Barry Bannan

[skarroki]

I still fail to see the reason why he was dropped, played better than all but 1 of our centre midfielders(Westwood) and even then its a toss up between the 2. We look a lot better on the ball with Bannan on the pitch. People on here criticise Bannan for the most insignificant things like the riskyish back pass to Given in the air against Bradford or when he lifted a pass to Baker instead of passing it on the ground. Both times we retained possession and started attacks but yet Bannan gets slated forit. The other times, people see isolated incidents where Bannan over hits a corner or a long pass and they seem to generalise that and come to the conclusion he hits too many long balls or he is a poor set piece taker.

 

Bannan brings us something that we don't have, a good ball player who can keep the ball under pressure. When we were drawing 1-1 against Arsenal with 20 mins remaining Bannan would've been ideal as instead of hoofing the ball aimlessly up field, he at least has the ability to keep the ball on the deck and pass it around. Something that no one else really has. For the goals and assists argument, Bannan isn't there to score goals, he's a deep-lying playmaker and he does that reasonably well. We haven't given Bannan the opportunity to play in an advanced role, for example where N'Zogbia plays at the moment, which would give him more opportunities to create. Bannan does create chances, its just a shame that most of which the chances he created have been wasted by strikers. Also Bannan gets a lot of 'second assists' i.e. he makes the pass before the pass that leads to the goal. 

 

Its not rocket science Bannan needs a big dominant midfielder next to him if we want him to be effective. He needs a Diame or a N'Zonzi to marshal the midfield and allow Bannan to play the passes. If not that, you need a system(like Swansea have) to maximise Bannan's ability, you need players who are also willing to pass and play nice attractive football. Bannan is at worst a very good asset to bring on at the 70 minute mark to keep possession(if winning) or to add some creativity(if losing).          

 

it's from a while back but couldn't agree more with this

[CI]

PL Games won when starting

KEA 1 - 4 Bannan

[skarroki]

This thread is bordering surreal. It can only be in a dream world that Bannan is being lauded in such a way. He's a very average footballer who on very few occasions plays quite well but never has a stormer and who on more occasions plays poorly.

 

this has tickled me, can't stop laughing now

 

i cannot believe the Con is still spouting facts about Bannan. I rate Bannan personally and want him to stick around, he just looks like a better footballer when on the ball, like N'Zogbia, but also like N'Zogbia, i wish he would occasionally make a run and create space for someone who he can then pass to. He seems to use some of his best attributes and then supress others. I don't think he's a top 10 regular starter, but he could definitely fit into a top 10 squad and for that reason i want him to stay, his negative attributes aren't bad enough to cancel out what he can offer. He's also an academy player who i want to stick around on that Basis - at least our squad is then finished off with the best of a bad bunch of academy graduates, not the best of a bad lot of expensive 30-something year old high wage transfers

[Folski]

Will you explain to me why he has made more defensive errors than Delph, Westwood, Sylla & N'Zogbia combined? Albeit only 2 that's still more than all the others who all have none. Bannan has a serious lack of concentration when on the ball. 21 of those 34 key passes have come areas of the pitch you rarely see Bannan, either side of the final third, I would bet the majority of these are corners, maybe not all of them, but the majority. Leaving 3 from the left midfield spot, one from his own half, and 9 in the attacking midfield spot. If you took the corners out of it I would imagine his statistics would look very average, as his 1 assist in 24 games implies, the same number as Sylla (7 games), Ireland (13 games), Lichaj (15 games), Bennett (21 games). 

[8pints]

Who needs Bannan when you've got...

[skarroki]

who did bannan score against this season? or are people referring to the pen at QPR last year? tbf his goal when playing at Blackpool is worth boasting about even if, other than that, he's not living up to his own potential and expectations.

[Con]

PL Games won when starting

KEA 1 - 4 Bannan

 

Get it right!

 

KEA 1 - 6 Bannan.

 

http://www.squawka.com/players/barry-bannan

[AshVilla]

1 Assist all season...

[Con]

It's amazing how you criticise me for mentioning statistics, and then you quote your own which are totally subjective.

 

Assists are only assists if the receiver of the key pass scores. Key pass is the objective statistic. Assists required another player to have had skill, not the person making the pass.

 

Baker hitting the crossbar, Reina saving from Benteke, Reading clearing off the line from Benteke... and many more key passes that on another day would have been assists.

[StefanAVFC]

So you're blaming our strikers (who have been the major bright spot this season apart from Guzan) for making Bannan's stats look bad?

 

[Kwan]

I've seen it all now. Assists are subjective whilst key passes are objective.

Further example that Con doesn't have a clue when it comes to statistics

[StefanAVFC]

Apparently lady luck and our strikers are conspiring to discredit Barry Bannan.

 

I imagine it to be like a war control room from a 1980's film about the Cold War.

 

And there's some sort of panic room for when he has a corner, because he's the best crosser in the league.

[Con]

I've seen it all now. Assists are subjective whilst key passes are objective.

Further example that Con doesn't have a clue when it comes to statistics

 

Assists are not a statistic about an individual player. They are a statistic about two players: one player who made the pass, and one player who scored.

 

Key pass count is only about one player. The receiver doesn't have to score.

 

What about key passes when the receiver does not even shoot, e.g. miscontrols, or somehow misses the ball entirely, or the linesman wrongly flags for offside, and the ball rolls through to the keeper? I will agree key passes can be under-counted. However, this applies to all players equally. Part of the skill of the key pass is passing to the right guy who will shoot. The ones that are counted are only about one player.

[CI]

He's had a few what I call "secondary assists" which need recognition

[StefanAVFC]

He's had a few what I call "secondary assists" which need recognition

 

Then it starts getting silly. 

 

Where do we stop? Tertiary assists?

[villa-revolution]

Every time I hear Bannan's name in the team it fills me with dread & I instantly fear the worst. He is so lightwight it's unreal & he looks as if a Bambi style type tackle could snap him in half every single time. He just bounces off opposition players similar to a cow swatting a fly off his backside. Most of the time they don't even notice that he is there & plough straight through him.

 

His set piece delivery is just plain awful as he always floats the ball in giving defenders time to adjust, instead of whipping them in & mixing them up occasionally. I remember the Reading game at home where Bannan did this all evening long without any positive results. Then, 10 mins from time Westwood swings over his first corner & hey presto! Benteke lights up Villa Park.

 

Bannan's ball retention is good (except for when he is attemting those Hollywood passes) & although he has been guilty of switching off occasionally with some seriously horrendous misplaced passes, to be fair to him he is no more guilty of others for this tragic overall sloppiness that runs throughout the team. It is the rest of his game then allied to this that make him such a liability.

 

Daft thing is, imagine if there were 2 Bannan's in the team (God forbid!) ala Xavi & Iniesta. It could well be that then, & only then, would you be able to unlock his undoubted footballing potential. Hopefully Lambo isn't thinking along those lines though otherwise I'll throw myself in Gas St Basin now!

 

[Con]

He's had a few what I call "secondary assists" which need recognition

 

I've read articles where he gets credit for setting up the Weimann - Benteke counter-attack goal against Liverpool.

 

Also the Reading game, where he got into the right position to get a shot on goal, which was on target enough to bounce back into a dangerous position for one of our strikers to score. Composed.

[StefanAVFC]

 

 

His set piece delivery is just plain awful as he always floats the ball in giving defenders time to adjust, instead of whipping them in & mixing them up occasionally. I remember the Reading game at home where Bannan did this all evening long without any positive results. Then, 10 mins from time Westwood swings over his first corner & hey presto! Benteke lights up Villa Park.

 

 

 

But the stats prove he's the best crosser in the league. You're objectively wrong. 

[HeyAnty]

IMO i think Bannan should be on, but it doesnt really matter as i dont think he will be on again this season. Unless Nzogiba gets injured

[StefanAVFC]

 

He's had a few what I call "secondary assists" which need recognition

 

I've read articles where he gets credit for setting up the Weimann - Benteke counter-attack goal against Liverpool.

 

Also the Reading game, where he got into the right position to get a shot on goal, which was on target enough to bounce back into a dangerous position for one of our strikers to score. Composed.

 

 

Composure is hitting the post? 

 

Is that subjective or objective?