Harvey Barnes

[Pilko]

Got to hope he can use West Ham to get back into the swing of things before the cup final, where one of his "quiet but scored" games would be frankly lovely.

[OoOGazOoO]

Will be interested to see what he can contribute in the next few games. I have been a big fan of his since he arrived and got over his foot/toe injury, but his last performances have been average and has had very little impact.

[St1pe]

Assuming Gordon’s ban is upheld, and it doesn’t look like one they’d consider repealing, it’ll be interested to see what Howe does with Barnes. If Joelinton starts LW he’s pretty much done here isn’t he? 
 

I’m not sure what I’d prefer to be honest. Barnes has that ability to score from anywhere near the box at times and if we’ve gone any hope in the final we’re going to need something extra. Yet Joelinton is probably the better all round option in that position. 

[TBG]

[nufc123]

3 minutes ago, St1pe said:

If Joelinton starts LW he’s pretty much done here isn’t he? 

Yes

[SUPERTOON]

5 minutes ago, St1pe said:

Assuming Gordon’s ban is upheld, and it doesn’t look like one they’d consider repealing, it’ll be interested to see what Howe does with Barnes. If Joelinton starts LW he’s pretty much done here isn’t he? 
 

I’m not sure what I’d prefer to be honest. Barnes has that ability to score from anywhere near the box at times and if we’ve gone any hope in the final we’re going to need something extra. Yet Joelinton is probably the better all round option in that position. 

I think he’s done regardless, he barely plays and doesn’t suit us. Arguably our most pointless signing of the Howe era all things considered.

[The Prophet]

In better news, Barnes has a belting record v West Ham.

[The College Dropout]

He’ll score in Gordon’s absence. Maybe more G/A.  But it doesn’t feel like he offers enough despite a good output. 

[SEMTEX]

Bearing in mind the inevitable turtling tactics in the Carabao final, Barnes might be a better choice for us anyway with his tendency to smash in a long range blammer out of very little.

 

Maybe.

[Geogaddi]

The problem is if he's not scoring goals he literally does nothing else , he doesn't even bother tracking back , I wouldn't trust him one bit to start in that final.

[Rod]

33 minutes ago, Geogaddi said:

The problem is if he's not scoring goals he literally does nothing else , he doesn't even bother tracking back , I wouldn't trust him one bit to start in that final.

I thought Barnes played well yesterday.  He also tracked back plenty and helped out with the defence.  When he was "subbed" I said to the wife "they are taking the wrong winger off".  Who'd of thought eh?

[KaKa]

32 minutes ago, Rod said:

I thought Barnes played well yesterday.  He also tracked back plenty and helped out with the defence.  When he was "subbed" I said to the wife "they are taking the wrong winger off".  Who'd of thought eh?

 

Yeah, I agree.

 

Said as much in the match thread, that Gordon should have been the one going off.

 

It was quite nice not having to worry about our right winger struggling to control the ball, hold off players, dribble or find a simple pass in that first half.

 

It's a shame Gordon got sent off, because I think Murphy needs dropping going forward, as he was so poor yesterday.

 

 

Edited 12 hours ago by KaKa

[Tross]

Not sure what people seen in Barnes yesterday like, woeful once again. 

[Rich]

Just thought he was bang average. Some nice touches/passes and helped out quite well defensively, but held the ball too long in a few critical moments (most notably on the Isak offside goal).

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I like Barnes as I said yesterday, he can look a bit silly in certain situations because he's not particularly strong or athletic physically. But he's a great dribbler and runner, and can shoot off both feet. 

 

I don't think we're in a position where we can afford to write him off. Jacob Murphy is starting games FFS.

[Matt1892]

He has Kevin Nolan vibes, that he has hardly any impact on the game and is quite often a passenger but does pop up with goals.

[TRon]

4 hours ago, Geogaddi said:

The problem is if he's not scoring goals he literally does nothing else , he doesn't even bother tracking back , I wouldn't trust him one bit to start in that final.

 

I wasn't paying that much attention to the tracking back part, but find it hard to believe Howe would have wanted him so bad if that wasn't part of his game. But I disagree he does nothing else, even if he doesn't have many tricks, he looks a better footballer than Murphy in general. The ball doesn't bounce off his instep a yard when he's trying to control it, and he carries it better in general.

[duo]

He's never had a sustained run in the team - give the lad a chance imo. Has an eye for a goal.

[alexf]

He's supposed to be the fastest player at the club or something, according to their recorded times or so I heard. 

 

Just don't think we see enough of it. Maybe it's a stamina issue but he just doesn't give us the running and nuisance value that Gordon does. It's a pretty crushing blow to lose that even if it was just run the opposition tired and then bring Barnes on fresh near the end of we were in it. 

 

I'd be stunned if Eddie doesn't just go Big Joe left and Barnes remains as impact sub. He hasn't shown enough to warrant the start or the defensive discipline to play down the left with Salah there. It's a shame most of his chances have been playing right wing however.

 

It pretty much nullifies his main asset. 

[mouldy_uk]

Three games to prove his worth (probably going to limp out the first one knowing our luck)

[Nine]

2 hours ago, duo said:

He's never had a sustained run in the team - give the lad a chance imo. Has an eye for a goal.

I’m on this side of the fence to, however he has work to do on the defensive side of his game. Time on the pitch obviously helps but Howe is always giving Barnes a lot of direction mid game, I just hope he becomes more coachable as he’s getting more minutes because if he can adapt a bit and take on more responsibility he will be a great asset for us. 

 

 

Edited 5 hours ago by Nine

[SAK]

Think the late goal heroics in the past has set expectations. He’s a good player even when not scoring or assisting, for example good dribbling ability in tight spaces and can take and retain the ball under pressure which is infinitely better than Murphy even though Murphy has been banging them in lately.

[nufcjmc]

Him playing on his preferred side might help his chances of performing better he's here for 3 games at least. 

 

As others have said if he's rotated with willock or joelinton it doesn't bode well for him staying beyond the summer. 

[Cookie1892]

i said at the time to the lads that gordon needed to come off and give Barnes a shot on the left as preferred

[The Prophet]

It's going to be class when he smashes in the winner in the final.