That wasn't a rant mate. It's just how I feel, I think we overrate Ross because we all want a local boy to do well for himself. There's no doubt he can be a great player on his day but it doesn't happen nearly enough, unlike the basic mistakes he makes consistently which most players with a lot less ability then him learn to not make by now. I sincerely doubt half of the people defending him would be so adamant about it if he wasn't a boyhood blue. I agree the squad would be better for him being in it but I also feel that it would be far from the end of the world if he wasn't. Its down to him if he stays or goes but your right that im not impressed with his attitude as it smacks at that of a spoilt brat having a tantrum because his coach isn't telling him he's the best often enough.
I'm not having the comparisons of Ross to Rooney I've seen around. Rooney was a world class talent and everyone could see it right from the start, the club was in the absolute pits at the time with an awful side and nothing to invest cash wise. Rooney was a kid who had the an enormous amount of pressure on him and was supposed to be our saviour! He left for Man Utd and won every single trophy he could possibly win at club level and while I'm not going to defend an alleged boyhood blue ditching us it's completely different scenario with Ross.
Barkley doesn't have a hundredth of the tallent Rooney had. He's been given far more patience and leway then any non local lad wouldn't of been afforded for the almost unceasing mistakes He makes. He entered a side with comparatively little pressure on him compared to Rooney yet has failed to improve at a high level on a consistent basis. He doesn't want to leave a club faceing a relegation battle with no end in sight, he wants to leave a club that's in the best position it's been for almost thirty years and is going palaces. He doesn't want to leave his boyhood club for professional pride and the chance to win everything because he wouldn't be going to Spurs if that was the case, let alone rot on their bench. Rooney was by a county mile our most valuble player at the time, Barkley isn't even close to that.
Even at this stage I still want Ross to sign a new contract, stay with us while we finally go back to the big time and reach his full potential with us but if he's adamant he wants to go there can be no coming back from that, not for a player of Barkleys standards. If he wants to go then he either leaves or rots with the kids and ruins his chances of playing at the world cup, his choice. If no club wants to pay our asking price the solution for Ross is simple, sign a new contract get your head down and work hard to improve and if your still desperate for a move somebody will pay if you do enough.
This whole episode has dragged on for long enough now to show Barkley's feelings and while he might yet sign I doubt he will. He's going to massively damage if not destroy his own career all out of petulance.
Ok mate I'll take back what I said about it being a rant. The reason I thought it was a rant were your OTT comments on Ross which I have highlighted. It's usually the sort of wording you use when going off on one, as I do myself now and again.
The highlighted bits are also the comments I don't agree with. The rest of your post I wouldn't argue with. But I must see a different player to you when I watch Barkley.
Clearly he has more than 100th of the ability that Rooney had/has.
I don't know where you sit in the ground mate, but where I sit people jump on Ross's back the second he gives the ball away, even when he's playing well. He doesn't get any leeway whatsoever, never mind more than the rest of the team.
Over the 5 years I've been watching Ross I'd probably count the number of absolute stinkers he's had on one hand. I'm only talking about Goodison games and those away matches that have seen live on TV. I really don't know where you get your "almost unceasing errors" claim from. This is a criticism frequently made against him by commentators and so called experts, who clearly don't see that much of him. His passing reliability and ball retention stats compare very favourably with like minded creative players. I sometimes watch Dele Alli and think how does he not get any stick for giving the ball away. His ball retention absolutely stinks but nobody ever says anything.
Ross for a while has been our only creative player and there is
always pressure on him to perform, more so than any other current player probably than Lukaku. When he plays well, invariably Everton do. He carries our creative burden practically on his own and has done for 3/4 years now. He's still only 23.
How can you say that Ross isn't even close to being our best player? If you go by GOTs own MOM analysis he won 8 last year and was in the top 3 in 10 more. Rom won 9 and was in the top 3 5 more times. Nobody else even came close, including Gana. Based on that alone he clearly is one of our best players.
Having said all that, I agree that his inconsistency is hugely frustrating, but a part of me realises that this is as much down to the level of expectation we put on him and also his importance to the team. As much as I want him to sign a new contract I am now getting totally fed up with the silence and inactivity. I'm resigned to the fact that he probably does want a move away and, similar to Lukaku, I think it's best if this were sorted asap so we can all move on. But only if Spurs or whoever meet our valuation. We can't be giving away such a talent to our competitors for a knock down price. I'd rather make him stay and either fight for his place or play with the U23s.
