I can't imagine he'll be at Luton next season if he continues his rich vein of form, though.
Ross Barkley... | Back to Villa?
- Thread starter Rozay
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I can't imagine he'll be at Luton next season if he continues his rich vein of form, though.
We should have signed him up.
If he is smart he should be if they stay up.
Agreed, but it's a big if.
He looks great for Luton, he’ll get a decent move at the end of the season, definitely good enough to be playing for a higher team.
@Walters_19_MuFc has been vindicated here!
Everton was probably the right club for him
Like many players Chelsea ruined his career
It’s the best football of his career in a specific role where he is given so much responsibility and allowed to move the ball quickly and make lots of forward passes and carries.
He would be mad to go elsewhere in the summer and be asked to play as something that doesn’t suit him once again.
Reminds me of Adam when he was at Blackpool for some reason
Haha I've always had faith in him.
2 dodgy looking lads in orange.
Just ignore the fact he was awful at Villa then?
He's better than Luton but not good enough for a really good side.
Ironically, someone like Everton is where I'd put him.
Ironically, someone like Everton is where I'd put him.
I think he could have been with wiser career choices. I think he should have stayed with us for one more season after that big injury and then made a step up. I think he would have been a good Dembele replacement for Spurs.
I prefer to ignore Chelsea
Everton/Spurs is about the same to me.
brutal.Once Arsenal and Chelsea were the same to me - things change!
Can he make the Euros? As a deep lying playmaker?
No, there are too many players ahead of him.
Rice
Bellingham
Gallagher
Ward-Prowse
Mainoo
Phillips
Henderson
You could make an argument that he deserves to be picked ahead of the latter 2 but Southgate certainly won't see it that way.
Legend. 
He should probably make the squad. Central midfield is a clear weak spot in the squad (probably the biggest alongside LB). The only guaranteed central midfielders who should be there are Rice and Bellingham. And you'd probably want Bellingham further forward anyway...
Right now for deep midfield only Rice is worth a spot and Hendo will get in for what he can do in the dressing room. I believe Phillips is in danger and there is room for on one more spot.
Surely Mainoo can do a better job deeper than Barkley?
Yeah it's probably not going to happen but he definitely deserves to be in the squad over Phillips and Henderson. Phillips has been sat on the bench for what, 2 years? And now he looks he awful for West Ham. It's infuriating that he keeps getting called up.
Imagine being Loftus-Cheek doing bits in Italy but watching Henderson and fecking Phillips still getting picked ahead of you.
I'm conflicted between wanting the NT to have the best players, and also from a club fan perspective of wanting Mainoo away from the Euros too early to keep him a bit more grounded and hungry over preseason.
I also think there's probably space for both. Southgate definitely wouldn't do it, but .I don't really rate Henderson*, Phillips, Ward-Prowse, or Gallagher as CMs.
* Though I do appreciate some merit in the whole leader in the dressing room and for the vibes stuff.
I agree Phillips doesn't deserve a callup but we've seen enough from Southgate over the years to know that he'll stick to his favourites. I really hope we finally get shut of him after the Euros and have a fresh start with a more adventurous manager.
Yeah, I understand that conflict. I'm always more invested in England when there's a young United player starting for them. It would be great to see Mainoo starting in a midfield 3 with Rice and Bellingham, especially if we reach the latter stages.
I think Gallagher is almost nailed on to be on the plane as he's Chelsea captain and he's been called up to the past few squads. Barkley would be too left field.
But you didn't
You do realise Barkley missed the equivalent of 2 full seasons to injury since 2018. He was with us for 3 seasons (ignoring the loan at Villa which was also riddled with injury issues) which was frequently punctured by injuries lasting a month or two. And he joined us on the back of missing an entire season at Everton. So he joined us having played 0 football for a year and then proceeded to have 4 injury riddled seasons.
When you say there's many players ahead of him, is that based on your opinion or what you think Southgate will do? If it's the former, there's no way any of these players, other than Rice, who he could easily play next to, should be ahead of Barkley, based on this season. I've not included Bellingham because he's a 10. As is the case with Gallagher, who shouldn't be anywhere near the squad if Southgate views him as a 10, which is where he plays for Chelsea. Players like Maddison, Foden, Eze and Gibbs-White are easily better options than Gallagher as a 10.
We (England) could easily set up in a midfield consisting of:
Bellingham
Rice Barkley
If I were Gareth, I'd be definitely taking Barkley, not necessarily to always start, but to provide a different option. Ward-Prowse, Phillips and Henderson are very much similar. Whilst he doesn't have the work rate of the aforementioned players, he is better than all of them with the ball at his feet, and has the ability to open teams up.
If I'm not mistaken, asides from this season and his loan at Palace, Gallagher hasn't played as a number 10 for most of his career. I rate him as a solid deep lying midfielder, albeit not as good at carrying the ball as Barkley. Fair enough Bellingham will almost certainly play as a 10 as he's thriving there at Madrid but let's not pretend he's not capable of playing as an 8 just as competently.
I also rate Mainoo and Ward-Prowse higher than Barkley. Ward-Prowse has been consistently playing well for years, whereas Barkley has had several poor seasons before his recent revival at Luton.
I agree that he should be picked ahead of Phillips and Henderson, but we both know Southgate won't see it that way.
My midfield 3 for most of the tournament would be:
Rice Mainoo
Bellingham
However, for a group stage game vs a low block, I'd have Rice as a single pivot:
Rice
Bellingham Maddison
Remember when he was the next Rooney?
Always good to see a player recover his career somewhat. He's been a great signing for Luton.
Gallagher has played deeper, but are we not focusing on what they are currently doing at their clubs? If so, then Gallagher shouldn't be considered as an 8, as is the case with Bellingham, who can play as an 8, but is so much better as a 10, and we saw when Southgate made the change in the Euro's or World Cup, bringing Henderson in for Mount, which created a much better balance.
Mainoo is, and will be a very good player. I would take him, but he hasn't performed better than Barkley. I get that he's one of our own and he's young, but in terms of performances, Barkley has been a better player. I mean, just literally days ago, Barkley dominated our midfield, completing the second most key passes (4), the second highest touches (91) and the second highest passes (71) in the game. Bruno, Mainoo and Casemiro didn't get anywhere near those numbers, and we were playing Luton Town, no disrespect to them.
The same goes for Ward-Prowse. Whilst he's a massive threat on set pieces, there's nothing else in his game that I believe outdoes Barkley's. You mention that he's been playing well for several years but the squad isn't chosen based on that. It's chosen based on form (well, it should be), and if that's the case, as I said, no one has performed better than Barkley in that deep-lying position. Not only according to the eye, stats back that up, too.
In the end, it's all subjective, but I personally believe, if Southgate looks at it based on form, there's no way he can leave Barkley out. Having said that, I wouldn't be shocked if he did.
Who I'd take:
Bellingham/Maddison
Rice/Mainoo - Barkley/Box to box
What does Loftus-Cheek need to do to get back in the squad? Buy Southgate a TNT Sports subscription?
Wrong thread.