Louie Barry has failed to register a single goal contribution for Sheffield United since completing his summer loan move to Bramall Lane.placeholder image
Louie Barry has failed to register a single goal contribution for Sheffield United since completing his summer loan move to Bramall Lane. | Getty Images/ Canva
Aston Villa prodigy Louie Barry has struggled for form since making the loan move to Sheffield United
Chris Wilder has warned Aston Villa loanee Louie Barry that he needs to start performing ‘sooner rather than later’ if he wants to regain his place in the Sheffield United starting lineup.
Barry was signed in the summer from Aston Villa, by Wilder’s predecessor and successor Ruben Selles, but has failed to make an impression on either manager since relocating to South Yorkshire. He’s made nine appearances in total - six starts and three substitute appearances - and hasn’t registered a single goal contribution for a Blades team that were many people’s pre-season favourites to win promotion after reaching the play-off final last term.
Barry has flattered to deceive so far and currently finds himself so far down the pecking order at the moment that he not even been making the matchday squad. He, along with big-money signing Tom Cannon, was left out entirely during last weekend’s 3-1 defeat to Derby County.
What’s gone wrong for Louie Barry this season?
Aston Villa youngster Barry caught the attention of the footballing world last season when he scored 16 goals in 24 matches for League One promotion hopefuls Stockport County. His form earned him a loan move to Hull City for the second half of the season. But his campaign ended prematurely when he sustained a season-ending injury.
The 22-year-old, who briefly played at West Brom and Barcelona as a youngster, faces an uncertain future at Bramall Lane after a series of subdued performances, but Wilder still feels the Sutton Coldfield-born star has time to win a place in the lineup.
Wilder told the Sheffield Star: “Everybody's on the clock and under the spotlight. Everybody. Even players that did well last season. I can’t keep rolling back the clock to last season and I think I've explained too many times, the certain situations that we're having to deal with at the minute.
“So there’s always time for any player but they need to do it sooner rather than later, because obviously the situation at the moment is not a great one.”
Chris Wilder tells Louie Barry how to regain a place in the lineup
When asked what he needs to see from Cannon and Barry to regain their place in the squad going forward. Wilder simply stated: “Show me. Train well and take an opportunity. Ryan's (One) done well, so I made that decision. You have to make decisions, regardless of any sort of things that have happened in the past.
“I'm not protecting anybody; I have to pick the best team. I don't always get that right but we try to pick the best approach, which we feel we are at the moment. We’re just making too many individual mistakes and they are costing us.”
Sheffield United are 22nd in the Championship and have just nine points - exactly half the amount both West Brom and Birmingham City have at this moment in time - they face league leaders Coventry City this week before facing both the Blues and the Baggies next month in December.
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