But what does that say about a manager if he adapts the very quality out of a player that had brought him to the attention of the nation's football public in the first place?
If you think Koeman has retained Barkley's flair then fine, that's your opinion. I certainly dont share it. If he was at a CL club the first instructions Barkley would receive would be 'get on the ball, go back to what you were doing and express yourself'.
What's happening is that we are trying to clip his wings to fit in with a different mentality: keep it tight, play it safe, work hard.
He really would be better off elsewhere from a purely footballing p.o.v. But the lad is an Evertonian and that complicates matters for him.
As much as you could feel sorry for any young multi-millionaire doing a job they love I feel some sympathy for Barkley atm.
I understand where you are coming from Dave and I have a lot of empathy for your point of view. If Ross were a true creative number 10 I would have agreed fully with you. Problem is, having watched him for the last 4 years, and bear in mind he is absolutely my favourite player, I don't think he is a true number 10. He doesn't have that cuteness/subtlety to his play that he needs, and I just don't think it's in his make up. Players like Alli have it.
Ross is a bit of an enigma and finding the right role for him is probably one of RKs hardest jobs. RM tried to build his team around him which I can fully understand. But when you do that he has to deliver with goals and assists, similar to what Alli is doing now. Quite frankly, he has never delivered enough in that regard. But because he doesn't provide anything else to the team cause, the fans get on his back when things aren't happening for him. Not just that, the whole British media seems to have jumped on the bandwagon also. This "gives the ball away" myth is a prime example and totally untrue. I'm not surprised the lad's confidence was shot earlier in the season. Coincidentally, Alli, who gives the ball away far more than Ross, is given an absolutely free ride on this by the press and by his own fans.
What Koeman has done has changed Ross's role in the team into more of an all round midfielder, one which is able to fit into the team rather than have a team built around him. He's got him fit, got his work rate up and even got him tackling ffs. Slowly, Ross's confidence has come back, his performances have improved immensely, and the fans seem to be completely behind him now. We still rely on him to be our main creative influence because, at the moment, we have nobody else. But when he isn't doing magic in the final third nobody is getting on his back the way they used to because he's still contributing to the team performance. Take Sunday for instance, Everton were practically toothless as an attacking force, but Ross still came out of that game with a lot of credit. What we need, and both you and I have been crying out for this, is a creative player to play alongside and compliment Ross, and then we'd have the perfect combination.
Yes Ross has changed as a player, but I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing provided the club bring in somebody to work alongside him in the summer. I also think you'll see more of those dribbles than this years stats show. I just think he'll pick his moments and don't believer has actually told him not to take players on.
I also think Jenas' comments are wide of the mark. Had me made them months ago they would have been spot on. But we've seen a change in Ross this year and I don't think confidence is an issue with him now.
