He’s the great hope of English football and Everton will be counting on him to produce some more magic against Manchester City this Saturday. As Ross Barkley turns 21, Adam Bate looks at what the gifted midfielder must do next if he’s to fulfil his potential…
By Adam Bate
Leighton Baines fizzed a pass towards Steven Naismith and the ball was laid back to Ross Barkley. Outrageously, he decided to strike it first time. The balance was perfection and the contact was crisp. Joe Hart in the Manchester City goal was simply helpless.
World-class talents struggle to hit a free-kick as well as Barkley connected with that moving ball at Goodison Park in May. City won the game, and the title, but the Everton man took the plaudits. The Telegraph made him their top-rated player, while the Guardian pointed out it was another moment to justify Barkley’s status as, in Roberto Martinez’s words, “the best English talent I have seen”.
Not since Wayne Rooney – perhaps even as far back as Paul Gascoigne – has an England player so obviously combined a physically robust approach with such eye-widening examples of technical audacity. It’s no wonder the paper talk had City linked with a £50million move for the youngster.
“He is a unique player,” said Martinez. “You don’t see another player like him because you don’t get that balance of physicality and technical ability. He is a diamond – the perfect player for this league. I think we need to be careful though, with players like Ross and Raheem Sterling. With young players playing for England there needs to be a process to learn what is expected.”
That learning process continues and those Barkley fans who’d hoped the swagger of that City display would spark an ascent to the next level in his development have had to be patient. He was one of only seven players to feature in all three games of England’s dismal World Cup campaign, but was unable to ignite things and injury subsequently meant he didn’t play for Everton until October.
When the comeback came, he was excellent – producing a starring performance in the 3-0 win over Aston Villa. There was even an assist, albeit thanks to Brad Guzan allowing Romelu Lukaku’s shot to squirm under his body. That was Barkley’s first – and so far only – assist in 54 Premier League appearances for Everton.
Indeed, the aforementioned effort against Manchester City is also his only goal in his last 23 games for club and country. That contribution needs to improve significantly for a player afforded the freedom to operate in the final third of the pitch. But Martinez is in no mood to remove that platform. In fact, his belief in Barkley is infectious.
“I encourage him to take risks,” he said earlier this week. “It’s not a problem if he loses the ball, it’s a problem if he doesn’t get on the ball. I really, really enjoy seeing Ross Barkley growing. He’s a young man and he is still working on his decision making but I thought he always made decisions today in the right areas and he’s allowed to take risks.”
That was in response to questions about Barkley’s performance at Tottenham. He completed seven dribbles in that game – a number only Eden Hazard has bettered away from home in the Premier League so far this season – but also relinquished possession of the ball on 13 occasions.
Martinez wants to indulge a special talent, in part, because he feels there are benefits elsewhere. “Remember, football is a team game and if Ross plays in a position where he attracts other players and he opens space for other players we need to use that,” added Martinez.
That’s good news for the likes of Naismith and Kevin Mirallas but with Barkley turning 21 the time for goals and assists as well as boundless promise will soon be upon us. Against Manchester City on Saturday Night Football this weekend, a reminder that his progress continues would be more than welcome.