Dan Barlaser

borolad259 said:
Most of our best play this season has been through Barlaser setting up attacking play. Someone posted his season stats the other day (for assists and general passing play). He was second on assists (to Crooks I think) and above every other player by other metrics except goals scored.
Where we have generally struggled (as a team) is in defence... particularly at setpieces. Unfortunately, we also struggled offensively as well against Hull. The main reason we lost was failure to convert our better play into goals.
To be fair to Carrick and the team, our injury list is pretty much a full blown crisis. It's no surprise that certain players look tired as we are unable to rotate at the moment. We have not far off a full first team out of action. That is inevitably going to hurt our performance.
Click to expand...

Stats Stats Stats. He is King of the Two Yard Pass.
 
I enjoy watching him play. He can pick a pass and he tries to be progressive. Not everything comes off however and he clearly isn't the best in a defensive role.

If Crooks buries that header we win, he gets an assist and we probably have a positive thread about him.
 
What Barlaser does (for the benefit of the "experts")
1 min 10 draws defenders and lays off for Crooks
2 min 24 backheeled volleyed pass to Rogers (granted, if you're not paying attention or you are a Barlaser hater, you'll miss it)
3 min 00 far post corner for VDB to score (note fellow boo boy Rogers' work on the keeper)
3 min 59 throughball for Rogers to set up Jones
7 min 40 wins ball in challenge and sets Silvera away
8 min 55 classy throughball sets up scoring attack.

www.mfc.co.uk

Middlesbrough FC - Middlesbrough FC

Welcome to the official website of Middlesbrough Football Club. Visit for Boro's latest news, videos and highlights, plus tickets and match information.
www.mfc.co.uk www.mfc.co.uk

Edit: It's the extended highlights from Preston game. You may need to find it with your own log in.
 
Last edited:
borolad259 said:
What Barlaser does (for the benefit of the "experts")
1 min 10 draws defenders and lays off for Crooks
2 min 24 backheeled volleyed pass to Rogers (granted, if you're not paying attention or you are a Barlaser hater, you'll miss it)
3 min 00 far post corner for VDB to score (note fellow boo boy Rogers' work on the keeper)
3 min 59 throughball for Rogers to set up Jones
7 min 40 wins ball in challenge and sets Silvera away
8 min 55 classy throughball sets up scoring attack.

www.mfc.co.uk

Middlesbrough FC - Middlesbrough FC

Welcome to the official website of Middlesbrough Football Club. Visit for Boro's latest news, videos and highlights, plus tickets and match information.
www.mfc.co.uk www.mfc.co.uk
Click to expand...
Link doesn't work but assume it's a highlight reel against Preston. If you read through the thread I'll think you'll find most people are acknowledging that Barlaser does have a good range of passing when given time in games. Preston were awful that night and sat off us all match. Genuinely the worst team I've seen at the Riverside in a long time. Barlaser will flourish in games like that and he's played well in other matches this season when he's been given the same sort of time. He played well against Cardiff when they also sat off us very deep and had a really good second half against Sunderland when they were down to ten men.

However, he is very poor and becomes sloppy when teams press us hard and offers nothing defensively. No physical presence. He has big gaps in his skill sets, He's not a good enough all round midfielder to be playing in this system. There's an argument to be made that he's a good player to have in the squad to use in matches that suit him but if you had him as a first choice CM, the negatives would outweigh the positives.

He's always going to split opinion. He's that sort of player. He shouldn't be playing as many minutes as what he is. He's 4th choice. I'm confident Carrick will drop Barlaser as soon as Hackney is available and if O'Brien was fit, he wouldn't be getting a kick. Wouldn't be surprised if another CM comes in in January and pushes back down the pecking order a bit further.
 
B_G said:
Link doesn't work but assume it's a highlight reel against Preston. If you read through the thread I'll think you'll find most people are acknowledging that Barlaser does have a good range of passing when given time in games. Preston were awful that night and sat off us all match. Genuinely the worst team I've seen at the Riverside in a long time. Barlaser will flourish in games like that and he's played well in other matches this season when he's been given the same sort of time. He played well against Cardiff when they also sat off us very deep and had a really good second half against Sunderland when they were down to ten men.

However, he is very poor and becomes sloppy when teams press us hard and offers nothing defensively. No physical presence. He has big gaps in his skill sets, He's not a good enough all round midfielder to be playing in this system. There's an argument to be made that he's a good player to have in the squad to use in matches that suit him but if you had him as a first choice CM, the negatives would outweigh the positives.

He's always going to split opinion. He's that sort of player. He shouldn't be playing as many minutes as what he is. He's 4th choice. I'm confident Carrick will drop Barlaser as soon as Hackney is available and if O'Brien was fit, he wouldn't be getting a kick. Wouldn't be surprised if another CM comes in in January and pushes back down the pecking order a bit further.
Click to expand...
I get you don't like him but it's such a negative post. Anything good he does is because the opposition is bad and anything bad he does is all his fault.
 
BoroPhil said:
I get you don't like him but it's such a negative post. Anything good he does is because the opposition is bad and anything bad he does is all his fault.
Click to expand...
It's an opinion on his footballing ability. That is all.

It's not actually what I said is it. It's more about the style a team plays against us rather than their ability. He likes the time on the ball. He doesn't get that when teams press us. Some teams sit back in their own half. He thrives off this.

Defensively he's poor no matter who we are playing, but obviously it has more impact on the game against teams that dominate us. I.e. the better teams
 
B_G said:
It's an opinion on his footballing ability. That is all.

It's not actually what I said is it. It's more about the style a team plays against us rather than their ability. He likes the time on the ball. He doesn't get that when teams press us. Some teams sit back in their own half. He thrives off this.

Defensively he's poor no matter who we are playing, but obviously it has more impact on the game against teams that dominate us. I.e. the better teams
Click to expand...

He's fine when pressed too ... but all of our players find it a bit trickier when pressed. The smart opposition managers know this ... Stoke did that particular number on us. You're welcome to your erroneous opinions about Barlaser of course.

He has made 3 defensive mistakes that have been costly, from what I can recall. One was against Stoke. As a deep lying midielder, his defensive mistakes are pretty visible. Every single one of our defenders has made more this season....including VDB, who cost us two goals in one game recently. All players make mistakes....even Hackney the messiah. And those up front, arguably cost us more. How many one on ones has Latte Lath missed this season?

The benefits that he brings to the team, giving the defence an out ball when they are pressed time and again, creating space for others, playing simple passes that keep us in possession AND mostly going forward... these far outweight the negatives. And the notion that he likes time on the ball is spurious at best .... most players do. What he does very well is create time and space for himself and those around him.
 
borolad259 said:
He's fine when pressed too ... but all of our players find it a bit trickier when pressed. The smart opposition managers know this ... Stoke did that particular number on us. You're welcome to your erroneous opinions about Barlaser of course.

He has made 3 defensive mistakes that have been costly, from what I can recall. One was against Stoke. As a deep lying midielder, his defensive mistakes are pretty visible. Every single one of our defenders has made more this season....including VDB, who cost us two goals in one game recently. All players make mistakes....even Hackney the messiah. And those up front, arguably cost us more. How many one on ones has Latte Lath missed this season?

The benefits that he brings to the team, giving the defence an out ball when they are pressed time and again, creating space for others, playing simple passes that keep us in possession AND mostly going forward... these far outweight the negatives. And the notion that he likes time on the ball is spurious at best .... most players do. What he does very well is create time and space for himself and those around him.
Click to expand...
When Carrick drops him will his opinion be erroneous as well?
 
B_G said:
When Carrick drops him will his opinion be erroneous as well?
Click to expand...

Pretty sure Carrick will rotate the midfielders, and also pretty sure he likes Barlaser as a player.... he has said as much.

e.g. “It (always having time) is a big skill to have. Even when he doesn’t have time, he makes time for himself because he’s really clever on the ball. He’s really clever with his passes and his combinations, and I thought him and Hayden as a partnership worked well. With Dan, it’s what we see day in, day out in terms of his level of performance. He’s such a good footballer, so I wasn’t surprised by that performance. I thought he was terrific."
 
Last edited:
borolad259 said:
Pretty sure Carrick will rotate the midfielders, and also pretty sure he likes Barlaser as a player.... he has said as much.
Click to expand...
He's not gonna publicly say he's not good enough is he.

But his actions suggest otherwise.
He played mowatt in front of him last season.
He brought in O'Brien this season to strengthen the midfield. Presumably on big wages. We wouldn't be doing that unless he thought it needed strengthening.

Barlaser has only played this season in the league when either Hackney or Howson have been unavailable.

He'll be dropped straight to the bench as soon as Hackney is available.

But I can accept your opinion of Barlaser and others who think he's a good player. I don't agree but can accept it. I wouldn't resort to little snidey comments. But there's nothing new about Borolad arrogantly dismissing other's opinions as invalid. The only surprise is he hasn't restricted my account.
 
B_G said:
He's not gonna publicly say he's not good enough is he.

But his actions suggest otherwise.
He played mowatt in front of him last season.
He brought in O'Brien this season to strengthen the midfield. Presumably on big wages. We wouldn't be doing that unless he thought it needed strengthening.

Barlaser has only played this season in the league when either Hackney or Howson have been unavailable.

He'll be dropped straight to the bench as soon as Hackney is available.

But I can accept your opinion of Barlaser and others who think he's a good player. I don't agree but can accept it. I wouldn't resort to little snidey comments. But there's nothing new about Borolad arrogantly dismissing other's opinions as invalid. The only surprise is he hasn't restricted my account.
Click to expand...
"
I wouldn't resort to little snidey comments.
Click to expand...
followed by

"But there's nothing new about Borolad arrogantly dismissing other's opinions as invalid. The only surprise is he hasn't restricted my account".
🙃

Why would I restrict your account? Because you happen to be mistaken about Barlaser (and Carrick's view of him)?
I'll go and check the rules again, but I don't think there's any mention of that.
 
The whole team is struggling at the moment I think, Barlaser included. We have a lot of injuries to key players but the team we have been fielding is representative and should be more competitive than it is. The bench is a different story of course, we have zero worthwhile options and it's starting to show.
 
Just watched the goals back on the MFC site and Barlaser is culpable for both goals in some aspect. He looks like another one with poor concentration/awareness skills (along with example no. 1 Dijksteel). He's an excellent passer in general play, but you can't really defend him for the part he played in both Hull's goals.
 
borolad259 said:
Win as a team, lose as a team.
Click to expand...
I've never been into criticism of individual players either at the game or online. At the end of the day the player has the trust and confidence of the manager so any criticism of the player is by extension criticism of the manager.

However I do think it is fair to debate the qualities of individual players without resorting to abuse.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top