Player Focus: Barkley’s Bright Start Offers Promise to Exciting Season Ahead

Roy Hodgson could not have been happier with what he saw from Everton’s contingent of England players when he left St Mary’s on Saturday afternoon. Not least that John Stones showed no signs of being affected of talk linking him with a move to Chelsea, but in Ross Barkley; he bore witness to a dominant performance that offers promise of great things to come from the starlet this season.

It was England’s U’21 manager Gareth Southgate that was left to rue his decision to omit Barkley from the squad that crashed out of the European Championship group stages earlier this summer and it will be a choice that will be made all the more painful following the Everton midfielder’s bright start to the campaign.

The dilemma that faced Southgate has been well-documented, but Barkley looks to have benefitted from a pre-season free from the stress of football ahead of what is a massive year for a player looking to force his way into Hodgson’s starting XI for next summer's European Championship.  

However, before thoughts can wonder to France, Barkley must first be aiming to put behind the disappointments of last season and recapture the performances that drew comparisons to former Everton star Paul Gascoigne during his breakthrough campaign in 2013/14.

Barkley, in some respects, has already made significant steps in bettering the feats of last season. In just two games, the 21-year-old has already scored as many goals in the Premier League than he managed in the whole of last term (2). Additionally, only two players have gained a higher WhoScored rating than the young Toffees ace (8.26) has so far this season, while only David Silva and Marc Albrighton (both 4) have been directly involved in more goals for their side than Barkley (3).

Without getting carried away after just two games, Barkley, and all those concerned, will be hoping this is just the start. The England international’s performance in Everton’s season curtain-raiser may have been slightly masked by the goal he would later score, but it was in Everton’s comprehensive victory over Southampton that really illustrated Barkley’s best qualities.

It wasn’t just the goal he netted or the assist he made, but the vigour of his performance on the south coast that will please the likes of Hodgson and Everton manager Roberto Martinez alike. 

“Ross Barkley - when he gets into that mood, running with the ball with pace, power and quality, there’s not many like him,” Martinez told the press after Barkley’s mesmeric display on Saturday.

“Ross can play different roles, I don’t think his role is just to come up with a goalscoring threat - it’s part of it.

“The goal comes because his performance previously was very good, and when he gets into the box, he shows the top mentality he has. The whole stadium expected a first-time finish, and technically that finish is as very good as it gets.” 

Barkley is a player that, when on song, brings a certain x-factor to a team that can be hard to find. Contrary to belief among the terraces that would suggest Manchester City are only interested in English players to pad out their home-grown commitments, the interest they have shown for one of the brightest players in the Premier League is understandable and is likely to be rekindled in the future.  

Despite being used in a number of midfield positions, it is the No. 10 role where Martinez seemingly feels Barkley is best-suited. Indeed, since the ex-Wigan boss was made Everton manager in 2013, Barkley has lined up in more than 67 per cent of his 49 Premier League starts as Everton’s creator-in-chief behind the striker (33).

The manner of Barkley’s performances is not particularly similar to other players plying their trade in the No. 10 role in England’s top-flight. He doesn’t have the low centre of gravity or the deft touch that makes the likes of Silva and Philippe Coutinho so deadly, but it is the way he drives forward with power and purpose that is most eye-catching, and those qualities were on display in abundance against Ronald Koeman’s underwhelming Southampton side.

Indeed, no player on either team attempted more dribbles than Barkley (5) on Saturday. This is hardly surprising when you consider that the youngster has attempted at least 51 more dribbles than any of his Everton teammates since the start of the 2013/14 Premier League campaign (253), a feat bettered only by eight other players in England's top tier, accentuating his statistically calculated WhoScored strength of ‘dribbling’.

Of course, the flip side of Barkley’s desire to grab games by the scruff of the neck is that it comes with its frustrations. Inexperience is sometimes clear to see in Barkley’s performances and that often proved costly to his spot in Martinez’s starting XI last season, where he made just 22 league starts.

In fact, in the last three seasons, only Romelu Lukaku (137) has been dispossessed more times in the league than Barkley (110) of Everton players. Given the nature of a striker’s role, it’s not unusual that Lukaku has coughed up possession more times whereas, for Barkley, to have sacrificed possession at least 19 more times than the rest of his Everton teammates means he will either need to learn to be smarter on the ball or improve his outlay if he wants to become the No. 10 that his potential promises.

In comparison to the aforementioned No. 10’s, Barkley has actually been dispossessed as many times as Coutinho (110) and on fewer occasions than Silva (135) since breaking onto the scene two years ago.

This isn’t to suggest Barkley is in the same ilk as two of the league’s best technicians, but rather to point out an area in which the England midfielder will be looking to improve this season. Silva and Coutinho can be forgiven for losing the ball on their meandering runs as, between the two of them, they have had a direct hand in 62 goals for their club's. Barkley, on the other hand, has been directly involved in 13 Everton goals (10 goals + 3 assists) over that same period.

Barkley’s decision-making is something that will only improve with experience and if the manner in which he took his second goal of the season at Southampton is anything to go by; then perhaps he is maturing faster than many expected.

Will fans see the best from Ross Barkley this season or will his performances fade? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below