Joey Barton, aside from being a fairly decent footballer, is an excellent headline maker. The Newcastle United star recently told the Press that he believes that he’s the best English midfielder and that he deserves a shot in Fabio Capello’s squad. Speaking to French magazine So Foot, he said: “Luka Modric and Samir Nasri are very good, but in terms of English players… well, Jack Wilshere isn’t bad, but Frank Lampard’s on the way down and Steven Gerrard’s been injured a lot.”
The fact that Joey Barton (28-years-old) is comparing himself with a 19-year-old (Jack Wilshere) shows just what a class act the youngster is. I’d agree that on current form Barton gives Frank Lampard a run for his money, but disagree that he comes close to competing with a fully fit Steven Gerrard. But what about Manchester City’s Gareth Barry? Turns out Barton had reserved a special piece of vitriol just for him:
“If you watch the fourth goal, when (Mesut) Ozil was up against Barry, it was like the hare and the tortoise. Barry’s got a very good agent. He’s also discreet and always agrees with the manager. He’s like the guy who sits in the front row and listens to the teacher. I certainly don’t lose any sleep when I play against him.”
Barton’s never usually one to pull any punches, yet these words seem particularly strong – particularly harsh. They raise an important question however, who’s the better player and who would you rather have in your squad?
Firstly, I think it’s all too easy to scapegoat Gareth Barry for England’s woes during the 2010 World Cup. He wasn’t solely at fault for that Ozil goal – in fact he was left woefully exposed by his team-mates, who didn’t provide him with the requisite cover. The trouble was that Barry didn’t have the pace to deal with Ozil – can Barton honestly claim that he would have been able to deal with the German any differently?
Barton has been very consistent this season. He’s done a good job in the centre of the Newcastle midfield and marshalled the troops well, but is he better than Barry? I’m not so sure.
For starters, he doesn’t have as good technique as Barry. He can’t pick out a pass in the same way as Barry, and I’d even argue that if both players are playing their best football, Barton can’t run a game like Barry. What Barton adds to his team is competitiveness. He’s combative, he’s tough and he’s impossible to bully. He spurs the rest of the team on adds steel to Newcastle’s midfield.
All of which are useful qualities, but that doesn’t make him a better footballer than Barry. Can anyone honestly say that Barton would get as much game time at Manchester City as Barry currently does?
I’m going to have to side with Barry on this one. But please feel free to cast your own vote in the poll below.
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have you even watched Barton play this season? “can’t pick out a pass in the same way as Barry” absolute rubbish!
I dont think you have watched Barton this season. For starters he’s been playing wide right for Newcastle this season because he CAN pick a pass and has great technique. All this rubbish about him been aggressive and combative, he’s actually calmed down alot and is looked at more for his technical quality than tough tackling. Why do you think Carroll scored so many in the first half of the season. One thing Liverpool forgot to do when signing Carroll was to sign Barton as well.
Barton can run a game and has done so on many occasion. He has a wonderful range of passing and takes all of Newcastle’s set pieces. I’m pretty sure he’s in the top ten goal assists too.
So, try and do some research before writing such a daft article.
And to answer your question, Barton wins hands down. Barry is past it!
You obviously don’t know very much about Joey Barton then…..he’s got just as little pace as Barry, but you will find that his range and accuracy of passing and crossing is far superior, he is a very inventive player, better tackler, covers more ground and he has ran the midfield for newcastle all season.
Also…this has all been from right midfield this season in his weaker position (not the centre of midfield). From an international perspective Barry is little more than mediocre, who had a purple patch later in his career.
The question is…is barton playing better than Scott Parker. It is possibly only him that could be seen as the best english footballer this season.
You say “Barton has done a good job in the centre of mid field for Newcastle” maybe but he has done an excellent job right side of midfield where he has played most of his games.
Barry a better passer than Barton. Good joke have you watched him play this season and Barton has much more skill and purpose on the ball then Barry will ever have.