Barton slates England but reserves praise for himself
Joey Barton has savaged his Three Lions rivals in a withering attacking, claiming he is England’s No 1 midfielder.
Barton dismantled Fabio Capello’s midfield, even more comprehensively than Germany did in the World Cup, as he dismissed Frank Lampard as past it, Steven Gerrard as injury prone and Gareth Barry as “teacher’s pet”.
In a wide-ranging attack, the controversial Newcastle star also slammed the state of the England team, claiming they will never win any of the next 50 World Cups.
Barton singled out Barry for his most stinging criticism and says the Manchester City midfielder sums up England’s deficiencies.
“Honestly, I think I’m the best,” he said. “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.
“Barry’s got a very good agent. 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.
“Did you see the game against Germany at the World Cup? If you watch the fourth goal, when Mesut Ozil was up against Barry, it was like the hare and the tortoise.
“Look at Jordan Henderson in the recent friendly against France. He was up against Yann M’Vila, Mathieu Valbuena, Samir Nasri and Yoann Gourcuff. And he had Gareth Barry alongside him. What could they do against those players?
“France killed us at Wembley. We English will play the next 50 World Cups and we’ll never win one.
“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.”
Barton, 28, is angry that he has won just one England cap against Spain in 2007 and claims Capello is ignoring him because of his past misdemeanours.
The reformed Barton, who is now teetotal, has been in great form this season for Newcastle and claims he should be forgiven by England.
“I’m English and I love playing for my country,” he said in an interview with French magazine So Foot. “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 also had strong words for Toon owner Mike Ashley and he has challenged him to match his ambition in the wake of Andy Carroll’s sale.
The former Manchester City star claims survival is not enough for a club the size of Newcastle and says he will only agree a new deal if skipper Kevin Nolan re-signs.
“It’s important to respect the people who come to the stadium or watch the games on telly,” he said. “That’s what I told the management. I told them the goal shouldn’t be just to survive, to finish 16th or 17th, every season.
“We had a good player, Carroll, and we sold him. I told the management that I was worried, that I was scared this might happen every year. But they assured me they don’t want to go down that road.
“I’m going to wait and see what happens this summer and if players like Kevin Nolan, Cheik Tiote and Jose Enrique stay.
“If Nolan signs a new deal, I will as well. But I hope the club step things up. I want to be ambitious and I think the club share that desire.”
Barton blasts England and labels Barry a 'teacher's pet'
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