The Barkley situation mystifies me.
Either club aren't sure on him or he isn't sold on the club. If it's the latter, I think the lad is either seriously misguided or is being given some poor advice.
He is the same age as Lukaku but at this moment in time, there is no comparison between them. Lets get this right, they are both 23 not 18.
Rightly, because he is the top goal scorer in the league, Everton's top in the Premier League ever, Lukaku is going to attract some serious interest in the summer. You look at teams who have historically finished above us and go, yeah, they would want Rom. He would improve Arsenal and Utd for starters. If Costa leaves Chelsea there will definitely be interest. 23 year olds with goal scoring records lack that are very rare.
Then I look at Barkley. He's a creative midfielder. There is not a short supply of them in the teams above us, nor is there a shortage on the continent (and they would cost significantly less). I don't think he would get into the starting 11 of the teams above us.
And my biggest pet hate is that Evertonians give him too much stick, we don't appreciate him. It's like because we have been brought up on spam and baked beans like Joe-Max Moore and Nyarko our taste buds are too common to appreciate the vintage champaign of a Barkley. Some of the mistakes he makes would irritate any football fan. Needlessly giving the ball away isn't tolerated by any of the top sides, or their fans.
If he moves to Tottenham and continues to make the same mistakes, he would get loads of stick. Don't forget he wouldn't be "one of their own" and there would be a decent transfer fee for him to live up to.
If he wants to become a top footballer the problem isn't fans giving him stick for making stupid mistakes, the problem is him making stupid mistakes. More often than not the issue with Barkley is his decision making, he wants to take too many touches, takes to long on the ball, doesn't play the simple pass when its on. Some people think you either have that decision making or you don't, time will tell with Ross.
Think it was against Hull in front of the Gwladys Street on the Bullens Road side. Rom played in Hollgate in the box. The pass to Ross was on and he immediately played it to him on the edge of the box. Ross's options were limited but he took a load of touches, didn't know what do with it, tried to go past a couple of their defenders, lost it and they broke on us. If you have space on the edge of the box and don't have too many options, just have a shot. But that wan't a one off.
If Lukaku leaves, that leaves us with a big headache because you just can't go out and find a replacement who will score that many goals. Ross? it would hurt because he's a blue and you want to see Everton winning things with Scousers in the team. But unfortunately for Ross, it's not out of the question that he could leave and he could be replaced by a more consistent performer, someone with the ability but with the decision making to go with it.
If I was Ross and I don't just say this because I am a blue and I would be banging on Koeman's door and begging for a new contract. I think blabbing on about Champions League is a dangerous game. If he thinks that he is good enough to be starting for Chelsea, Spurs, City or Liverpool good luck to him. Personally, I think it would be a bad move and he would likely move on within 2 years to a team well below Everton.
It irritates me. Rooney was 18, we were crap (talked down as relegation candidates), Rooney had just been the stand out performer for England in Euro in 2004 (top goalscorer) and was wanted by a Utd team who had won the league only a year earlier.
Ross is 23, we are not crap and are moving in the right direction, Ross can't get a game for England and is apparently attracting interest from a Spurs team who last won the FA Cup in 1991 and the league in 1961. They are playing their home matches at Wembley next year. I promise you they will not be title contenders.
If Ross wants to stay and Everton are stalling on a contract, perhaps because Koeman isn't convinced, I apologise to Ross. But if he rejects a new contract and moves on he deserves to get much more stick than Rooney.
