Barlaser

[outoftown]

Thought last night showed exactly what he is capable of in lots of ways.
His ball retention was excellent, and he tends to play the ball "for the man " not " to the man ".
He suits possession based players around him.
He'd be a real force in the quarterback role of a midfield of 3 - 5 -2.
In a 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 , he'd need to be alongside someone who has the physical attributes that he doesn't possess, and neither does any of our DM four.
For me, with what we have currently, he's the sub for hackney.

 

[borolad259]

Thought last night showed exactly what he is capable of in lots of ways.
His ball retention was excellent, and he tends to play the ball "for the man " not " to the man ".
He suits possession based players around him.
He'd be a real force in the quarterback role of a midfield of 3 - 5 -2.
In a 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 , he'd need to be alongside someone who has the physical attributes that he doesn't possess, and neither does any of our DM four.
For me, with what we have currently, he's the sub for hackney.

That is exactly what I meant by setting up to protect him.

 

[Johngannonsunderpants]

Total don against lower league opposition..

Hopefully he can get up to speed for the top end of the championship.

I still think he is too slow and ponderous.. he’s clever and can pick out a pass.. his movement is decent.. but ffs..

Slow

I really enjoyed watching him last night, but I don't see how it's ever going to work out for him with us.

He obviously can play long which isn't really our style, his short stuff is also very good when playing one touch passes, but unfortunately he can't carry the ball at all which both Howson and Hackney do.

Its a pity he's not a better defender and can't be converted to a centre back as his style would work there.

At Rotherham everything clearly went through him (as with Mowatt at Barnsley) but both don't seem able to make the next step up due to their mobility.

 

[B_G]

That is exactly what I meant by setting up to protect him.

But is he really that good that we would set the team up to protect him? In my opinion he's not even close to being that good.

 

[borolad259]

But is he really that good that we would set the team up to protect him? In my opinion he's not even close to being that good.

Well he is "that good" at the accurate long passing game, yes. Whether that is the way we want to set up to play is another question. Time will tell. He could be another "used to be shyte, but now he's alright" in time. He went past players a few times last night. He'd be great as a Beckenbaur type sweeper

 

[JonnyHistory]

I think the issue is we shouldn't really play Barlasar and Hackney together, they perform similar jobs and neither can do what Howson does. We got away with it against League 2 oppo but in our league not enough bite there to protect the defence.

 

[outoftown]

In fairness to him , he's started two games this season in the champ.
On both occasions there were at least three or four players who aren't / shouldn't be starters playing.

(Four or Five if you include him )

 

[indeedido]

Well he is "that good" at the accurate long passing game, yes.

I'm sorry but I certainly haven't seen that. I've seen him give the ball away a lot trying.

 

[outoftown]

I think the issue is we shouldn't really play Barlasar and Hackney together, they perform similar jobs and neither can do what Howson does. We got away with it against League 2 oppo but in our league not enough bite there to protect the defence.

I'd agree with that

 

[borolad259]

I'm sorry but I certainly haven't seen that. I've seen him give the ball away a lot trying.

His long passing game was great last night. A few real beauties. But so was his short and medium game. But I can't help what you haven't seen. Maybe he has improved (he has since last I saw him). We've got much bigger problems than having Dan Barlaser on the field when it comes to the way we play.

 

[B_G]

I think the issue is we shouldn't really play Barlasar and Hackney together, they perform similar jobs and neither can do what Howson does. We got away with it against League 2 oppo but in our league not enough bite there to protect the defence.

Hackney does offer some defensive qualities though. He still wins the ball back for us and puts tackles in. I know hes made some defensive errors this season but he still does compete physically in the midfield.

Barlaser doesn't. He's pretty much ineffective when we don't have the ball. The ball is just played around him. He'll never be good enough in a midfield 2 for this reason. If he was spraying the ball around and tearing defences apart with through balls then I would agree with Borolad that maybe we could look to switch the formation to 3 in the middle to fit him into the team, but he doesn't. Even if we switched to a midfield 3, he still wouldn't be in the team. O'Brien would play with Howson and Hackney. Unless of course he was covering LB.

He's more similar to McGree. A ticker over. Keeping the ball moving and bringing other players into play but he doesn't do it as well as McGree from what I've seen and doesn't seem to bring that goal scoring threat.

He's out the team for a reason. He's just not as good as the players we already had and O'Brien already looks better than him.

 

[borolad259]

Hackney does offer some defensive qualities though. He still wins the ball back for us and puts tackles in. I know hes made some defensive errors this season but he still does compete physically in the midfield.

Barlaser doesn't. He's pretty much ineffective when we don't have the ball. The ball is just played around him. He'll never be good enough in a midfield 2 for this reason. If he was spraying the ball around and tearing defences apart with through balls then I would agree with Borolad that maybe we could look to switch the formation to 3 in the middle to fit him into the team, but he doesn't. Even if we switched to a midfield 3, he still wouldn't be in the team. O'Brien would play with Howson and Hackney. Unless of course he was covering LB.

He's more similar to McGree. A ticker over. Keeping the ball moving and bringing other players into play but he doesn't do it as well as McGree from what I've seen and doesn't seem to bring that goal scoring threat.

He's out the team for a reason. He's just not as good as the players we already had and O'Brien already looks better than him.

Well I agree that O'brien looked very good, and possibly better suited to the way we play ... especially on the left as he was last night. And I'm pretty sure we've had some bad midfield performancse this season that didn't involve Barlaser at all.

 

[indeedido]

His long passing game was great last night. A few real beauties. But so was his short and medium game. But I can't help what you haven't seen. Maybe he has improved (he has since last I saw him). We've got much bigger problems than having Dan Barlaser on the field when it comes to the way we play.

I was there last night and he had nowhere near the impact that Hackney and McGree had. I didn't miss anything.

 

[borolad259]

I was there last night and he had nowhere near the impact that Hackney and McGree had. I didn't miss anything.

Hackney and McGree were very good last night, yes. So was O'Brien. But Barlaser had a great deal of impact in that he allowed those three to play the way they did, a little further forward. And much as I sound like his number one fan, I'm not. I just think he is good at what he does ... the assist stats back this up.

 

[Jonny Ingbar]

different role at Rotherham

Yes, he actually got on the pitch.

 

[B_G]

Hackney and McGree were very good last night, yes. So was O'Brien. But Barlaser had a great deal of impact in that he allowed those three to play the way they did, a little further forward. And much as I sound like his number one fan, I'm not. I just think he is good at what he does ... the assist stats back this up.

He's had 1 assist in 820 minutes of football for Boro. He's hardly a prolific assister for Boro

 

[Bruce]

Excellent in a midfield three, whether an attacking 4-3-3 where he is the furthest back or in 3-5-2 type set up. Looks to struggle when playing in 2. It looks like we thought we could coach into being a defensive playmaker - (a Carrick clone) - but he's clearly struggled to adapt to the defensive side of it.

Hackney's very much a ball-carrying, box-to-box type and does need someone next to him who can sit. One of the problems we've had this season is requiring Hackney to do a lot of defensive work which is something he's not great at. I'm not overly convinced with O'Brien as a partner for Hackney because he has the same strengths and they a feel a bit Lampard and Gerrard. That said, O'Brien was used a bit more defensively in his last season with Huddersfield so it might work out.

 

[Ex Footy Legs]

I've never quite seen what he offers yet - but I would love it if this was the starting point to kick on at Boro

Because he plays in Hackneys position so unless Hayden gets injured we won’t really get a chance to see him blossom but great cover and he played well last night because it was against league 1

 

[borolad259]

Ok. Here's last night's extended match highlights. Imagine I'm Gary Neville on Barlaser watch. This is how he calmly links play.

Approximate timings on youtube timeline

40 secs - pass to O'Brien

1:15 - the move. Goes wide right to receive and link

1:47 - goes left to receive throw and link play

4:25 - simple ball to Silvera

4:45 - picks up loose ball, moves it, stays available then lovely ball towards Rogers

5:58 - helps set up goal move

6:42 - watch his involvement and deft pass to McGree

7:12 - free kick (not too far oof

7:30 in the move for O'Brien effort

From 8:03 makes himself available then intelligent pass

If he can step up to linking play like that against better teams, we have a winner.

 

[Johngannonsunderpants]

Excellent in a midfield three, whether an attacking 4-3-3 where he is the furthest back or in 3-5-2 type set up. Looks to struggle when playing in 2. It looks like we thought we could coach into being a defensive playmaker - (a Carrick clone) - but he's clearly struggled to adapt to the defensive side of it.

Hackney's very much a ball-carrying, box-to-box type and does need someone next to him who can sit. One of the problems we've had this season is requiring Hackney to do a lot of defensive work which is something he's not great at. I'm not overly convinced with O'Brien as a partner for Hackney because he has the same strengths and they a feel a bit Lampard and Gerrard. That said, O'Brien was used a bit more defensively in his last season with Huddersfield so it might work out.

I disagree with Hackney not being great at the defensive stuff. I think he's gonna be great at everything.

He's a tenacious ball winner that not many give him enough credit for, he gets very tight on players and strips the ball a hell of a lot and doesn't get booked that often considering.

I also think he does quite well positionally for a young inexperienced player. Just look at the sheff weds game. Not that it should have been him, (should have been Mcgree or O'brian) he saw how isolated Engel was and was the only one to do anything about it.