I agree he can be far more effective, he links up with Lukaku and I don't think it's any coincidence that Lukaku's performances suffer when Barkley isn't on the pitch.
As davek said its such an important posistion in modern day football of 4-2-3-1 and certainly in Roberto's setup. You really can't afford to have one of your weakest players in that role, who lacks most the essentials needed to excell in that role (pace, strengh, goal scoring, killer passing)
Even playing poorly Barkley can still get the ball deep and drive us forward to relieve pressure, get us up the other end quickly etc. osman simply can't do this. I think it's very important especially at the start of a game to set the tone of the game if you will. Puts us on the front foot so to speak.
Osman can certainly offer something in that role also but as showed against villa, only when the game is in the latter stages and the flow of the game is already set ie were on the front foot and trying to break someone down. A fresh osman off the bench with maybe some different ideas is a good asset to have.
Hopefully RM knows all this and is just giving Barkley a little breather before a crucial period. But in future if he's being rested I'd rather start with a Miralass or even Naismith as a No.10 than ossie.
