FAO Fernandinho & other 'young' reds...

[Craig_H]

I dont mean this to come across as patronising and i apologise if it does - it's quite possible that you'd have seen plenty of him already - but if not, may i present the genius that is John Barnes. I remember Fernandinho asking about the Brazilian Ronaldo, so i thought i'd post this on Barnes.

He was truly a genius who could do everything. Watch the compilation and you'll see what i mean - left foot, right foot, even headers, freekicks, long range, short range - whatever, he did it all. And he actually WAS left footed, but look how brilliant he is with his right. Incredible stuff.

He'd be the world's best player now if he was playing at his peak - Youtube compilations are usually misleading because they just plonk together a player's best bits and ignore the fact that they werent the 'norm' - but Barnes literally did things like this almost on a weekly basis. Pure genius and highly underrated on the world stage. Best player in Europe for a period while at his peak, IMO.

Enjoy....

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmAo0uiarvA&feature=channel"]YouTube - John Barnes[/ame]

[wiw]

That chip at about 4:15 was ****ing sublime

[el matador]

along with gerrard, barnes is the other modern 'great' of liverpool fc.

as you say, the younger lot have only the end of days memories of digger by which time he was playing centrally (very well I might add) and had lost his pace because of his injuries.

If we had had another barnsey along with torres and gerrard in our team over the last few seasons we would have ended the wait for no. 19 a long time ago. looking at the clip the fact that he played as well as he did on shocking pitches will tell you just how good a player he was. Never misplaced passes and never gave the ball away.

A true legend of our club.

[Slinky Skills]

Barnes imo is one of the best, if not the best Liverpool player I've ever seen.

He was such a fantastic player, both footed. Wonderful sublime skill and it was as though he used to glide along the pitch he was that good.

Such a shame he's not still playing now.

[Fernandinho]

I dont mean this to come across as patronising and i apologise if it does - it's quite possible that you'd have seen plenty of him already - but if not, may i present the genius that is John Barnes. I remember Fernandinho asking about the Brazilian Ronaldo, so i thought i'd post this on Barnes.

He was truly a genius who could do everything. Watch the compilation and you'll see what i mean - left foot, right foot, even headers, freekicks, long range, short range - whatever, he did it all. And he actually WAS left footed, but look how brilliant he is with his right. Incredible stuff.

He'd be the world's best player now if he was playing at his peak - Youtube compilations are usually misleading because they just plonk together a player's best bits and ignore the fact that they werent the 'norm' - but Barnes literally did things like this almost on a weekly basis. Pure genius and highly underrated on the world stage. Best player in Europe for a period while at his peak, IMO.

Enjoy....

YouTube - John Barnes

Not patronising at all, I tend to be on a quest for knowledge when it comes to football . I rarely watch a clip longer thrn 4 minutes for somebody I don't really know much about but he definetely is what we need. I took a few things from that video:

Did Aldrige enjoy playing with Barnes or what!

It looked like Barnes was very unselfish and if so he was a huge asset to the team...?

He was in general a wonderful dribbler!

Who is Ronaldo

Thanks for the vid mate

[Craig_H]

Completely a team player, yeah. And Aldridge clearly loved the service, as did Rush. Some of those crosses were sublime, the famous ones against Forest in the FA Cup semi final when Aldridge volleyed home - and then the one against Everton in the 89 Cup final, for Rush to score the winner - talk about 'corridor of uncertainty' It was inch perfect, that ball.

The understanding he had with Beardsley was something to behold as well - we basically bought the two best players in the country, in the same summer - Barnes cost £1.8m if i remember correctly and Beardsley was just £900k

Big money in those days - believe it or not.

[Fernandinho]

Completely a team player, yeah. And Aldridge clearly loved the service, as did Rush. Some of those crosses were sublime, the famous ones against Forest in the FA Cup semi final when Aldridge volleyed home - and then the one against Everton in the 89 Cup final, for Rush to score the winner - talk about 'corridor of uncertainty' It was inch perfect, that ball.

The understanding he had with Beardsley was something to behold as well - we basically bought the two best players in the country, in the same summer - Barnes cost £1.8m if i remember correctly and Beardsley was just £900k

Big money in those days - believe it or not.

You are so old But yeah his balls were so so good. The way he effortlessly crossed with those light gliding feet. I think what makes him look even better is he makes it all look so easy, he doesn't need to do a Ronaldinho/Ronaldo and throw in a million step overs to get passed a player, he just glided away. I notcied that with Beardsley, was he the number 7 who crossed a few headers for him from the right? Because in a few of the goals they were heavily involved together in the lead up play. He also played the 1 2 ball exceptionally well im assuming?

[Mattshark]

Completely a team player, yeah. And Aldridge clearly loved the service, as did Rush. Some of those crosses were sublime, the famous ones against Forest in the FA Cup semi final when Aldridge volleyed home - and then the one against Everton in the 89 Cup final, for Rush to score the winner - talk about 'corridor of uncertainty' It was inch perfect, that ball.

The understanding he had with Beardsley was something to behold as well - we basically bought the two best players in the country, in the same summer - Barnes cost £1.8m if i remember correctly and Beardsley was just £900k

Big money in those days - believe it or not.

I remember those days, the opening game away at Arsenal and Stevie Nicol scoring the winner with a header from the edge of the penalty area, Barnes ripping QPR apart before leaving Seaman helpless. My first game the following season at home to Brentford in the FA cup and then the 5-1 win over Sheff Wed a couple of weeks later.

[Craig_H]

You are so old But yeah his balls were so so good. The way he effortlessly crossed with those light gliding feet. I think what makes him look even better is he makes it all look so easy, he doesn't need to do a Ronaldinho/Ronaldo and throw in a million step overs to get passed a player, he just glided away. I notcied that with Beardsley, was he the number 7 who crossed a few headers for him from the right? Because in a few of the goals they were heavily involved together in the lead up play. He also played the 1 2 ball exceptionally well im assuming?

I'm not ****ing old

Beardsley wore 7, but he didnt play down the right, he was a '2nd striker' or 'withdrawn forward' - more of a striker than Gerrard is when he plays 'in the hole' but not an 'out and out' strker, as Torres is - if you get what i mean.

He may certainly have put in crosses from the right, but he primarily played a central role - and was amazing.

Think of a striker who scores goals (not quite 20-25 a season but maybe between 15 and 20 - he was a '1 goal in 3 games' player for us - but also has the trickery of a brilliant winger, with quick feet, great touch, excellent control, game intelligence and vision to see a pass - that's Beardsley.

The closest thing we had to him in recent years was Benayoun, but Beardsley was far better and emphatically more consistent.

And that team of the late 80s, with Barnes, Beardsley, Aldridge (and Rush too later on), Houghton etc - that was the sheer epitome of 'pass and move'. We played the best football in the world, IMO. And it's a real shame that team didnt get to play in Europe - it would've been great to see them take on Arrigo Sacchi's great Milan side of that era. We'd be on about 10 European Cups now, if they'd been able to play european football

I remember those days, the opening game away at Arsenal and Stevie Nicol scoring the winner with a header from the edge of the penalty area, Barnes ripping QPR apart before leaving Seaman helpless. My first game the following season at home to Brentford in the FA cup and then the 5-1 win over Sheff Wed a couple of weeks later.

that's so my era

Do you remember the 1-4 win at Newcastle, when Nicol scored that hat trick? Brilliant stuff. I think they even went ahead that day, before we 'clawed back' 4 goals

[Fernandinho]

I'm not ****ing old

Beardsley wore 7, but he didnt play down the right, he was a '2nd striker' or 'withdrawn forward' - more of a striker than Gerrard is when he plays 'in the hole' but not an 'out and out' strker, as Torres is - if you get what i mean.

He may certainly have put in crosses from the right, but he primarily played a central role - and was amazing.

Think of a striker who scores goals (not quite 20-25 a season but maybe between 15 and 20 - he was a '1 goal in 3 games' player for us - but also has the trickery of a brilliant winger, with quick feet, great touch, excellent control, game intelligence and vision to see a pass - that's Beardsley.

The closest thing we had to him in recent years was Benayoun, but Beardsley was far better and emphatically more consistent.

And that team of the late 80s, with Barnes, Beardsley, Aldridge (and Rush too later on), Houghton etc - that was the sheer epitome of 'pass and move'. We played the best football in the world, IMO. And it's a real shame that team didnt get to play in Europe - it would've been great to see them take on Arrigo Sacchi's great Milan side of that era. We'd be on about 10 European Cups now, if they'd been able to play european football

They were the team who won out last title in '89 yeah? Where did Fowler fit into all of this? Also, when did Barnes retire or leave Liverpool? The no European Football thing was from Heysel wasn't it? Also, it seems from a lot of the old videos I have seen, Aldridge scored a lot, but he doesn't seem to be mentioned a lot around here, people seem to spend more time talking about Fowler...

[rudedog]

Barnes & Beardsley are a big part of me being a Liverpool supporter now, they were simply sublime. I remember his little flick he did at the near post with his head during the 9-0 demolition of Palace - pure class.

[Fernandinho]

I really enjoyed his freekicks. I'm a big fan of direct goals from free kicks because they are a lot harder then they look. We haven't had a regular scorer directly from free kicks as of late (Gerrard's shooting isn't what it was) and his free kicks looked so relaxed, like Henry. Would have been a joy to watch them pop in.

[Craig_H]

They were the team who won out last title in '89 yeah? Where did Fowler fit into all of this? Also, when did Barnes retire or leave Liverpool? The no European Football thing was from Heysel wasn't it? Also, it seems from a lot of the old videos I have seen, Aldridge scored a lot, but he doesn't seem to be mentioned a lot around here, people seem to spend more time talking about Fowler...

We won the title in 1990. 89 was the fateful year when we had Arsenal last game (on a Friday night) and they had to beat us by 2 clear goals at Anfield, to win the title - if they didnt, we'd have won it.

They scored a goal via Alan Smith, from an indirect freekick - and i still maintain, to this day, that he never actually touched the ball from his 'glancing header' so the ball actually went in directly - but the ref gave it.

And then of course, Michael Thomas raced through somehow, in stoppage time, and scored to make it 0-2 and win the title for them. Heartbreaking stuff. I was only just coming upto my 10th birthday and i cried

Barnes didnt leave until the mid 90s, but he was well past his best by then - his legs/pace had gone and he was reverted to a central midfielder - and not a 'dynamic' one He left in 1997, at the beginning of the 1997-98 season, and went to newcastle. He didnt retire until 1999 after a short spell at Charlton.

Fowler didnt really emerge until about 1993, i think. Our dominant team was over by then And when he first emerged, he was still trying to break his way into the team properly.

The european ban was indeed as a result of Heysel, yes.

Aldridge doesnt get the acclaim that Fowler got, simply because a) he wasnt at LFC for that long and b) because he was one of many superb players, whereas Fowler didnt play for such a brilliant side, so his talent stuck out like a sore thumb, due to the fact that our side wasnt then filled with great players, ulike the side from the mid-late 1980s. Aldridge was only at Liverpool for 2 and a half seasons, but he scored something like 60 goals in 100 games. Absurdly prolific.

[Shaggy]

Despite the amazing players we've had before, at the time and since...Rush, Fowler, Torres, Alonso, Gerrard etc...Barnes remains my all time LFC hero.

[Shaggy]

We won the title in 1990. 89 was the fateful year when we had Arsenal last game (on a Friday night) and they had to beat us by 2 clear goals at Anfield, to win the title - if they didnt, we'd have won it.

They scored a goal via Alan Smith, from an indirect freekick - and i still maintain, to this day, that he never actually touched the ball from his 'glancing header' so the ball actually went in directly - but the ref gave it.

And then of course, Michael Thomas raced through somehow, in stoppage time, and scored to make it 0-2 and win the title for them. Heartbreaking stuff. I was only just coming upto my 10th birthday and i cried

Cried my eyes out. Three of us watched it at my mates...after the full-time whistle his Dad (not remotely into football) came in to the room to laugh at us all crying and started taking photos.