- Commissioner’s statement on Ventura, Marte
- Ronnie O’Sullivan: Masters champion ‘felt so vulnerable’ in final
- Arron Fletcher Wins 2017 WSOP International Circuit Marrakech Main Event ($140,224)
- Smith challenges Warner to go big in India
- Moncada No. 1 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Braves land 2 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Kingery makes MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- New Zealand wrap up 2-0 after Bangladesh implosion
- Mathews, Pradeep, Gunathilaka to return to Sri Lanka
- Elliott hopes for rain for Poli
Ross Barkley Must Make Progress or His Career Won’t Reach Expected Heights
- Updated: December 22, 2016
Blood and thunder, guts and gore, Monday’s Merseyside derby should have been a game for Ross Barkley. When the young midfielder was forged from Scouse metal, the same Scouse metal that was moulded into Wayne Rooney, this was the kind of environment in which he was designed to thrive. This, however, was not a match for Barkley. In fact, it’s unknown what kind of match is a match for Barkley at all.
Considered one of the brightest English talents of his generation, Barkley’s development has stalled over the past year or so. That much was underlined by his performance against Liverpool, when for all his charging about, all that he gave the illusion of energy and drive, he failed to make even the slightest impression. Apart from on Jordan Henderson’s ankle.
At 23 years old, Barkley is still young; he still has time to fulfil the promise he demonstrated as a teenager. But most concerning is that the midfielder is still the same player he was when he first burst into the Everton starting lineup. There has been little in the way of progress, whether that be technical progress or mental, psychological progress. His career has stagnated before we have even had a chance to judge what kind of player he is.
And that’s perhaps the most frustrating thing about Barkley. His struggle is an existential one. Nobody, himself included, is quite sure what type of player he is. Is he a box-to-box operator in the mould of someone like Steven Gerrard? Is he more of a No. 10, like Wayne Rooney, the player he is compared to most often? Will his future be as a more conservative deep-lying midfielder? Nobody knows.
Everton manager Ronald Koeman is one of those seemingly tearing his hair out at the lack of development Barkley has undergone over the past few years, even going as far as dropping the midfielder and publicly calling on him to buck up his ideas.
“We know he is one of the players who needs to bring more productivity and that is the talk we had about his situation,” Koeman explained when asked about the …
