Post Match Leicester 0 Newcastle 3

[popillius]

Good to know who the new pantomime villain is. Averaging 1 in 2 for the season and he's shite or lazy or both. It's almost unbelievable.

Almost.

 

[popillius]

I'm not sure that anyone doubts his talent. At the point that he did his knee against Arsenal in Feb 21, he was moving beyond potential and into being a genuinely top class winger.

Since that injury, his attitude has stunk. He plays when he wants to. He doesn't track back, he doesn't chase down defenders, he doesn't look up when in possession. He usually just gets his head down and does his trick of going inside and takes a shot. It is a horror of a role to be a left back playing behind him.

I don't tend to have a dig at players who are giving their all within the confines of their limited ability. The ones that do my head in are those with much more to give but who can't be arsed. Barnes is a prime candidate for that.

I think it may not be a coincidence that his attitude has gone down the pan since he got his big contract in Aug 21.

I don't think attitude has anything to do with it. I never watch him and think he's not putting in a shift. I totally agree with you about him being pretty awful in some games and when things aren't going his way, you're spot on in that he has one trick of cutting inside and shooting. Again though, I don't think this has anything to do with attitude, more frustration which he needs to deal with in a better way.

There's a diamond of a player in Barnes. Even when he's having a relatively poor season by his standards, he's still scoring goals. He isn't creating much this campaign though and that is a problem for a wide player.

I think we are a better side with him than without him but there's sometimes not enough movement to help him out. When he does get the ball and attacks at pace he has Maddison and Vardy to support him and that's about that. When Maddison isn't playing like yesterday, Barnes has very little to the right of him in support because KDH and Tielemans tend to sit a bit deeper and Soumare ambles around like a drunk. When Vardy isn't playing there's either little to no movement up front or you have Daka and Nacho running around like greyhounds with horseradish on their dicks but without much in the way of brain. I think this is why he cuts inside and shoots; because he doesn't think there is a better option and, at times, he's right. He just needs to learn to be patient.

There's absolutely no doubt he he a much better player than we have seen of late but relatively this season (and I mean relatively!), he's been better than most.

 

[Robin127]

...you're spot on in that he has one trick of cutting inside and shooting...

An East Midlands Arjen Robben then.