This season many people have taken note of Everton’s fantastic young talent, especially with Romelu Lukaku being the Premier League’s joint top scorer and John Stones being subject to £36 million transfer bids, and when you throw Gerard Deulofeu’s dazzling form into the mix its easy to see why Ross Barkley’s upturn in form has gone slightly under the radar.
To be honest, the lack of attention on the young Englishman has helped him flourish as the weight of expectation has been considerably lowered with others helping out so much, but Barkley really has developed into a top player so far this season. Firstly and possibly most importantly he has found his position and its slap-bang in the centre of the pitch, not just behind Lukaku and not sitting deep with Barry; dead centre with free roam to get up and down the pitch as and when he chooses. This position allows him to get on the ball a lot more as he can come short more often, from there he tends to have more time and space to either pick out a pass, which he is getting much better at, or go on a direct run at the opposition which we all know he is brilliant at doing.
Another thing which Barkley has improved upon is he defensive capabilities, the young man from Wavertree now has a much better understanding of his defensive duties as evidenced by his significantly better defensive positioning, good strong tackles and his willingness to track back and make important interceptions, which is something many people were critical of.
He has also improved his choice of passes and has learnt when and when not to shoot, for example against Stoke City for Everton’s opening goal he declined the shooting opportunity, waited for a better pass into McCarthy who then found Lukaku, who scored.
Earlier on in his career he would have shot at a defender and we would’ve had to start again, but due to his growing maturity he knows shooting isn’t always the best option.
For me, he has also learnt that when he is running a top speed and dribbling past defenders he will struggle to score with a shot because he is often off balance which causes him to skew his shot.
Finally Barkley has a brilliant on off-field relationship with his fellow attacking team mates Lukaku and Deulofeu, these relationships will be vital to any future Everton success.
