Everton and England team-mate John Stones might be in the frame for a £40million move to Chelsea, but during the Toffees’ opening Premier League fixtures Ross Barkley as been the indisputable star of the show, grabbing two goals and one assist in two appearances.
His Premier League career thus far has consisted of two juxtaposing seasons. To many, the third and current one will be the true barometer of how talented the prodigious midfielder truly is.
During the 2013/14 campaign, he was not only a shining star of the Everton roster but also the division as a whole, exploding onto the scene with a left-footed wonder strike against Norwich City on the opening day of the season and going on earn comparisons with pretty much every significant England attacking midfielder of the last two generations – namely Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and Paul Gascoigne – through his ability drive at defenders from the middle of the park and his steady return of six goals.
[ffc-gal cat=”everton” no=”5″]
Perhaps falling for his own hype, perhaps painfully aware that, like the aforementioned names, the collective judgement of his ability would inevitably be decided by his goal tally, Barkley became almost a parody of himself last year; greedy, trigger-happy and seemingly intent that anything leaving his foot would be the killer pass or a goal equally superlative to his net against the Canaries.
Of course, there were mitigating factors. As a group, Everton just weren’t up to standard last season, whilst Roberto Martinez’ tactical decision making, as he attempted to find the right balance between defence, attack and ball retention, was disruptively inconsistent – resulting in their first bottom half finish in nine years. Likewise, Barkley spent the year playing catch-up; his season starting in October after suffering an MCL injury during the summer.
But any chance to shoot last season, he’d naively take; regardless of how attacks were developing around him; regardless of how frustratingly wasteful missing the target would seem to his team-mates. He’d become borderline obsessed. But as is often the case in the beautiful game, when you try to force the issue, you get left disappointed. His strike rate reduced from one-in-six to one-in-18, just as his shot conversion rate dropped from 7.6% to 3.9%.
In his two Premier League appearances this term, however, and particularly during the 3-0 win over Southampton last weekend, there’s been a notable change in the 21-year-old’s mindset. Rather than forcing the issue of the onion bag, he’s allowed chances to develop more naturally before testing the goalkeeper – something I see as integral to Barkley’s long-term development.
We all know how talented a player Barkley is, but he’s still some way from having the licence to shoot when given the slightest slither of goal, in the same way as Gerrard at Liverpool or Lampard at Chelsea. Indeed, he’s a fantastic finisher from long range but football isn’t a game devised of 22 players attempting the sensational at every given opportunity.
It reminds me of Aaron Ramsey’s ‘turning point’ at Arsenal. There was once a time when the Welsh wizard wasn’t so popular at the Emirates, leading Arsene Wenger to instruct him to play a much simpler game towards the end of the 2012/13 season. Counter-intuitively, it’s transformed Ramsey’s Gunners career, especially in front of goal; 26 goals from 78 appearances in all competitions since, contrasting a return of just 11 in 150 outings prior. It’s almost incomparable – as is Ramey – and although the 24-year-old still possesses a lust for attempting the outrageous, the moments he does so are selected far more wisely.
That ability to tell the difference – inevitably, a side effect of experience and maturity – is crucial to the Toffees star’s development. In my opinion, the difference between him becoming a truly world-class player and yet another habitually overhyped in Englishman. And the fact of the matter is that there’s so much more to his game than simply a hard and accurate shot; the 21-year-old is easily amongst England’s most powerful dribblers with the ball at his feet, whilst he possesses the technique and intelligence to prolifically create for others too.
There’s evidence Barkley is already adopting a more patient, less selfish game. Against Southampton, his three shots were all from central positions and all within 20 yards of goal – two in fact, within the penalty area. But the telling moment was the assist for Romelu Lukaku’s second of the afternoon; a short, simple yet subtle pass that opened up the whole goal for the Belgium international and resultantly left the Saints’ Maarten Stekelenburg helpless. The Barkley of last season wouldn’t have had his head up to see Lukaku’s inside run; the Barkley of last season would’ve launched an audacious shot of his own, from further out and at a worse angle.
The concern now is that, the more praise Barkley receives the more selfishness will creep back in. He could soon be at the level where managers and fans are indeed willing him to shoot at every opportunity, but he must earn that right first. Likewise, in terms of creating chances, the midfielder is far more talented than he seems to give himself credit for – in my opinion, the more he looks to play others in when approaching the penalty box, the better.
The simpler, less direct and more patient Barkley we saw against Southampton, who waits and works for his chances to strike, is the one truly capable of taking the Premier League, England and yonder by storm.
[ad_pod id=’ffc-poll’ align=’center’]
[ad_pod id=’ricco’ align=’center’]
