John Barnes has made a comparison between two of his former bosses and he has no problem deciding which manager’s playing style he preferred.
Former England international Barnes only ever played under Graham Taylor during his time at Watford. Both left the club in the summer of 1987, as Taylor became the Aston Villa manager while Barnes made the switch to Liverpool for £900,000.
Barnes played under three different managers at Liverpool, but Kenny Dalglish was the man in charge when he first arrived, initially as a player-manager.
Speaking to Watford Legends, Barnes outlined the key differences between his former managers and made it clear whose approach he favoured when asked.
“Definitely Graham Taylor. I’ve never coached players like the Liverpool players we had…we didn’t need coaching!
My own ethos on coaching has to be that anyway. It has to be about organising the team, getting a template in place about the players in each position, and as much as you give them responsibility in terms of expressing yourself, it has to be within the framework of what the team does.
Not necessarily the same way that Graham Taylor did it in terms of the way he played, but the same rationale and perception behind it of every player knowing what to do for the full 90 minutes and when the ball is in certain positions.
Even if you look at the way Barcelona play, it isn’t just off the cuff football, they have certain movements, certain positions they have to be in to pass the ball and how to pass the ball. So from a coaching perspective I wouldn’t take much from Liverpool!”
Barnes and Dalglish did not always get along and this became apparent when the former England international made the step up to management. He took charge of Celtic in 1999, where Dalglish was the Sporting Director at the time.
Dalglish criticised Barnes for signing players who flopped in Scotland, while he claimed a dressing room bust-up between Barnes and Mark Viduka was what brought his managerial tenure to a swift end.
