{"id":20468,"date":"2011-12-23T16:43:00","date_gmt":"2011-12-23T16:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/12\/manchester-citys-joleon-lescott-singles-out-gareth-barrys-immense-influence\/"},"modified":"2011-12-23T16:43:00","modified_gmt":"2011-12-23T16:43:00","slug":"manchester-citys-joleon-lescott-singles-out-gareth-barrys-immense-influence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/23\/manchester-citys-joleon-lescott-singles-out-gareth-barrys-immense-influence\/","title":{"rendered":"Manchester City\u2019s Joleon Lescott singles out Gareth Barry\u2019s \u2018immense\u2019 influence"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/span><\/p>\n

Joleon Lescott<\/a> has paid tribute to the \u201cimmense\u201d contribution of Manchester City<\/a> team-mate Gareth Barry<\/a> this season.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lescott, 29, has been ever-present in the Blues\u2019 squad this campaign and has contributed much to their table-topping Christmas effort.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the former Everton & Wolves defender singled out Barry\u2019s particular impact on the team, even above the likes of David Silva, Mario Balotelli and Sergio Aguero.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGareth has been immense for club and country,\u201d the defender told reporters on Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe is one of those players you don’t really appreciate until he’s not there. He is just so consistent. You can’t sing his praises enough.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you ask any of our midfielders who they most want to play with, their preference would be Gareth Barry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The former Aston Villa man’s place in the starting XI may have been threatened by the arrivals of stellar names such as Yaya Toure and Nigel de Jong, yet Lescott believes that the 30-year-old’s effort has secured his spot amongst the first team.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe hasn’t changed anything,\u201d Lescott revealed. \u201cHe believes in himself and just carried on with his own consistent performances.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou need people like Gareth to balance attack and defence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

City travel to the Hawthorns on Boxing Day to face a resurgent West Brom side who have won their last two games, and Barry believes City must not underestimate Roy Hodgson\u2019s men if they are to come away with a win.<\/span><\/p>\n

Barry said: \u201cThe manager said to us before our match against Stoke [City] on Wednesday that if we showed the same spirit as we had done for the game with Arsenal at the weekend and put in the same hard work, we would win the game.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat same attitude has to apply at West Brom too because we don’t want to slip down a gear.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey have just won their last two games, but we are going there with confidence.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re top of the table and playing some great stuff.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joleon Lescott has paid tribute to the \u201cimmense\u201d contribution of Manchester City team-mate Gareth Barry this season. Lescott, 29, has been ever-present in the Blues\u2019 squad this campaign and has contributed much to their table-topping Christmas effort<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nManchester City\u2019s Joleon Lescott singles out Gareth Barry\u2019s \u2018immense\u2019 influence - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/12\/23\/manchester-citys-joleon-lescott-singles-out-gareth-barrys-immense-influence\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Manchester City\u2019s Joleon Lescott singles out Gareth Barry\u2019s \u2018immense\u2019 influence - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Joleon Lescott has paid tribute to the \u201cimmense\u201d contribution of Manchester City team-mate Gareth Barry this season. 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