Barry considers England future
-
Gareth Barry has revealed he has considered quitting international football.
Barry's revelation comes in the wake of the decision of Liverpool's Jamie Carragher to contemplate retirement from the international fold.
The Aston Villa captain has been consistently in and out of the England squad reckoning since he made his international debut in the friendly 1-1 draw with France in 2000 and he says he has considered following Carragher's lead if he is not going to secure a consistent place.
"I admit there have been times when I've wondered whether England was worth worrying about anymore," Barry told The Sun.
Barry, 26, has the honour of being one of the few players still involved in the England set-up to have played under all five England managers - Kevin Keegan, Sven Goran Eriksson, Steve McClaren and caretaker bosses Howard Wilkinson and Peter Taylor - this decade.
However, the versatile midfielder admits that his recent snub from current England boss McClaren for the squads which faced Brazil in a friendly and Estonia in a Euro 2008 qualifier was one of the lowest point of his career.
"It's a strange statistic that I have played for every England boss in the last seven years and still haven't reached double figures for caps," Barry said.
"I was really sick about being left out of the squads for Brazil and Estonia.
"I was playing some of the best football of my life at the end of last season and thought I was finally getting somewhere with England.
"I couldn't think of anything else I could have done to get picked, it was one of the most disappointing moments of my career."
Barry added that his ability to adapt to a range of positions could be hampering his England chances because McClaren is unaware of his best role, but the Villa man says that he will not be demanding his club manager Martin O'Neill hands him a regular midfield slot.
"If I was looking to boost my international career I'd go in and see Martin O'Neill and say centre-midfield is where I want to play, but that's not the way I am," Barry concluded. -
the competition for places are too competitive.. unfortunately ppl like him tend to lose out to the players form the bigger club
-
england's loss, villa's gain..
-
Barry is a good player, one of the very few left footers that can play in midfield and in defence. Well, that's the disadvantage of being a utility player, you dont have a role of your own.
Cheers.
CK