Ross Barkley

[gmb]

Great game today, overlooked by some. He's going to benefit soo much from the gana/morgs/davies monster we've got in the midfield.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

For me it was noticeable that Barkley improved when he was pushed further forward after Mirallas went off. That's more of his natural position, up top alongside Lukaku. He's not a midfielder imo.

 

[blue61]

The more movement there is around him, the better he is, simples.

 

[TraffordBlue]

Played well yesterday. Good composure for the 2nd and 3rd goals to play in Mirallas and Davies. Where he frustrates a lot of fans is when he has space to run in to and players ahead of him say 15 yards further forward and he tries to pick them out with a through ball. He is very poor at that.

But overall he had a very good game yesterday and as others have mentioned, he looks better when Davies is on the pitch with him. Hope he can push on from here now the confidence in the team is high.

 

[Eggs]

...he was fine yesterday, particularly in the 2nd half. For those who want him to play deeper, he failed on quite a few occasions to find our players in the first half when an accurate pass would've put a teammate in. He really worked hard even if his running without a football looks laboured.

It's probably a reasonable point @Bruce Wayne makes about his effectiveness further up the pitch, he provided two assists in the 2nd half. You can understand why RK wants him to play 'closer to Lukaku'. I still wonder if he'll struggle for a place when/if RK plays a support striker but time will tell.

 

[orly]

I've definitely noticed the past month he is trying to play a lot more through balls, that must be something Koeman has asked, and Rom looks happier too. Davies is also trying it too so I think it's something they are working on. Not all come off but It seems effective.

Agreed, it appears he is less keen to play it to the wings or backwards now. Means Lukaku can set off earlier too, and Mirallas.

Also more through ball passes attempted, more practice, the better he will be at it. Really thought he was excellent yesterday.

 

[Pabbers]

Superb game from him, mature performance.

Worked hard all game, loads of tackles going in, running all over the pitch.

Not as accurate early on, but he kept working hard. 2 cracking assists.

He makes others look better also.

 

[Bud McBlokeski]

He played really well yesterday. Two assists - can't complain at that. He plays so much better higher up the pitch. The media furore around Davies and Lookman will hopefully take some of the weight of expectation off him. Did him and Davies play together at youth level? The seem like mates on the pitch.

 

[Mikeonlythebestwilldo]

He played really well yesterday. Two assists - can't complain at that. He plays so much better higher up the pitch. The media furore around Davies and Lookman will hopefully take some of the weight of expectation off him. Did him and Davies play together at youth level? The seem like mates on the pitch.

Scouse power it is !!!

 

[BlueToff]

For me it was noticeable that Barkley improved when he was pushed further forward after Mirallas went off. That's more of his natural position, up top alongside Lukaku. He's not a midfielder imo.

I reckon we've seen the way to go now with the front six.

Plenty of energy in midfield with tidy movement up top.

That can either be with a back five, like yesterday, or a traditional back 4, with three energetic midfielders to get about and cover while the full-backs get forward. You've then got two players in Barkley and Kev who are at their best around Rom, but that system is easily transferable to a diamond as well.

Amazing how one signing can give us those options.

Barry was class yesterday, but once Snides is fit we have that energy and bite and quality on the ball to boot.

 

[bicycleheader]

If somebody could do a GIF of Ross saying WTF to the ref around the 51st minute, that would be rather sweet

 

[Saint Domingo]

Two assists, won't get mentioned by the media though, all just sitting waiting to flame him for his next poor game.

 

[Rugby Toffee]

Probably his best game for a while yesterday. Looked more relaxed and confident.

 

[mkrudden]

Two assists, won't get mentioned by the media though, all just sitting waiting to flame him for his next poor game.

With the Gwladys Street?

 

[Mountfield1985]

Another top performance from Barkley.

Noticed a real change in him over last couple of months. Working much harder and keeping it simple. Kept his head well to pick out those two assists, whereas before he may have taken a touch too many or ran into defenders. I think he's on his way to being a brilliant midfielder for us, but just a much more understated player than we thought he would be.