JOEY Barton insists he is "a million miles away" from where he wants to be, despite an endorsement from England boss Steve McClaren.
England's head coach has cited Barton as one of a clutch of Premiership stars capable of breaking into his squad for February's friendly against Spain at Old Trafford.
The City midfielder has never been afraid to speak his mind, condemning the deluge of books produced by England's misfiring World Cup stars in a newspaper interview last Saturday. And although his excellent form this term has been one of the few consistent factors in City's inconsistent season, Barton's self-assessment is that he can still do better.
"I'm a million miles away from where I want to be," Barton said. "If you sit down and ask any footballer, they will say the same thing. You're never happy with your game.
"I could have 50 successful passes, and I'll hit one bad ball, and that's the only one I'll remember. If you're a perfectionist, you only remember your mistakes, and you work the next day at trying to eradicate them."
Barton's cool finishes in City's recent victories over Fulham and Aston Villa suggest that he has added goalscoring to a list of qualities that already include leadership, tough tackling and an ability to keep motoring up and down the pitch from the first to last minute.
The 24-year-old is he club's top scorer this season, with four goals, having learned a few things about finishing from one of the game's great strikers.
Andy Cole passed on some of his vast goalscoring experience to Barton before leaving to join Portsmouth in August, and the midfielder is still enjoying the leaving present.
"Initially, when I came into the side, I was more of a ball-winning midfielder," he said. "I just got stuck in and gave the ball to Nicolas Anelka and Ali Benarbia, and let them get on with it.
Frightening
"But the onus has increased on me to get more goals, and it's a part of the game I enjoy. I learned from Coley, whose finishing is frightening, and from Robbie Fowler. Just by watching players such as them, you can't help but pick up things."
Then again, maybe Barton was just rediscovering the form he had as a young Everton fan growing up in Liverpool.
He laughed: "I was unbelievable as a kid. I used to get 60-odd a season from midfield. I used to get the ball and take everyone on, but I can't take anyone on now. I don't now where that's gone!"
These days, Barton is winning as much praise for his energy as for his goalscoring. He has played every minute of every game for City this season in a role than demands a phenomenal level of fitness.
"I think, now, you've got to be box-to-box as a Premiership midfielder," Barton said. "It's 12-and-a-half kilometres a game minimum, and that's what you've got to do."
To that end, Barton put himself through some punishing training sessions during the summer. He has told the story of how, when he went to Dubai in the summer, he would go running in 30-degree heat at 6am with a jumper on and his socks pulled up, all part of a bid to improve his fitness and force his way into the England reckoning.
He said: "We've got to do that, the lads who aren't in the England side. You've got to push yourself that much further to catch them up.
"You've got to want to improve your game constantly if you want to stay on their shirt-tails. It's no coincidence that the harder you work, the luckier you seem to get in front of goal."
"I hope we can win a trophy here, because the place has got such potential. We're in talks about an investor coming in, and we've got a decent enough side. Whether he comes in or not, we've got the potential."
Is Barton good enough to play for England? Have your say.
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This just cannot be right!....there's no mention about the cigar incident or being sent home from the pre-season tour. What the hell is going on?
not a chance is he good enough to play for england. yet. who knows in the future, but at the moment he isnt up to the standard. His set pieces seem to have improved, as they should considering he takes everyone of them bar the defensive ones. Passing is still hit and miss though and he doesnt have the killer ball in his locker or the vision of gerrard, carrick. and hes not better than hargreaves or lampard, so no, he shouldnt be playing.
i feel he would be a good squad member who could fill in for Gerrard when he is out and do a decent job. i'd definately say hes as good as if not better than players like Carrick, so why not?
Doesnt he mean 1 good game, 50 bad balls?
At last, thank you M.E.N. for doing a piece about Barton without dragging up the cigar or pre-season send home. I hope you have all finally put Joey's past behind him
I think there hae been plenty of opinion expressed about Joey this year, but concerning England why not? I know he is not going to dislodge Lampard/Gerrard/Hargreaves, and no, he is not a better option than King/Carrick, but if some of those people are not doing it, and Mclaren needs a box to box midfielder who can tackle, then surely he is a better option than Neville/Jenas/Parker etc who have all been part of recent squads. Let's not tell ourselves he has the ability to be first choice, but he is good enough to be a back up player, and as I have said, better than many in the frame for that role.
What a fantastic attitude.
carrick? vision? are you on drugs my friend?
Give the lad a break, he's our most influential player at the moment. OK he has had some indiscretions in the past but we would be struggling against relegation if it wasn't for him!
As for and England call up well to be honest I¿¿<sup>TM</sup>m not sure about this one, BUT if he gets a chance then I for one will be well pleased.
Stop moaning..........
I realise that a number of people think that their opinions on Barton are more perceptive than statistical data but having just compared the latest Opta stats for him to Gerrard, Lampard, Carrick and Scholes, I would conclude that overall he compares reasonably favourably. He has made the least passes and has the worst completion rate but it's not far behind Gerrard for example. JB comes out top all round on tackling and he hits the target more often with his shots than the rest. JB also provides the most crosses and is more accurate than Gerrard, but Lampard wins on crossing accuracy. On the downside again, Joey has given the most fouls away but he has also won the most.
Prior to his transfer request I was 100% behind Joey despite his flaws, on and off the pitch, which he seemed to be trying to sort out. Last January changed all that and despite signing I still felt we should cash in on him. His efforts, commitment and comments so far this season are slowly starting to convince me otherwise. He still needs to improve a few aspects of his game which are well documented and there is always that fear that the next clanger is just round the corner. But as things stand I hope he keeps it up and proves me completly wrong and further matures into a long term City captan and England international.
He should be captain.
If he wants to keep improving, then good!
Allan B, Middleton, just my thoughts. Its so boring reading the past upsets by Barton over and over again.
As for Barton, I dont care about statistics, nor his passing abillities. He has several parts in his play he can do better, the guy knows it and we should just let him work on that. But even without him being the perfect player, he's very important for the team and I like his attitude. Keep it going Joey ...
Surely Joey can do a job for England think of some of the poor results of late when we just needed somebody to win the ball in the middle...joey or even kevin nolan could have done far better than the overpaid overated current bunch!
JOEY FOR CAPTAIN>>MCFC!
Whether Joey is good enough for England only a few caps will tell. As far as City are concerned he is vital for us, his attitude to the cause is fantastic and take him out of our midfield, we are left with very little. I just hope he remains injury and suspension free until we have the required safety points.
Joey has his flaws, but my god, if we had this attitude and determination in all of our players we'd really be going places. A lot of city fans are now starting to be won over by his efforts, but to be honest he won me over ages ago. He's been fantastic all season. Good on you Joey & keep it up!
give him lampard's place. he has been rubbish.
I'd like to see an England midfield of Richardson on the left pennant on the right barton in the middle alongside my goodself cause if the other 3 are England class then I surely deserve my place to
wel said julio! carrick = joke
Intersting that a lot of people say how JB is 'no way near' being good enough for England. Can somebody name a midfielder who has came to Eastlands this year and looked better than him? Thinking about it Fabregas and Mascherano couldn't do anything when coming to Eastlands and they're lauded as two of the best in the world in that position? Could it just be that we criticise a bit too harshly when it comes to our own players? Nobody is perfect at all.
Great Caesar's ghost!
We've done this one already this week! Who cares about international football when there's no tournament? He's our
best player at the mo,end of.
Joey has been excellent for City this year and we will miss him dearly when he is banned or injured. However, ignoring reputation, i am not sure he is international class. I really hope he proves me wrong though.
Sets a great example, I'd like to hope the rest of the team follow.
wow if joey is a million miles away from where he wants to be how good is the player going to be if he reaches where he wants to be GO ON JOEY LAD ctid!!!!!!