pablo 1878
Player Valuation: £8m
Think the comparison with last season would be that a) Barkley would not have got subbed when he was having a stinker, and b) he wouldn't have got the public criticism he did.Was hardly a masterstroke taking Barkley off last week. It was absolutely necessary, and Koeman'd have been (rightfully) panned leaving him on when he was playing garbage.
I've got to be honest, I was a bit worried when the manager went public with his thoughts on Barkley but it seems to have got the desired result. He was much better yesterday and much less wasteful with the ball. Koeman was praising him after the game, meaning Barkley will have gone home feeling like the dogs dangly bits. And he will be in no doubt exactly what Koeman expects from him in every single game.