Ashley Barnes should have been Man of the Match last night

[Hungry Joe]

Superb effort from Ash. Constant menace and some of his first touches and control were sublime. Good vision too and made the goal. A performance like that by any other Brighton player would have several threads by now, but because it's Barnes there's just a couple of mentions in related posts by those few on here who seem to actually understand the game nowadays.

 

[Titanic]

 

[emphyrian]

i thought he played well too. Not quite my man of the match as i think Bridge did just that bit more but he certainly deserves more credit for last night.

 

[Acker79]

I remember him having one poor first touch naturally that garnered more groans and moans than Bruno hitting the ball out of play when passing it down the line, Greer repeatedly hitting crossfield passes straight out of play and playing it short to Dunk. Several times, including the build up to the goal he showed strength on the ball and shrugged his challenger off. Definitely a good performance from him.

He received a lot of criticism last season for having a poor first touch, I never felt it stood out as particularly worse than average for our team, but this season I have tried to pay particular attention. I don't know if he has improved, or what, but this season his first touch has generally been quite good. He has taken down some high dropping balls with deftness. Yes, he has the occasional poor first touch, but so does every other footballer out there and his first touch is good way more often than it is bad.

 

[W.C.]

Ashley.....

Pearl Dean - Cinema Titles - Asteroid!! - YouTube

 

[Vegas Seagull]

Bridge is MOM every single match, when the time comes that he is not available we'll need two to replace him

 

[Springal]

Bridge MOTM, but Barnes had an excellent game.

 

[Zebedee]

My only problem with Barnes is that when Bridge or other players pass to him on the left wing, he almost always passes the ball back again. Rarely does he turn his player and move forward from this position although granted is he good at shrugging off players. If Barnes is to continue to play regularly for us (and this looks inevitable whilst Gus is manager) he should play in the centre as a proper striker. He is NOT a left winger and never will be. He just doesn't have the pace for this role.

 

[Dave the OAP]

I thought in the second half they all played well, but Orlandi was by far and away my MOM last night.

I was also VERY encouraged with the brief 10 minutes cameo that David Lopez provided also.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

I'd have given it to Buckley - that man has pace to burn for the whole 90 mins... if we had a strong centre forward to convert the plethora of crosses he puts into the box he'd be worth $1.7Trillion, like Zaha.

 

[Hungry Joe]

Orlandi and Bridge were the other stand out players. I'd still give it to Barnes for his pivotal role in the goal though, on top of what was a consistently assured performance. Great cameo by Dobbie too.

 

[One Teddy Maybank]

Bridge MOTM, but Barnes had an excellent game.

I think this is about right. Barnes had a great game and looked more effective than Crofts when he dropped deeper after Dobbie came on.

 

[Springal]

Has anyone noticed the last 2 games, how well Orlandi and Barnes seem to play together? They both seem to buzz around, swap positions and pull players all over the place.

 

[Hungry Joe]

I'd have given it to Buckley - that man has pace to burn for the whole 90 mins... if we had a strong centre forward to convert the plethora of crosses he puts into the box he'd be worth $1.7Trillion, like Zaha.

Great pace and trickery again from Buckley, but he's more dangerous when he's more direct into the box with it than he was last night.

 

[shaolinpunk]

I was also VERY encouraged with the brief 10 minutes cameo that David Lopez provided also.

More like five minutes, wasn't it?

 

[Zebedee]

I'd have given it to Buckley - that man has pace to burn for the whole 90 mins... if we had a strong centre forward to convert the plethora of crosses he puts into the box he'd be worth $1.7Trillion, like Zaha.

If Gus "really" wanted a strong centre forward, I think we would have got one in by now. I conclude from this that regardless of what he may say publicly, he doesn't want to go down this road. Crazy in my view but I'm happy to be 8th in the table despite the lack lustre performances of late.

 

[S'hampton Seagull]

I only thought Barnes was any good once he switched to the attacking midfield position. Before that I can't remember him doing an awful lot.

Maybe we've found a best position for him?

 

[Hungry Joe]

Is this a joke?

No. And I think we're both now comfortable with the fact that we see completely different games. I'm right of course though

 

[Dave the OAP]

More like five minutes, wasn't it?

seemed longer