Patient Barkley looking forward for club and country

IÂ’m pleased he acknowledged the fact that he didnÂ’t have a good season with us and I just hope he gets himself back to where he was 12 months ago. It would be a crying shame if we were here in another four or five years talking about another unfulfilled talent in the same way as too many others that began so promising.

Nar, heÂ’s willing to listen and learn but itÂ’ll mean nothing if he doesnÂ’t show heÂ’s taking it all on board!

Barkley needs to show more on the pitch, especially when in possession. HeÂ’s played within himself this season and hopefully he gets a good break this summer, comes back fresh and looks to kick on. If he can pick up little traits that heÂ’s seen in both Ozil & Yaya Toure then great, cos we donÂ’t want to see him play safe and backwards all the time, we want to see him turn and influence things in the final third.

But itÂ’s all a learning process for him and hopefully in time he gets even better and shows his true worth. I do think heÂ’ll start playing deeper eventually and be a midfielder that breaks from deep and makes an impact as heÂ’s a better player when he faces the opposition goal and as space to move into, as opposed to being in the pocket behind the striker with his back to goal.

Which after all is the most important thing for most Evertonians, we only want him to at least look as if heÂ’s bothered, rather than the sulky demeanour he often exudes.

He seemed to some extent to have become a lightning rod for criticism of the team as a whole this season, which I felt was somewhat unfair. I hope his slate gets wiped clean with the fans and we donÂ’t immediately get on his back the next time he makes a mistake, because with positive support heÂ’ll develop much better. And thatÂ’s what we all want, is it not?

Put a bit more effort in and heÂ’d be a top player.

Jim @1, you donÂ’t seem to be as hard on Barkley as you do Lukaku.

IÂ’m not sure they ever did think he was going backwards (and they certainly wonÂ’t now)... It has always seemed to me as though opponents are determined never to give him any space at all, and thatÂ’s something he canÂ’t cope with yet. I hope he learns quick, because if he does, heÂ’ll be a real gem.

I think he would be a nice Water Boy or maybe a Spector cheering him on.

I will openly admit that Barkley was shite last season and if youÂ’d read most of the post match threads last term you will have seen how much I was disappointed and frankly disillusioned with Ross Barkley.

I donÂ’t know where this lad will end up in his career, whether he will get better or go down the "what if" road that Jack Rodwell strolled down with his eyes shut.

The only thing I respect him for is heÂ’s not banging the drum for himself to play in the Champions League or bigging himself up too much yet, the day he starts doing that whilst performing like a piss-artist will be the day I lose that respect.

If he really wants to make it, he should be getting fit all summer, not just watching You Tube. He should come back busting a gut to make himself an automatic choice next year.

Does he have it in him to go that extra mile physically so that he can be unplayable? My own belief is no. We have another Rodwell on our hands here. All the ability, but lacking the drive required to make it at the top level. I hope I am wrong.

But the thing is, heÂ’s got everything in his psyche to be the complete footballer: right height, right turn of pace, two fantastic feet, and the best turn of pace IÂ’ve ever seen.

Unfortunately, this manager has drilled him to be robotic.

With a strong, mobile, defensive minded centre mid alongside him - it could work on the basis of that game... I want to see him succeed with us but reckon under Martinez this is unlikely to happen, as despite the pairs great performance that game we didnt see Ross and Mo anywhere near as often as Barry and McCarthy (or Barry and anyone as he is seemingly guaranteed first choice bar death).

Secondly, get off YouTube and start practicing, might work. Also maybe pick two players who havenÂ’t done the square root of jack shit over the season just gone to study. I really want it to work for Ross, and for him to stay here, one club man, decorated with honours... you get the drift.

Barkley is an international and one of our own developing and learning - great sensible article. Potentially one of the best players we have ever had.

Those that use this forum for painful expression of their own failure in life is painful to watch.
Ask yourselves if Brain Labone would not post this - Why am I?

How high is that horse you are on?

Fans Â’need to understand their role in supporting the clubÂ’. And you are the man to tell us I see.

I think the common consensus is we were all excited by Ross in his first full season but quite frankly his progress stalled last year and in fact Martinez stuck with him longer than might be considered reasonable because on occasions he stank the place out.

IÂ’m not sure what Brian LaboneÂ’s take on things would be and unless you have the gift IÂ’m pretty sure you havenÂ’t a scooby either so do us all a favour.

Have an opinion and allow others the same.

Negative, jumping on band wagon with boring cliché ridden diatribe is not valuable nor enlightening.

Getting behind our young players with potential – being supportive of every individual at the club is also a great thing to see and feel from our fans. That can only inspire mangers, coaches, players and other EFC fans.

The specific point you raise with RM keeping on playing Ross is interesting. I think he was getting more minutes on the pitch, going through the learning curve, only in the heat of the battle can you get that. Also it takes time to feel comfortable, get used to systems, how opposition close him now and so forth. RB lost a lot of time twice and with a double leg break not so long ago, so needs catch up time on the pitch.

The fact that RM is thinking longer term will benefit the club. It is a fact we do not have the money to compete to buy the best so we have to nurture our own. It is also an asset that THE OIL clubs donÂ’t have - and by that I mean they do not have room to blood in the Premier League - eg ,none of the top 5-6 would have had room to allow Stones to flourish.

So do enjoy and be insightful of the young talent we have growing in our club. Negative for negative sake is boring and unsupportive of our club.

Personally on the subject of Ross, I think you are being overly generous. He broke his leg nearly five years ago so if he hasnÂ’t caught up yet he never will. I really hope he trains on this year and fulfills the glimpses of potential we have seen at times.

My gut reaction is he won’t, I’ve watched him at length last season and I am concerned he is a one dimensional player who despite tremendous physical attributes doesn’t seem to have that awareness that marks out top players. We used to call it a footballing brain. I’d be happy to be proved wrong but I think we will have wished we took the £40-50m that looked on offer twelve months ago.

Agreed IÂ’d love him to come good and we are going to find out because Martinez will not be selling and will give him more chances.

We need more than the Barkley of 2013-14 though. Although he was better (and that would not be tough in comparison to last season) he was still inconsistent and only played in flashes. You can argue what would you expect from a player in his first full season and I would agree.

But this is now his third full season coming up, he needs to make his mark and fulfill his potential. As IÂ’ve said IÂ’m doubtful but happy to be proved wrong.

As for watching Ozil and Yaya, I think thatÂ’s a good idea. Ozil always releases the ball quickly to speed the tempo of the team up, and Yaya loves to break from the centre of the park with pace and power. Both of the above players can show Ross the way forward, but also he could look at the work rate of much more average players like Naisy etc to see whatÂ’s required to be an Everton player.

For me, Ross should look to come back half a stone lighter and hungrier than ever to become a mainstay in both sides (Everton and England). Another set of players he could YouTube would be David Silva, Diego Costa, Alexis Sanchez and horrid arse Suarez. All them players are attacking and could show Ross a few tricks he could take into his own game, but mostly they can show you the work rate that is required to fulfil your true talents.

Come on Ross, make us blue boys proud lad. Best of luck, mate.

I have to agree with the "wipe the slate clean" theory. Martinez and his bunch of potential match winning players have it all to play for.

A good start to the season, with attractive football and positive results will keep the Goodison faithful happy short term. On the other hand, start off badly and there will be ructions to get rid of our manager.

Ross needs to become a man this season, he still hides behind that boy tag.

IÂ’m looking forward to all that is blue, because itÂ’s never dull.

I think he is simply too slow in his thinking, and too poor in his passing. He makes very few chances, primarily because he takes an age to make a decision, and he slows our passing up as a consequence. I think this is MartinezÂ’s fault in part, whilst BarkleyÂ’s decline in confidence has certainty contributed to his uncertainty. He even stopped running at people later in the season, negating the one part of his game which is exciting and impressive.

I think Barkley could improve, but IÂ’m not sure how he will as I do not see an obvious place for him in the team. He is not a CM, because he is too dangerous with the ball and his passing is too rusty. He will put us in trouble far too often, and using one game against a terrible QPR as a barometer of his ability from that position ignores the evidence from other matches and performances.

He is not a wide player either, and I think MartinezÂ’s readiness to play him wide at points directly contributed to his regression. The only position is behind the striker. I think he could do with dropping back slightly from this position, so that he can back up the midfield and drive from deep with men behind him.

The problem though is BarkleyÂ’s lack of creativity. The team is devoid of creativity, and the signings of Cleverley and Deulofeu will not help with that part of the game. If he plays in the AMC position then, we have to put a playmaker in one of the wide positions. I think that the left hand side makes the most sense, even though it would reduce us to one winger (which should be Mirallas, as he is the most dangerous).

I think a creative left-sided midfielder who can also play centrally makes the most sense. A Pienaar esq player who can control the tempo and feed the pace we have in the team. (We desperately need that, because no one is playing through balls at the moment. The nearest we got last season was Gibson.) I think a playmaker who cuts inside occasionally will also give Baines freedom to get down the wing, and more consistently have one of our best ball players up the pitch. The advantage of the two holding mids is that it allows our brilliant full backs to get forward, and we need to take advantage of that aspect of our game.

As far as I see it then, BarkleyÂ’s potential risk on locating a playmaker who can play out wide. Barkley is not a playmaker, and Martinez needs to address that major failing. We also need to increase the tempo again, so that Barkley, Lukaku, Mirallas and hopefully Deulofeu can get running at, and in behind, players.

IÂ’d like us to line up with McCarthy next to Cleverley next season, with Cleverley given a little license to get forward. IÂ’d like to see Mirallas on one wing, and a creative player on the other, with Barkley moving behind the centre of midfield and Lukaku. I think at times we should change that, and putting the creative player we are going to buy behind the striker, and put two wingers either side of Lukaku.

I also think that, against teams who park the bus, putting Osman in alongside McCarthy would not be a bad idea, as he is the nearest we have to a playmaker (in view of PienaarÂ’s decline), and we looked best when we had better passers in the team. Last season it was just far too easy to defend against us, because we did not have the ability to open teams up and ended up playing sideways passes.

But, I do not think there is anything to criticise about Barkley from these comments. The best players demonstrate a constant desire to improve, and to self-consciously address their weaknesses. He understands the problems with his passing, and he can learn from Ozil in particular, who is a wonderful creative player who controls the game from various parts of the pitch. Personally though, I do not think he can handle creative responsibilities, and his future success relies on Martinez finding someone who can.

The world cup came too soon for him and like some others I think he was not worthy of a place in the squad. These young players have shown very little progress during this last season and one wonders if their egos and agents have affected them. Maybe the next season will see a big turnaround in his maturity so that Everton may feel the benefit but Martinez needs to play his part too.

Simply put, the youngsters today get far too much, far too early and even get praised far to easily. Others have posted about hard work and I agree.

Exciting times ahead, with the new phenomenal players RM has brought in..... mmmmmm????