Everton musings match review is fulsome in praise of Barry
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The second chance for Gomis was after a misplaced header from Barry which allowed Gomis to run through, only to scuff his shot badly wide. It was a lax moment from Barry who is otherwise enjoying a renaissance from last year’s performances only bettered by Ross Barkley. Barry is playing well, especially given the aforementioned inexperience of the Everton defence thanks to injuries thus far. .. On (what felt like) the only occasion John Stones lost the ball yesterday as he skipped out of defence, Barry had dropped in to centre half to cover for him and Swansea’s opportunity to break went as quickly as it came. Keep an eye out for that next time Stones (or anyone else) takes a risk: it’ll be Barry who has read the situation unfolding before all the others and will have tried to put himself into a position to nullify any danger- regardless of whether he touches the ball or not.
Everton were playing well as the away side. Our fullbacks were keeping Swansea’s wide pair of Andre Ayew and Jefferson Montero at bay, while Gareth Barry was doing a good job of keeping Gylfi Sigurdsson at bay…Sigurdsson only touched the ball eighteen times as he was kept out of the game by Barry. Less than any other player on both sides
As we can see here, as Neil Taylor turns inside with the ball, he probably wants to play it into Sigurdsson but Barry is denying him the opportunity. Swansea were constantly stifled down the middle, and McCarthy was helping in that sense too, but Barry was quietly excellent again.
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As the chance unfolds, Galloway is the most advanced option for Barkley to find. The shackles that appeared to constrain Everton throughout last season have been shaken off. Risky? Maybe…. Probably… But it’s about the intent Everton are trying to show. Swansea did actually manage to break from here and get a shot away down the Everton left before Galloway had a chance to get back into position properly, but you already know who was there to block the shot from Gomis, don’t you? Gareth Barry: