Joey Barton Interesting Interview

Joey gives his thoughts on the England squad, sorry if its been posted lads

Joey Barton insists he is the best English midfielder around and cannot understand why he is not currently in Fabio Capello's England side.

The Newcastle midfielder not only insisted that he deserves to be in the England team, but explained why he is better than his compatriots.

Barton singled out Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry for his fiercest criticism, delivering a damning assessment of the other English midfielders at Capello's disposal.

"Honestly, I think I'm the best (English midfielder)," Barton told the French magazine So Foot.

"Luka Modric and Samir Nasri are very good, but in terms of English players... well, Jack Wilshere isn't bad, but Frank Lampard's on the way down and Steven Gerrard's been injured a lot.

"I'm English and I love playing for my country," he added. "Maybe the people at the top have a problem with me. I don't know. But the trouble I had was four years ago. They should be able to forgive, shouldn't they?"

Barton then unleashed an angry and bemused assessment of Barry, who captained England in last week's friendly with Ghana.

"Did you see the game against Germany at the World Cup?" asked Barton.

"If you watch the fourth goal, when (Mesut) Ozil was up against Barry, it was like the hare and the tortoise.

"Barry's got a very good agent," Barton indicated as the reason for the player's success. "He's also discreet and always agrees with the manager. He's like the guy who sits in the front row and listens to the teacher.

"I certainly don't lose any sleep when I play against him."

The 28-year-old, who has just the one cap to his name after an appearance against Spain back in 2007, believes England are stuck in the past and that if they do not change their approach they will never again win the World Cup.

"We English will play the next 50 World Cups and we'll never win one," he said.

"The people in charge at the FA played football maybe 50 or 60 years ago and still think that we can win a World Cup in the same way we did in 1966.

"We're too focused on tradition in England, like always having to play 4-4-2. Sometimes you need to experiment, drop a bit deeper so you have more space to move into.

"France, Italy and Germany have done it. We've been doing the same thing for 20 years."


Heres the link lads.
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/07042011/58/premier-league-barton-m-england-best-midfielder.html

Theres no denying his quality in my opinion, the FA need to drag their heads out of their arses and get him in that squad. I thought Crapello said he would pick players on merit? If he is why are players like, as Joey said, Gareth Barry getting in ahead of him and furthermore being England captain. Its not right, hes a fantastic player tarnished by an old brush.

 

This is from the same magazine that took Stephen Ireland's comments out of context and he immediately apologized after it became apparent they had used some quotes against him, these have been around for 24 hours and Barton has declined to comment so it looks like he really means it. Even though what he says is true, it is even more damaging to his international aspirations and whatever you think of Gareth Barry, it's a bit unprofessional IMO to slate another player like this when he hasnt really done anything to you.

 

If true, then he's stupid.

As Smudger says, moaning about a player who's done nothing to you is unprofessional.

Even though I see Barry as a boring **** who's past it.

 

Think its been blowing out of proportion because its Joey Barton.

 

To be fair, he is just speaking his mind. It's pretty unprofessional and harms his international aspirations but I think he knows realistically it is very unlikely he will get in the England team anytime soon. He doesn't get any positive media and in saying this it might actually make some people sit up and take notice. Him, Parker and Wilshire have been the three most impressive England midfielders this season, the other two get called up but he wont.

 

the thing is we dont know if what is said was actaully from barton, however like i said in the other article its funny how 2 of the players he mentions just happen to be from the 2 teams we play in the next few weeks,....

its media wanting to get opposing fans to turn their attention from rooney to him.

 

Apology accepted

 

I agree with everything he says and Barry is not an especially good footballer, not even close to international standard. When I think of on form English midfielders, Barton and Parker are the ones that spring to mind, and I dont like him but Wilshere is also very good and should be blooded at international level now so he is ready for England in the future. Why not play the 4-3-3 with Barton, Parker and Wilshere?

Back to the point, and you're right, theres not much more he could do to get in the squad so getting a bit of attention like this doesnt do much damage. Such a shame he wont play for England again, and for no good reason. If the squads were picked on moral grounds, Terry, Cole, Rooney, Gerrard etc shouldnt be anywhere near the squad either.

 

I was thinking a 4-2-3-1 (which could be put into 4-3-3) with a midfield looking something like this could work

------Barton Parker
Johnson Wilshire A.Young

Capello/The FA/Media need to stick the same rules to every player rather than favouring the top 4's golden boys. Seem to remember Capello claiming he would pick the form players when he first became manager, and whilst the talents of Lampard & Gerrard are obvious, like Barton says, they haven't exactly been setting the world alight the last 2 seasons. Hopefully if Redknapp becomes manager things will change, but I wont hold my breath.