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Ross Barkley

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Of course, because it was a complete 100% style change from the previous season after Martinez indroduced then to the concept of passing. We didn't play any football at all under Moyes.









Osman vs Larissa ... loved that goal... had everything ... counter attacking.... one touch football.... a back heel and a long range outside of the boot finish...
 
The reason he does it on his own is because he offers nothing defensively so we have to play with Gana, Davies and Schneiderlin to free him up "to be Ross Barkley".

If he had the footballing intelligence and discipline we wouldn't need to play with all of the above three players, maybe just 2. That would free up another attacking option.

Yes Barkley has played well in some matches when he had three players behind him doing all of the hard work.

But sadly, for the sacrifice we make to accommodate him he has to be bang on form every week, otherwise we don't have a creative spark. Sadly, he is far from consistent, quite the opposite.

So in a weird way, it is because of Ross's complete lack of discipline that we don't have more options.


The defensive side of his game is fine for a player playing where he does. Indeed it was only a few weeks ago against Burnley that he got MOTM because he contributed so much in that game defensively (as pointed out on MOTD).

We play those 3 because they are good players in their own right and we don't have a lot of other options, not because of some big master plan to negate Barkleys weaknesses. Koeman simply wouldn't pick someone who didn't have any defensive discipline..
 
Yes he is.

Barkley has been great since the turn of the year. One or two poor games doesn't change that.

Great? He's been better not great... he played well for about 10 games... so that's about 10 games since January last year that he has played well in ... Great !
 
Ross Barkley is a very good player.

We need more players around him that are creative, so that if he is having a poor game, or if the opposition are doubling up on him, we have another creative outlet.
Correct!
Same thing with Lukaku. Other teams pin 2 or 3 defenders on him. This should create freedom and space for creative (and fast?) midfielders to profit. We just don't seem to have them. And as a result Ross and Rom get criticized for not turning up some games.
 

Correct!
Same thing with Lukaku. Other teams pin 2 or 3 defenders on him. This should create freedom and space for creative (and fast?) midfielders to profit. We just don't seem to have them. And as a result Ross and Rom get criticized for not turning up some games.
That the problem with ross and rom. Their ability to find open spaces.
 
Exactly the same for Gerrard, Pogba, Ali, Coutinho, Pedro, Hazard and many many other attacking players....because they are attacking players!!!

Difference is from those 6 players you have compared him to..gerrard used to drag the team to win trophies... Ali has scored 20+ goals , Pedro has won league titles and knows what it takes, pogba is a league winner... and hazard has won the league... been PFA player of the year and is about to win the league again ... Ali is younger than ross... pogba had won the league at Ross's age and hazard was a PFA player of the year when he was Ross's age.

All the players mentioned don't offer anything defensively but... apart from countinho and pagan all are consistent players that contribute on pretty much a weekly basis and also produce in big games... ross can't because he isn't as good as them or mentally as strong...
 
That the problem with ross and rom. Their ability to find open spaces.

Which is hard when you have two or three oppo players on you and, in Ross's case, nobody else to create a chance and, in Rom's case, nobody else to score a load of goals.

Ross has improved this season. He's a much better player. He played badly on Saturday. Point is, every player has bad games now and then - and that's when others in the side need to step up. Ultimately, we don't have those players atm, due to injuries and the fact we haven't got another 'playmaker' in the squad.
 
Difference is from those 6 players you have compared him to..gerrard used to drag the team to win trophies... Ali has scored 20+ goals , Pedro has won league titles and knows what it takes, pogba is a league winner... and hazard has won the league... been PFA player of the year and is about to win the league again ... Ali is younger than ross... pogba had won the league at Ross's age and hazard was a PFA player of the year when he was Ross's age.

All the players mentioned don't offer anything defensively but... apart from countinho and pagan all are consistent players that contribute on pretty much a weekly basis and also produce in big games... ross can't because he isn't as good as them or mentally as strong...


You have missed the point completely.

Every one of the players you have mentioned where surrounded by proper top drawer players, Ross is not.

Point being, all these players need support, and Ross does not really have that, being in attack or defense, those top players he is compared to all have different level support.
 

You have missed the point completely.

Every one of the players you have mentioned where surrounded by proper top drawer players, Ross is not.

Point being, all these players need support, and Ross does not really have that, being in attack or defense, those top players he is compared to all have different level support.

Gerrard was not surrounded by top class players mate... and the point was that ross doesn't do enough offensively so that it's worth playing 3 holding CM because he usually doesn't offer enough defensively
 
Exactly the same for Gerrard, Pogba, Ali, Coutinho, Pedro, Hazard and many many other attacking players....because they are attacking players!!!
Yeah, Hazard and Pedro - two wingers - aren't as good at defending. Neither is Sergio Aguero, but comparing apples to oranges here.

Gerrard, Pogba, Alli and even to an extent that ladyboy - they all track back and run, put a foot and a tackle in, at every opportunity. Remember when Ross did that more than once a month? We have to accommodate him to be Ross Barkley by putting a million other players that are willing to do the hard work because he just doesn't. Never did, never will, at least not on a consistent basis. We can't have a midfield behind him giving him the ball - Koeman's addressed that by putting other players in slightly more 'free' midfield positions - Davies has done okay for the most part, for example, and it's what Barkley should be doing - being a presence *off* the ball too, not just on it. If he's only doing 50% - hell yeah he'll be predictable and doubled up on. Any team will know that he won't try to win the ball back and get half-arsed when chasing.

From your examples - Pedro actually doес a lot of work up and down the field, despite it being from winger positions, yet still manageс to score loads of goals and all that.
 
Gerrard was not surrounded by top class players mate... and the point was that ross doesn't do enough offensively so that it's worth playing 3 holding CM because he usually doesn't offer enough defensively


Gerrards best spell, by some distance, he had Alonso & Mascherano behind him, and Torres, Kuyt and Luis Garcia ahead of him, all quality.
Even players like Suarez, Haman, Lucas early on, Coutinho. Different level to anything Ross has played with.

Well, Ross IS our most creative player.
 
Of course, but lets be honest, you can understand people questioning him surely?

I am starting to wonder if he is just good against the lesser sides in the league, a bit of a flat track bully maybe as some might call it.

Same can be said of £70million Lukaku.

And I've no doubt he can be questioned. But at the moment the whole teams success revolves mainly around two 23 year olds who can't hide behind better players or a squad.

He does have flaws, but for the most part, it's arguable him and Rom that have got us sitting 7th on the pitch.
 
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