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For
a player still just 21 years of age, Gareth Barry has managed to
pack a lot of football and a lot of controversy into a very short
career, but then it’s the fate of many Gareth’s to have
a stuttering start to their career.
Barry first came to the nation’s attention back in July 1997
when he moved from Brighton to Villa Park, a move that had the footballing
authorities jumping up and down as the Villans appeared to have
poached a home reared talent without offering due compensation,
since the youngster was still technically a trainee with the Seasiders.
Given that Barry must now be worth upwards of £5million, the
£1million that was eventually wrung out of Villa looks a real
bargain, especially with over 150 first team appearances already
behind him as well as a clutch of England caps.
Barry established himself in the Villa side almost at once, a regular
through the 1998/99 season, and within another a year, he found
himself breaking into Kevin Keegan’s England set-up, suggesting
himself as the answer to England’s left-sided problems after
a string of cultured performances as a left-sided centre-half and,
on occasion, as a left wing-back, playing in two of the national
side’s warm-up games before they embarked on the Euro 2000
debacle.
But, as with many youngsters who leap like a salmon, for a time
he then sunk like a stone and endured a tough time as he dropped
out of the England reckoning and even had problems retaining his
place in the Villa side. Too much too young? Perhaps, but most of
his problems emanated from a more prosaic source, a change in Villa’s
tactics, from a 5-3-2 shape to a more traditional 4-4-2, a move
the flawed Barry who initially struggled to play as a centre-back
in a flat back four and found the left-back slot filled by the impressive
Jlloyd Samuel.
Looking for a way into the side, he also found it difficult to adapt
to a place on the left of midfield and there were times in recent
months when it looked as though he might be on his way out of Villa
Park. Yet this term, as Graham Taylor has again oscillated between
formations, Barry has been a revelation, playing superbly out on
the left of midfield, leaving last term’s problems way behind
him and establishing himself once again as one of the leading footballers
in the Premier League.
His ability on the ball is beyond question and to that he has added
a greater level of fitness and a tactical appreciation that means
he is rarely caught out of position. Using the ability to read the
game he learned as a centre-back, Barry had caught the eye of most
pundits this term, as well as Villa colleagues such as Marcus Allback,
who says, "He is a very young lad and he has a very mature
game in his body. He is playing mature football. I remember being
here for a month and finding out how young he was. I thought he
was 25 or 26 and when I heard he was only 21, I thought "Wow,
that is a big talent for somebody so young." I cannot say anything
negative about him."
The only negatives there have been for Barry this term, aside from
four yellow cards, has been his inability to break into Sven’s
England squad – his omission from next week’s squad get
together was perhaps the biggest surprise and Villa fans have responded
to the snub by starting a "Barry for England" campaign.
Whether that will prove counter-productive, only time will tell.
Certainly his manager has disassociated himself with the calls,
understandably so since Taylor’s priority has to be getting
Barry to perform week in week out for Villa where he is a key figure
in dragging them away from the relegation zone. As Taylor says,
"He’s got to keep doing it for his club. Everybody knows
that Gareth has done very, very well. But I don’t really want
to get involved with public recommendations to the England manager.
I don’t think it’s the way to do things.
"I’m concerned with Gareth Barry playing the best that
he can and hopefully improving Gareth all of the time for the benefit
of Aston Villa. If after that there’s anything more for Gareth,
that’s great. But I don’t think it’s in either Gareth’s
or my interest to be pushing that."
And the thoughts of the man in the middle of another controversy?
He’s commendably philosophical about it all.
"Every player wants to do the very best they can and for me
that includes playing for my country at the highest level. Hopefully
my time will come again. I have been there and I know what it’s
all about. If I keep playing well I can’t be ignored forever."
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