Carlito
Player Valuation: £40m
I think Dembele is a lot more than just a workhorse, and I doubt that many young players would mind being likened to someone as technically gifted as he is.So you want to take a very talented goal scoring midfielder and turn him in to a work horse further back on the pitch? Seriously?
If you saw the stat knocking about from Sky last week regarding his goals/assists vs Gerrard, Scholes and Lampard, he's very comparable, favourably so. None of those players played in the role you are advising. Gerrard may have at the end of his career, but for most of it he was played as a number 10 or even out wide. Like Lampard, Scholes and probably now Barkley, he wasn't trusted with the defensive side of the game, or was better utilised where his talents brought the most success, whichever floats your boat.
For a comparison to Zidane's stats at a similar same stage of his career when Zidane was 21 he had played 130 games scored 22 goals and had 14 assists. Zidane wasn't a household name when he signed for Juventus aged 24 but became so alongside Deschamps and some very talented midfielders. Of course it's laughable to compare Zidane who won the World Cup (aged 26) or the one who finished his career at Madrid in his 30's, because he was exceptional. But in terms of attributes it's not the worst comparison to a former player at this stage of his career. Both big strong lads, with similar running styles and goals. I doubt Ross will hit the heights that Zidane did as he doesn't have the same Ghetto drive, or those of gerrard even as he doesn't have OCD, but don't write him off just yet.
Ross scores goals and creates chances. Unfortunately like a lot of the players, his development as a footballer has almost stalled under the Martinez era. Couple that with being ignored in the Euros and then left out of the latest National squad and his confidence is low right now.
Koeman is trying to manage that situation and produce a response from Ross. Hopefully he does so and we see the benefits on the pitch, but people need to give the lad a chance and stop writing him off at every opportunity or groaning and booing if he doesn't meg someone and smash it in the top corner.
Barkley would be a massive asset if he could take the ball from deep and drive forward, releasing either the wingers or the lock picker-type that I think Everton lack, and then arriving late to get shots off. It's not as though he's finding pockets of space in the box and scoring poacher's goals, so I don't see why his tally would necessarily take a drastic hit if he had a deeper starting position; especially if Gana is there to cover him.
I expect that screen grab you posted will appear on a daily basis for the rest of the season, but I'm not convinced that it's an entirely accurate comparison if you consider that Lampard and Gerrard came through at a time when most teams played with two strikers, and even an attacking midfielder was still expected to contribute further back.
I'd say that the Scholes comparison is fair, as I remember him being pretty much a forward when he was starting out. However, you could also argue that Barkley has had the advantage of maturing physically much earlier than others. He's similar to Rooney in that regard.
Only time will tell, but I think Barkley will continue to underwhelm all too regularly if he's left to drift around up front. I'm also expecting Koeman to react very negatively when he sees firsthand the effects of carrying both Barkley and Lukaku off the ball when they run into one of the better sides.
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