Okonokos Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 Just watched the 5-1. Barry was an absolute joy to watch. What a player he was for us. I'd still say he's the best Villa player I've seen in my lifetime with Grealish catching up. I forgot what a burst of pace John Carew had for his size. Young was just popping up everywhere too and completely unplayable. We were such a good team and if O'Neill had a bit of tactical know-how about him, we could have been a force for years. I feel a bit depressed now after watching it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-Reacho Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 On 03/04/2020 at 17:10, PaulC said: Yes but I think those players had a bit more character than many of the current ones who just seem to have thrown in the towel That team was exciting because it had six academy players in it that we didn't know exactly how good they'd be at that stage. We'd got the top up and coming manager (other than Rodgers) and had picked up an amazing striker that no one had ever heard of for hardly any money. We played great football at that stage and looked like we had such a bright future ahead of us. Felt much more exciting than our current plight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 7 minutes ago, Okonokos said: Just watched the 5-1. Barry was an absolute joy to watch. What a player he was for us. I'd still say he's the best Villa player I've seen in my lifetime with Grealish catching up. I forgot what a burst of pace John Carew had for his size. Young was just popping up everywhere too and completely unplayable. We were such a good team and if O'Neill had a bit of tactical know-how about him, we could have been a force for years. I feel a bit depressed now after watching it. I watched the highlights of the game against Atletico Madrid and I thought Lee Hendrie was immense in that game. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted April 17, 2020 Author Share Posted April 17, 2020 3 minutes ago, PaulC said: I watched the highlights of the game against Atletico Madrid and I thought Lee Hendrie was immense in that game. On YouTube? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 1 minute ago, sir_gary_cahill said: On YouTube? Yes I was listening to a John Gregory interview on YouTube from 2 or 3 years ago and he was comparing Hendrie to Grealish but saying that Hendrie had more energy and was more involved in games, but Grealish as improved a lot since then. But in those days we were qualifying for the Europa nearly every season and beating the likes of Atletico Madrid at home. Good times. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhan_Zhuang Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 Hendrie was a good player! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 He had good periods of form but could never sustain it over a full season like a Barry could. Was always better popping up from a wide position aswell, could never get into the game centrally enough when part of a two. Yeah the 5-1, Barry was superb in that. IIRC talk of that Liverpool move started after that game. We really should've finished above Everton that season. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okonokos Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 The thing that puts Barry above everyone else is how consistent he was. I remember week after week he'd get man of the match. He was creative, had the most brilliant vision and imagination, could cross and shoot with either foot, danger from set pieces, bags of energy and he was hard too. He knew how to tackle and get stuck in. Absolutely brilliant player. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 37 minutes ago, Okonokos said: The thing that puts Barry above everyone else is how consistent he was. I remember week after week he'd get man of the match. He was creative, had the most brilliant vision and imagination, could cross and shoot with either foot, danger from set pieces, bags of energy and he was hard too. He knew how to tackle and get stuck in. Absolutely brilliant player. Moving centrally really helped him I thought. He had a fantastic season in 2002-03 when he was bizarrely ignored by England but after that more athleticism and pace was required out wide in the premier league. He was still a good player out there but could also struggle given how quick the full backs were getting. As soon as he moved into central midfield England recall started. 53 caps. Not bad for someone who was ignored for about 5 years. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okonokos Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 1 hour ago, VillaChris said: Moving centrally really helped him I thought. He had a fantastic season in 2002-03 when he was bizarrely ignored by England but after that more athleticism and pace was required out wide in the premier league. He was still a good player out there but could also struggle given how quick the full backs were getting. As soon as he moved into central midfield England recall started. 53 caps. Not bad for someone who was ignored for about 5 years. Yeah, it turned him from a very good player into a great player. I've never seen anyone for Villa control the game as well as he did. The same thing helped Milner too as he never had the pace to play out wide. But yeah, watching that game today has reminded me that there's no doubt Barry is the best player I've seen at the Villa. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 6 hours ago, Okonokos said: Just watched the 5-1. Barry was an absolute joy to watch. What a player he was for us. I'd still say he's the best Villa player I've seen in my lifetime with Grealish catching up. I forgot what a burst of pace John Carew had for his size. Young was just popping up everywhere too and completely unplayable. We were such a good team and if O'Neill had a bit of tactical know-how about him, we could have been a force for years. I feel a bit depressed now after watching it. Barry was awesome, him wanting to leave has damaged people opinion but he controlled midfield easily for us. We have not had a midfielder since with that skill. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Okonokos Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 45 minutes ago, Zatman said: Barry was awesome, him wanting to leave has damaged people opinion but he controlled midfield easily for us. We have not had a midfielder since with that skill. I hate how it ended with him because it makes people forget how good he was. I honestly don't think we've had anyone anywhere near his level of ability and consistency. It was an absolute joy to watch him today, he was literally like a man possessed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted April 17, 2020 Share Posted April 17, 2020 13 minutes ago, Okonokos said: I hate how it ended with him because it makes people forget how good he was. I honestly don't think we've had anyone anywhere near his level of ability and consistency. It was an absolute joy to watch him today, he was literally like a man possessed. Barry and Petrov were a very intelligent combination. Both could do short or quick long range passes to likes of Young and also excellent at getting their backsides in the way of opponents and winning cheap free kicks which slowed things down when we were leading. Proper game management. Only problem is we still largely played 4-4-2 so both could be bypassed if we are playing a team with 4-3-3 who had mobile CMs. We did play Reo Coker at times with them that helped but he started falling out of favour that season and playing at right back. Shame given Milner was at the club we didn't have the hunch earlier to move him centrally and buy another winger or even play Gabby there in some games. A midfield trio of Petrov-Barry-Milner with Young and Gabby either side looks near perfect for a counter attacking team and I think would've won more home games. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villarocker Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 On 03/04/2020 at 16:12, Zatman said: Seriously how good was Benteke, that is probably one of the worst Villa teams to play a Premier League game. That season he was genuinely unplayable. I know he isnt the same player since but he was absolute awesome that season. Only Saunders, Yorke or Tammy have been near that level as a striker And with Westwood, Bannan, Herd & Holman in midfield. Has there ever been a worse midfield four to play for Villa in one game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villarocker Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 10 hours ago, VillaChris said: Barry and Petrov were a very intelligent combination. Both could do short or quick long range passes to likes of Young and also excellent at getting their backsides in the way of opponents and winning cheap free kicks which slowed things down when we were leading. Proper game management. Only problem is we still largely played 4-4-2 so both could be bypassed if we are playing a team with 4-3-3 who had mobile CMs. We did play Reo Coker at times with them that helped but he started falling out of favour that season and playing at right back. Shame given Milner was at the club we didn't have the hunch earlier to move him centrally and buy another winger or even play Gabby there in some games. A midfield trio of Petrov-Barry-Milner with Young and Gabby either side looks near perfect for a counter attacking team and I think would've won more home games. Back then we clearly had quality players. Maybe our mistake was not going for a better, higher, quality manager? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 (edited) 10 hours ago, VillaChris said: Barry and Petrov were a very intelligent combination. Both could do short or quick long range passes to likes of Young and also excellent at getting their backsides in the way of opponents and winning cheap free kicks which slowed things down when we were leading. Proper game management. Only problem is we still largely played 4-4-2 so both could be bypassed if we are playing a team with 4-3-3 who had mobile CMs. We did play Reo Coker at times with them that helped but he started falling out of favour that season and playing at right back. Shame given Milner was at the club we didn't have the hunch earlier to move him centrally and buy another winger or even play Gabby there in some games. A midfield trio of Petrov-Barry-Milner with Young and Gabby either side looks near perfect for a counter attacking team and I think would've won more home games. Instead of signing Heskey a quality winger would have got us top 4 Milner going into centre midfield was a fluke, Downing was supposed replace Barry until we discovered he was afraid of tackling Edited April 18, 2020 by Zatman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted April 22, 2020 Author Share Posted April 22, 2020 Our famous 3-1 victory against Arsenal at The Emirates from 2013 will be shown on our website tomorrow at 3pm on official site 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted April 22, 2020 Author Share Posted April 22, 2020 On 18/04/2020 at 10:58, Zatman said: Instead of signing Heskey a quality winger would have got us top 4 Milner going into centre midfield was a fluke, Downing was supposed replace Barry until we discovered he was afraid of tackling How can you say that moving Milner in to central midfield was a fluke? For me, it was genius, he was brilliant there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 39 minutes ago, sir_gary_cahill said: How can you say that moving Milner in to central midfield was a fluke? For me, it was genius, he was brilliant there Maybe you should read what I wrote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted April 22, 2020 Author Share Posted April 22, 2020 6 minutes ago, Zatman said: Maybe you should read what I wrote I did, it’s probably gone over my head Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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