Barry who?

Now that the season is up and running and we are doing well, I was thinking, what would the situation be like now if we had signed Gareth Barry in the summer? Looking at Alonso, he is playing very well right now and I do not think that Barry would have been playing better than Alonso is currently. I have not watched much of Villa this season so I am not sure what kind of form Barry is in but I would put money on the fact that Alonso is doing a better job for us that Barry is doing at Villa.

I was never a fan of Alonso leaving as I knew he was a world class player and one of the best passers of the ball in the league. Alonso has hardly put a foot wrong for us this season and I hope it continues that way and he stays injury free. On the other hand; if we had signed Barry, Rafa would not have gone out to get Riera. Thank you, Thank you Hicks and Gillet for not allowing the Barry deal to go through because we would have missed out on a great attacking option which Riera has bought to the team.

For the first time in years (since McManaman) we have a winger who is not affraid to beat defenders on the outside instead of cutting in. Riera has bought some excitement to the team and not only that, he looks like he actually is a good player. I will be the first to admit that I was hesitant about Riera when we signed him but he has shown to us what he is capable of. I just hope Rafa gives him a long run in the team so he can show us what he is really all about.

So for me, I am more than happy that we did not sign Barry as signing Barry would have most likely meant we missed out on Alonso and Riera.