Saturday 15 August 2015 16:01, UK
Everton’s Ross Barkley gave another glimpse of his vast potential at St Mary’s but can he now kick on? Adam Bate assesses the England international’s performance against Southampton…
It’s easy to understand why there’s a sense of anticipation when Ross Barkley picks up the ball. In a central position and running at the defence, he’s a man with options. Pace, power and the ability to go in either direction. It’s quite the combination.
It’s nous that Barkley needed to add. On the brink of half time at St Mary’s on Saturday, Barkley showed plenty of it. The safe pass was to Tom Cleverley wide on his left but he ignored it and instead slid the ball through to Romelu Lukaku with the outside of his boot.
Lukaku duly drilled it home for his second of the afternoon before Barkley capped a fine display late on with a more instinctive moment of quality. Cutting inside on his right foot, he curled a shot beyond Maarten Stekelenburg to seal Everton’s 3-0 win over Southampton.
Barkley’s had his moments before but it’s their frequency that needed to change. With this goal coming one week after his opening-day strike against Watford, there are encouraging signs that this might be addressed. Last season’s goal tally has been matched by mid-August.
With the familiar face of Roy Hodgson in the St Mary’s crowd, the man who played Barkley in all three of England’s games at last year’s World Cup, this was a performance to offer renewed hope that this is a player who can star for club and country. He is, after all, only 21.
Roberto Martinez deserves huge credit because his faith in Barkley has been total. “Ross is a phenomenal footballer,” the Everton boss told Monday Night Football earlier in the week. “If you want to analyse him from a physical point of view, he's someone quite unique.
“He’s taken a real learning curve from the last campaign, he's got a very important role, and he's someone that is a joy to work with. That personality and that maturity will make him one of the best players in the league.”
They’re not empty words. Martinez’s belief in Barkley has been reflected in giving the youngster the pivotal No 10 role in the team. It ensures that he gets on the ball and can influence the game for Everton.
Against Southampton, Barkley had more touches (74) of the ball than any of his team-mates, completed more passes (46) with more of them coming in the opposition half (32) than any other Everton player.
Significantly, as the visitors took the game to their hosts in the first half, more than half of Barkley’s passes were to Cleverley, Lukaku and Arouna Kone. He progresses the play and that partnership with Lukaku is particularly promising.
Of course, the scope for improvement remains vast and the flaws in Barkley’s game remain. With the game poised at 1-0, a shot fired straight at Stekelenburg when unmarked centrally harked back to the inefficiencies in front of goal that were a feature of last season.
On Friday, Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness was critical of Philippe Coutinho’s end-product as a No 10 for Liverpool. By comparison, Coutinho scored five goals in 35 Premier League games with five assists. Barkley managed two of each in his 29 appearances.
And yet, if Steven Naismith had finished a stoppage-time opportunity when put through by Barkley then both the goals and assists tallies of 2014/15 would have been reached already. Jamie Carragher’s calls for patience earlier in the week would appear justified.
Some of that crowd need to button it, shut up, and give that kid a chance. He's got great talent.
“Barkley had a difficult season last season with the crowd, and at the game again on Saturday,” Carragher told Monday Night Football. “Some of that crowd need to button it, shut up, and give that kid a chance. He's got great talent.”
Perhaps it’s the nature of his role. That instinct to take on his man leaves him susceptible to criticism. Twice when in good positions mid-way through the second half, Barkley ended up on the deck without the ball. On the third occasion, the ball found the back of the net.
As a banner flown from a plane demanding the departure of the Everton board would attest, there is a simmering discontent among supporters at Goodison Park. But it would be a shame if that mood filters its way down to their young star as his game develops.
There might well be more dips in form to come. But the early signs this season are that if the Everton fans remain patient with Ross Barkley, they will get their reward.
