Ross Barkley

[dannyboy]

.....he has a shot like a mule. What he needs to do is practice and practice them. I heard a coach talking about how Ronaldo is first on the training ground and last off. Even though he's no1 in the world he is an unbelievably dedicated professional. I'd like to see Barkley master the Ronaldo upright kicking technique, I notice he tried it once or twice last season. Practice, practice, practice.

I get what you're saying but Ronaldo's free kicks are absolutely awful.

 

[Fresh Prince of Belle Val]

Inconsistent

Let's see him boss decent sides and not relegation fodder

Still think he believes his own hype

I agree he is inconsistent. I don't think it's a case of believing his own hype at all though. Quite the opposite, I think the lad needs more confidence. Luckily Roberto knows he will only get that by playing regularly. Just a case of him ironing out the poor games he has. Moyes wouldn't have tolerated such a learning curve.

I was impressed by Barkley's defensive play yesterday. He was getting tackles in and actually challenging for headers.

 

[dannyboy]

One a regular basis??

Goes missing far to often

He can have poor games but you definitely can't accuse Barkley of going missing. He's always wanting the ball, that's rare in a young player.

 

[Seamus Colemole]

Had to laugh when he took that awful free kick that hit the first man and went out for a corner.

Then trotted over and took the corner equally as badly!

How can someone be so boss elsewhere on the pitch with the ball but so awful at something so simple?

There must be something in the water at Goodison, Baines and Arteta suffered from gash set pieces that weren't direct shots.

 

[TheOldLady]

He can have poor games but you definitely can't accuse Barkley of going missing. He's always wanting the ball, that's rare in a young player.

No it isn't

 

[TheOldLady]

I agree he is inconsistent. I don't think it's a case of believing his own hype at all though. Quite the opposite, I think the lad needs more confidence. Luckily Roberto knows he will only get that by playing regularly. Just a case of him ironing out the poor games he has. Moyes wouldn't have tolerated such a learning curve.

I was impressed by Barkley's defensive play yesterday. He was getting tackles in and actually challenging for headers.

His body language is all wrong for me lad

 

[Titus Bramble]

One a regular basis??

Goes missing far to often

He's a 21 year old kid. All young players are inconsistent.

 

[TheOldLady]

He's a 21 year old kid. All young players are inconsistent.

No there not

 

[PhilM]

How can someone be so boss elsewhere on the pitch with the ball but so awful at something so simple?

There must be something in the water at Goodison, Baines and Arteta suffered from gash set pieces that weren't direct shots.

Let us all not forget that we still have not scored from a set piece this season. Yup, that's nearly December and a total of sixteen games.

It isn't hard to see why when taking corners and beating the first man looks completely beyond all our players.

 

[TheOldLady]

Let us all not forget that we still have not scored from a set piece this season. Yup, that's nearly December and a total of sixteen games.

It isn't hard to see why when taking corners and beating the first man looks completely beyond all our players.

We need to get players on set pieces who have some skill

 

[PhilM]

We need to get players on set pieces who have some skill

Barkley has previously shown he has skill at set pieces. Maybe not consistency, but skill. As has Mirallas, Lukaku, Baines and Delboy.

However, as @Seamus Colemole rightly mentioned it does appear as if there is an inherent issue with our set piece play. We've become woeful.

In years gone, if we were awarded a corner there was anticipation that there would be a goal. Now it's the completed opposite.

Same with free kicks within range. Bit more practice wouldn't go a miss...

 

[Saint Domingo]

One a regular basis??

Goes missing far to often

No midfielder in the league except perhaps Silva is good enough now to boss sides home and away every week. The days of Vieira, Keane or Scholes just dominating match after match are over. Toure is imperious one week then missing the next, Ozil floats in and out of games but keeps assisting, Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin seem to share one job between them. These are the players the top teams have and are not bossing many games at all yet you expect our 21 year old to be turning it on home and away against top teams? Unrealistic expectation in my opinion. Perhaps he can hit that level when he's 26 and playing further back but what he's producing this season is some of the best play from a midfielder across the entire league. Crazy for anyone to knock him.

 

[Prevenger17]

I'd love to get top 4 without scoring from a single setpiece

 

[TheOldLady]

No midfielder in the league except perhaps Silva is good enough now to boss sides home and away every week. The days of Vieira, Keane or Scholes just dominating match after match are over. Toure is imperious one week then missing the next, Ozil floats in and out of games but keeps assisting, Schweinsteiger and Schneiderlin seem to share one job between them. These are the players the top teams have and are not bossing many games at all yet you expect our 21 year old to be turning it on home and away against top teams? Unrealistic expectation in my opinion. Perhaps he can hit that level when he's 26 and playing further back but what he's producing this season is some of the best play from a midfielder across the entire league. Crazy for anyone to knock him.

Plenty boss games on a regular basis

 

[dannyboy]

No it isn't

Name a midfielder at Barkley's age that's been performing at a higher level than him this season.