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Ross Barkley

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The biggest problem with Barkley is similar to the biggest problem with Lukaku they both struggle with their backs to goal. Pretty much everything good Ross has done (including his only goal this season) he has picked up the ball deep and facing the opposition goal with either players making runs he can pick out or space to run into. Sadly this season he seems to spend his whole time wandering around aimlessly playing virtually as a striker getting the ball to feet with a player behind him and no space to turn into at which point he plays the ball back to where it came from. It's all very slow and dull and I'm not sure why it's happening unless he's been told to stay further forward or he's just got lazy and thinks 2-3 nice flicks a game are enough to make him look good. Either way to get the best out of him I'm convinced he needs to start attacks a few yards deeper so he can either pick it up with space to turn or pick up lay offs from Lukaku.
 
toffee matt said:
It's fairly typical for young players to dip after their initial breakthrough period and he suffered a severe injury early season.

You can see in the odd move that he has quality, we've just not seen it on a 90 minute basis this season.

I'd take him out the fold for a bit and let him get everything together.
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He just needs to do what he's doing. Play him on merit, leave him on when it does, drop and sub him when it doesn't.

He stuck by him for too long at the start of the season. Until he started getting booed. Ultimately that was his biggest mistake but probably understandable too.
 
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Still too much pressure on him, still being used in the wrong position.

I can't stress enough how difficult it is to play the role he's being asked to for us. We had 3 holding midfielders on the pitch today who had absolutely no interest in running off the ball.

Our tactic is basically smash the ball into Barkley/Lukaku's feet and hope for a bit of magic. Why can't we try him as a centre mid? The obsession with getting the likes of Barry on the pitch for some mythical control of the game is what I most despise about Martinez's set up this year.
 
MACCA75 said:
Just excuse after excuse for this lad. Every bodies fault but his.

Could it simply be that he's not all that good?
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No - even in a relatively poor game today he still did a couple of things like the pass to Lukaku that our other players rarely do. Plus every game his pass accuracy is 90%. Well above everyone else except for Stones who is also consistently at that level.

Frank Lampard didn't even join Chelsea till he was 23 and didn't have his development stunted due to injury.

You only need to look at someone like Jordan Henderson to see how players can improve over time.

What was wrong and needs to be cooled is the hype machine around him.
 

Alex Hindmarsh said:
It's a valid comparison but yeah have a go at me personally rather than debating it properly.
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Open to debate. I'm an evertonian and will judge what I see at the game
What I find difficult is comparison to a Real Madrid player. Sorry but I don't go to watch them
 
Adversus said:
No - even in a relatively poor game today he still did a couple of things like the pass to Lukaku that our other players rarely do. Plus every game his pass accuracy is 90%. Well above everyone else except for Stones who is also consistently at that level.

Frank Lampard didn't even join Chelsea till he was 23 and didn't have his development stunted due to injury.

You only need to look at someone like Jordan Henderson to see how players can improve over time.

What was wrong and needs to be cooled is the hype machine around him.
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The biggest problem is with how Martinez is using him. Over and over again he's being sent out on a hiding to nothing in negative tactics that stifle our attacking play more than any opposition plans ever could.
 
Read through a pages of this, and this is what I've summarised.

  • He's not a back to goal player, he's the kind of player who thrives when running toward the opposition.
  • Teams (or as Bobby says, parasites) are defending in numbers behind us. As a result, the play from the midfield 3 has become slow and sideways.
  • Barkley becomes lost due to mispositioning as a result of these plays, our wingbacks (especially on the left) are no longer making darting runs toward the byline - space is difficult to come by as we're not stretching their defence.
If Barkley signs for a top side (Citeh, Chelsea), then he will rise as the space will be easier to comeby.
 
Adversus said:
He just needs to do what he's doing. Play him on merit when it merits it and leave him on when it does, drop and sub him when it doesn't.

He stuck by him for too long at the start of the season. Until he started getting booed. Ultimately that was his biggest mistake but probably understandable too.
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Agree with the first bit but sticking with him too long is harsh imo. Yes he stuck with him but that was whilst playing him on the left. By the time he moved him back central, his confidence and form was shot, as was the rest of the teams and we were already heading sharply down the hill.

I'd be fuming if I was barkley. Martinez made him last season then has destroyed him this season with his bizarre selections and tactics.

I'd imagine there's several other players who are very peeved off with Bobby too.
 
stevesteve1878 said:
The biggest problem with Barkley is similar to the biggest problem with Lukaku they both struggle with their backs to goal. Pretty much everything good Ross has done (including his only goal this season) he has picked up the ball deep and facing the opposition goal with either players making runs he can pick out or space to run into. Sadly this season he seems to spend his whole time wandering around aimlessly playing virtually as a striker getting the ball to feet with a player behind him and no space to turn into at which point he plays the ball back to where it came from. It's all very slow and dull and I'm not sure why it's happening unless he's been told to stay further forward or he's just got lazy and thinks 2-3 nice flicks a game are enough to make him look good. Either way to get the best out of him I'm convinced he needs to start attacks a few yards deeper so he can either pick it up with space to turn or pick up lay offs from Lukaku.
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Actually I watched for that in the 2nd half. He does drop in between the lines in space but there's never a great deal so he either doesn't have much room and can only do a flick or pass back or more normally it doesn't even get played in to him. Him dropping even further to be alongside Barry, Besic or McCarthy doesn't achieve anything. He may as well allow Besic, McCarthy or more likely Barry to have it.

Why this is the case and he doesn't have the space Liverpool players do like they had against City.

We're too slow moving he ball and as a result their defence can be more compact and too many defensive midfielders meaning he's outnumbered.
 
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He's been diabolical last few games.

People are over rating him. He's been completely average and some of his decision making and shots were terrible.
Martinez has to take him off if he plays like he is.

Uber gash
 
Adversus said:
Actually I watched for that in the 2nd half. He does drop in between the lines in space but there's never a great deal so he either doesn't have much room and can only do a flick or pass back or more normally it doesn't even get played in to him. Him dropping even further to be alongside Barkley doesn't achieve anything. He may as well allow Besic, McCarthy or more likely Barry.

Why this is the case and he doesn't have the space Liverpool players do like they had against City.

We're too slow moving he ball and as a result their defence can be more compact and too many defensive midfielders meaning he's out numbers.
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He is so isolated. We always have at least two holding midfielders in there who do absolutely no running beyond the ball. It's been a fundamental flaw in how we've played all season.
 

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