moment.  I suspect he'll start against Arsenal and hopefully playing a 'big team' will get the best out of him.

[Abbeyfealeavfc]

I really like him and get the impression he likes it with us. It’s it rocket science to see he needs careful management which is the obvious worry. Chelsea will clearly want 30-40m and for 15-25 games a season that money might be better spent elsewhere

I wouldn't be going anywhere near him for £30-£40m!

[ChicagoLion]

I dont see the point buying a player that needs careful management, If his injuries are such then why would hire someone that is going to spend more time in the treatment room than on the training pitch.

[Duncan Shaw]

Did he look a bit mardy when he went off?  Took about ten minutes to walk round the pitch.

[chrisw1]

Probably just pissed off we were losing and he knew he hadn't pulled up trees.

[Martin Carruthers]

Is he that injury prone? He's missed a decent percentage of matches for us, but from one injury. I've never considered him to be particularly injury prone before, but I haven't followed his career that closely.

[Abbeyfealeavfc]

Did he look a bit mardy when he went off?  Took about ten minutes to walk round the pitch.

I wonder if that had anything to do with southgate in the stands. If he ain't doing it for Villa, he won't be doing it for england.

[in exile]

Is he that injury prone? He's missed a decent percentage of matches for us, but from one injury...

His recovery rate seems to be slow, imo.