Douglas Higginbottom wrote:blues2win wrote:Thanks Doug. Excellent report as ever. I wonder how many of the kids will go to Abu Dhabi for the mini winter break after the Arse game. Interesting to see whether Barker or others get some time against Hamburg on the 21st. I persist in thinking that that Barker should play a part in the Middlesborough game. Obviously you want some strong subs available if needed. Is he as good as Januzaj for interest which is a fair comparison to someone who plays in a very similar part position. Sure looks like it.
Is he as good as Januzaj? I suppose it depends on how good you think Januzaj is?
I was one who thought Jan was a great prospect but the usual hype that goes with anyone in red did him a disservice.Then add to that some bad management and here we are going on 2 years later and he has almost disappeared and maybe thrown out on loan. From that perspective I hope we get the timing right for promoting him and the management right from there onwards in not allowing him to think he is the new Messi.
My basic answer to the question though is that yes I do think he is at least as good and probably better than Januzaj.I believe he can go both ways better than Januzaj, gets his head up better rather than just hitting the ball across scum style and I get the feeling that he is well grounded.. I do believe he should get some first team football this season and that,assuming that goes well and he keeps progressing he should be a part of the first team squad next season even if only a sub at best most of the time.
I don't actually know how good Januzaj is so far as actual football talent goes, I haven't see enough of him, but one thing which imo most City players now have, compared to most of their peers at other Premier League clubs, (& many in Europe too) is a vastly superior understanding of how to actually play football. Barker is absolutely miles ahead of any raglets I've seen in that respect imo, & although he isn't amongst the one or two absolute cleverest of our kids in that area, he's still a smart lad & well clever enough for his age, & ability wise he seems to have almost everything. I think he strikes a very good balance between taking players on, & inevitably sometimes losing the ball, trying difficult stuff which may not come off, & just playing it simple, keeping the move ticking over. If anything, he could perhaps try the spectacular a little bit more, for me.
Januzaj, what I've seen of him, reminds me more of Vladimir Weiss. Lots of talent; no idea at all what to do with it.
Perhaps that is down to the managerial changes & poor recent coaching etc & he will come again, but if I had to choose between him & Barker, to start in City's team, there would be absolutely no contest imo. Which makes it all the more frustrating to see how much game time he has had compared to Brandon.
I would choose quite a few of City's kids over young(ish) players who play every week in the Prem tbh.