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3rd April 2017
02:28pm BST
For the record, my tweet said: “I know people think they're helping Ross Barkley when they call for England to make more of him but they're not. He's not at that level.” To break it up into two parts, the first is pretty self-explanatory: a campaign, to get Barkley more playing time is unlikely to be helpful to him, to England or to Gareth Southgate no matter how well meant it might be. Not only does it put a new manager under undue pressure, it adds to the scrutiny that Barkley will face when there are doubts about how well he responds to being in the spotlight.
This is, of course, an entirely personal opinion and others see it differently but having watched Barkley develop into a player who deserves to be in the England squad, I’ve seen little in his game which suggests this kind of focus is good for him. Like most young players, he is more likely to thrive when left alone to play his football, something that he obviously does well or else he wouldn’t be starting for Everton every week and considered one of the best 22 players in the English game.
The second part of my tweet requires more explanation because it is, through my own fault, open to interpretation. When I said “he’s not at that level,” the intention was to qualify the first element, ie that he’s not at the level to need or deserve a campaign for him to play for England. It wasn’t that he isn’t good enough to play for England, an argument that wouldn’t hold much water given the standard of some of those who continue to be selected ahead of him. Barkley’s talent is not in question, his readiness is.
In the past, players who’ve been ready not just to play for England but to transform them have prompted mounting scrutiny about why they aren’t being selected. Think Peter Reid, a PFA player of the year who had been voted the fourth best player in the world, but who was on the outside looking in for far too long before injuries and suspensions gave him the opportunity to prove himself at the 1986 World Cup. Think Michael Owen in 1998 when Glenn Hoddle’s reluctance to use the teenager because he wasn’t “a natural finisher” flew in the face of prevailing logic before the England manager backed down.
Barkley is knocking at the door but he is yet to hammer it down. After an inconsistent and at times laboured first half of the season, his form has improved considerably this year and regardless of how poor he was against Liverpool on Saturday he has put together a body of work that is undoubtedly strong enough to put him there or thereabouts where England are concerned. There are signs, belated or otherwise, that the natural talent that marked him out as a player of real potential as a youngster is starting to be displayed on an increasingly regular basis.
Clearly, that is good for him and it is also good for Everton and for England. But there are still steps that need to be taken before he, and it will be him no matter how much others might want to help him, convinces Southgate that he is more than a squad player who can be used if necessary or not, as was the case during the recent international break. Chief among them is his record against quality opposition, having scored only four goals in Everton’s games against Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Arsenal since making his debut almost six years ago.
For an attacking, creative player, that is a poor return and his output at the highest level was again a concern at the weekend when his form fell off a cliff against Liverpool. No-one, not even his most outspoken critics, believe it is Barkley’s technique that is letting him down; the prevailing view is that he has the ability but it is being undermined either by his decision making, his mentality or his tactical appreciation of the game. Ronald Koeman shares that view – he spoke about it repeatedly after succeeding Roberto Martinez as manager – and Barkley has responded to that criticism well but only up to a point.
“He needs to improve the tactical aspect of his football, out of his position, he needs to be more clinical and have more creativity in the offensive part of the team but he is working hard on that and trying to get the best out of himself,” Koeman said in November and gradually that very public tough love approach has been shown to be an effective way of getting more from Barkley. But what is right for the player and is good for his club is also good for his country and England, through three successive managers, have implemented a similar strategy where Barkley is concerned and the intention is exactly the same as it is for Koeman – they want Barkley to be as good as he can possibly be for his good and their own good.
If there were no lingering doubts, he would play for his country, it is that simple. Barkley is a popular figure and he is also one that people in the national game want to do well. There is no agenda against him, no sense whatsoever that he is more trouble than he’s worth and no belief that he isn’t good enough to play for England. But there is an ongoing frustration, one that was articulated by former England coach Gary Neville at the weekend, that not all of the pennies that need to drop have done so. As long as that remains the case, England managers, be it Southgate, Sam Allardyce, Roy Hodgson or whoever, will continue to be reluctant to use him.
"Because I've worked with him for four years with England, I desperately want him to succeed and fulfill his talent and potential,” Neville explained in the aftermath of the Merseyside derby. “I desperately want him to become the best player that he can be, the best player in the Premier League, but it's concentration (the issue). You think about Ross Barkley progressing into Champions League football potentially, or into the highest levels of international football when you have to operate in tight spaces.
“You think of Silva, De Bruyne, Coutinho, they operate in really tight spaces and receive the ball perfectly. They know where they are, they make very few mistakes on the ball and Ross just makes too many mistakes in matches. He receives the ball and then gives it away. What happens next is that he gets a little bit frustrated with himself and in the first-half, he was fortunate to stay on the pitch. You look at that game today, Coutinho got man of the match and he (Barkley) has got to get to that level. He has got to get to that level consistently, he does it in flashes, but he has got to do it consistently on a week to week basis.”
Although those comments were made in his guise as a Sky pundit, Neville was really speaking as someone who has worked within the England hierarchy and is aware of the weaknesses that those within it feel Barkley needs to address before he can hold down a place in the national team. It might not seem fair that he is being treated the way that he is, particularly when he isn’t given a single minute of playing time when on international duty, but the long-held belief is that Barkley has to do more and develop more before his talent can be indulged.
That approach has worked for Koeman and it could yet work for England. Barkley’s misfortune is that he operates in the one area where England have genuine quality and genuine competition for places, if he was a deep lying midfielder, a centre back or a centre forward, Southgate wouldn’t be able to treat him mean to keep him keen, he would just have to pick him. But with England showing signs of flourishing with Dele Alli and Adam Lallana operating as dovetailing number tens, the England manager is able to cope without Barkley in the knowledge that doing so might, in the short term at least, be in the best interests of both player and team.
Only Barkley himself can change that. He has the ability and, increasingly, it seems that he has the appetite. Should he combine the two and heed the advice of people he should listen to like Koeman and Neville and he won’t need anyone to call for him to play more for England, he will guarantee that it happens through his own efforts.
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