Barry Bannan

[Con]

I haven't said anything about Bannan in terms of last night, in fact, he had one of his better games for us last night apart from his awful delivery.

I'm talking about Bannan as a player. Not good enough.

If you want a scapegoat for last night then take your pick from the starting 11, although Joe Bennett (the worst footballer I have seen in a Villa shirt) would be my choice.

This table may surprise you.

He's not the worst player in the Premier League. With these stats he could get into another squad higher up the PL table.

Ignore reputations, or lack thereof in Bannan's case.

[Amo69]

We can't have one scapegoat when they're all as shit as eachother.

We do it all the time. Last year it was Warnock and Hutton. The year before it was Gabby who even got boo'd on one occasion. A few years ago it was Petrov who also got booed!!!

We are all hurting but its not Bannans fault!!

[Majkee]

... not AMC.

Delph is DM© Ireland is listed M (CR), Bannan M (CLR)

Holman and N'Zogbia are AM (CLR)

Yes, I agree the team needs its "Alex Song". Everyone knows this. It's not even a matter of debate. Nobody claims Bannan can fill the Alex Song role

http://www.whoscored.com/Teams/24

Again, irrelevant is the position written behind the names of players, if this position is not the best fit according to player's skills. I have been watching Bannan for a long time to asses him imho and for me, he is (edit:) better than average AMC, but no way he can play as a winger and no way to play him as a CM without Alex Song or some other DMC monster. His other important weakness is, when the tempo goes higher, he often lose his composure and vision, he tries a hollywood ball to nowhere, loosing the ball. If the tempo is low, he is able to create even on CM position, but do not expect low tempo in relegation dogfight. Edited January 23, 2013 by Majkee

[Cambridge-AVFC]

Wooow. Massively unjustified hate here. Laughable really. I'd like to thank everyone for once again reinforcing my point that he is a scapegoat.

My god when he was on we had 70% possession, I'm going to repeat that 70% POSSESSION!!!!!! We ended the game with 56% possession. Bannan was the link, everything we did involved him, he was the supply line for Delph, Ireland, Lowton, Bennett N'Zogbia and on occasion Benteke and Gabby. To blame him for this and say he was 'the worst player they've seen in a Villa shirt'...are you kidding me?

If anyone could do what Bannan did, why did our possession stats drop so dramatically? why didn't Delph do what Bannan did? I mean my god, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what wee Barry's job was. He was there to maintain possession and to set up attacks which he did well. He gave the ball away 3 times i think ver economical and very productive. Barry Bannan did alright yesterday he is certainly not to blame for the defeat, but seeing as he's an easy target I'm not surprised he is getting blamed.

As for his corners, he had a bad day, it happens his corners aren't defined by 1 game, he has still put some cracking balls in this season, its just whenever he over hits do one it gets emphasised because most people here want him to fail.

[AshVilla]

My nan could pass the ball sideways 5 yards which is all he does

He has played 20 games this season and earned 1 assist

What are united waiting for i was expecting a multi million pound bid by now

[Con]

My nan could pass the ball sideways 5 yards which is all he does

He has played 20 games this season and earned 1 assist

What are united waiting for i was expecting a multi million pound bid by now

All Darren Bent does is side foot the ball from 5 yards into the net. Your nan could do that too.

If you look at the above table, there are a lot of players on 1 assist. There is an element of luck in registering an assist. Key passes stat is more revealing of a player's creativity. Look at the numbers of Gerrard and Carzola.

[foreveryoung]

Quality crossing of the ball. Lampard, Ashley Cole, Gerrard, Bains, to name a few an believe CON, he is nowhere near these guys in quality, not even close.

[Dr_Pangloss]

The simple fact is that the midfield is too weak and too easily overpowered, and also offers terrible protection to the back four. Thinking that we can judge the quality of our midfield based on pass%, cross% and long ball% is silly.

Edited January 23, 2013 by Dr_Pangloss

[Con]

The simple fact is that the midfield is too weak and too easily overpowered, and also offers terrible protection to the back four.

The back line is molly-coddled by the fans. They are the problem in the defence and the attack, because they don't provide support for the midfield - whether Bannan is playing or when he is not playing and someone else is.

The statistics show the midfield is Premiership quality. Not the best in the league of course, and could use another player, but to focus on the midfield is to miss the real problem.

Thinking that we can judge the quality of our midfield based on pass%, cross% and long ball% is silly.

We need a DM. Nobody is even debating this. Doesn't mean we can't judge the existing players on their own non-DM qualities. When you do that, they're good players.

Edited January 23, 2013 by Con

[Big_John_10]

Wooow. Massively unjustified hate here. Laughable really. I'd like to thank everyone for once again reinforcing my point that he is a scapegoat.

My god when he was on we had 70% possession, I'm going to repeat that 70% POSSESSION!!!!!! We ended the game with 56% possession. Bannan was the link, everything we did involved him, he was the supply line for Delph, Ireland, Lowton, Bennett N'Zogbia and on occasion Benteke and Gabby. To blame him for this and say he was 'the worst player they've seen in a Villa shirt'...are you kidding me?

If anyone could do what Bannan did, why did our possession stats drop so dramatically? why didn't Delph do what Bannan did? I mean my god, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what wee Barry's job was. He was there to maintain possession and to set up attacks which he did well. He gave the ball away 3 times i think ver economical and very productive. Barry Bannan did alright yesterday he is certainly not to blame for the defeat, but seeing as he's an easy target I'm not surprised he is getting blamed.

As for his corners, he had a bad day, it happens his corners aren't defined by 1 game, he has still put some cracking balls in this season, its just whenever he over hits do one it gets emphasised because most people here want him to fail.

No one did what bannan did because we needed to score and the tactics changed to hoof it long. Can people not see why possession stats changed last night? It was not because bannan came off.

And we had lots of possession but did pretty much **** all with it because we have players like bannan.

He's a waste of space. He drops deep, gets the ball off the defender and plays it the FB. There is no need for this. Miss him out and get Clark or Vlaar to play the same pass. And before I get told they aren't capable we're talking about simple passes.

His passing is not only ineffective it's also poor. So many times last night he played the ball poorly to the feet of either Lowton or bennet resulting in the play slowing down or allowing the opposition to close down.

The stats will say bannan kept the ball but **** me anyone who actually watches us can see how useless he is.

You heard the reaction when he was subbed. Most fans know what a joke he is now.

I remember the same defence of albrighton and look how he turned out.

[Big_John_10]

The same people who criticise Bannan are the ones who criticised Petrov and Barry. Too much FIFA and youtube highlights methinks. You need players that offer an option and can keep the ball moving - as soon as Bannan went off, players like Lowton, Delph, N'Zogbia and the defence had nobody offering them a short pass option and our play suffered as a result. It's blindingly **** obvious that he's a very important player for us - look at the difference when he came on against Southampton; we totally transformed as a team and battered them in the 2nd half.

His corners yesterday were poor, definitely, no disputing that but it's not the be all and end all of his game.

You've been wrong about pretty much everything this seasons and this just continues to keep that 100% record going.

[Con]

He's a waste of space. He drops deep, gets the ball off the defender and plays it the FB. There is no need for this. Miss him out and get Clark or Vlaar to play the same pass. And before I get told they aren't capable we're talking about simple passes.

They're not capable of simple passes.

If you leave the skill work to your defence you are asking for trouble.

Edited January 23, 2013 by Con

[Big_John_10]

They're not capable of simple passes.

If you leave the skill work to your defence you are asking for trouble.

Clark and Vlaar are capable of playing a 10 yard pass to a player in space when under no pressure.

Because that's all bannan does when he drops deep and its not needed. It does nothing to help us.

[foreveryoung]

Funny CON you missed my post and didn't comment on the comparison between Bannan and the quality mentioned. You do realise he is no where near the likes of Bains and Lampard. If he is that good where's the goals these midfielders produce???

[Woodytom]

This table may surprise you.

He's not the worst player in the Premier League. With these stats he could get into another squad higher up the PL table.

Ignore reputations, or lack thereof in Bannan's case.

To answer the question at the top of the black table - Yes. Absolutely **** woeful.

[Con]

Funny CON you missed my post and didn't comment on the comparison between Bannan and the quality mentioned. You do realise he is no where near the likes of Bains and Lampard. If he is that good where's the goals these midfielders produce???

I didn't understand your point. I'm not comparing him to Baines, who is a LB. Baines is not even on the list.

I'm also not suggesting our midfielders are better than Lampard. However, they are currently better at passing and crossing than Lampard.

Lampard gets in the Chelsea team because he's a goal threat. Didn't have that he wouldn't play.

[Folski]

Bannan is too deep, he's not a Pirlo type player, why is he beside Clark during the game when he should be at least 20 yards further up the pitch? He is also too lightweight and doesn't close down players quick enough. He might be able to pass the ball to the right and left back when they are in acres of space and hit a diagonal ball to the edge of the area that Benteke will win and nothing good will come of but we do not need that. I'll do that if they want for a lot cheaper.

[AVFCforever1991]

Pass accuracy doesn't mean anything if you pass like a crab.

[Con]

Bannan is too deep, he's not a Pirlo type player, why is he beside Clark during the game when he should be at least 20 yards further up the pitch?

Clark cannot do and should not be trusted to do the job of a midfielder.

It's not as though you are describing a new position in football. There are deep lying playmakers at other teams, including the top teams.

He is also too lightweight and doesn't close down players quick enough.

I keep making the same point. Leon Britton is lighter and shorter. No assists. Hardly misses a match for Swansea. No, Bannan is not exactly the same game. Point is, doesn't matter what size they are if they fit in with the rest of the team.

[Kwan]

Still sucks.