Many have fretted over the state of the England national team, with all hopes of the future seemingly resting on the shoulders of Arsenal’s injury-stricken ace Jack Wilshere.
But at the weekend, a new, young, English midfield talent emerged to rival the importance of the Gunners man in the Three Lions’ not too distant future in the form of Everton’s Ross Barkley. With shades of Wayne Rooney, the Toffees prodigy made his long-anticipated announcement of arrival to the Premier League scene with a belting effort from his weaker left foot that soared past helpless Norwich keeper John Ruddy at Carrow Road.
Perhaps it’s too soon to begin panning Barkley’s career before it’s fully taken off, but the sensational 25 yard, left-footed strike on Saturday was the type of goal that suggested a coming of age moment for the 19 year old, whilst his performance to boot was by all accounts exemplary.
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Despite being the youngest player on the pitch, Barkley was the most dominant, with an immense technical, physical and tactical display at the tip of Everton’s midfield. The England U21, who put Scotland to the sword in a six goal thumping last week, finished up with a pass completion ratio of 95%, had more shots on goal than any other player, recorded four successful dribbles through the middle of the park, and also put in three tackles.
It was a ferocious all-round display that deserved to be capped off with a goal worthy of future Premier League highlight reels, showing all the qualities that the Three Lions have been desperately lacking in over the past decade. Along with Wilshere, the Everton starlet possesses a unique ability that appears to evade other English midfielders in his capability to turn his marker and run at opposing back fours. Since the days of Joe Cole, the Three Lions have lacked pace, technique and intensity to venture forward in the middle of the park, with England’s imbalanced robust midfield well-known and documented.
And it’s not as if Barkley was merely thrown into the mix by new Goodison boss Roberto Martinez, as part of some sort of sink-or-swim examination. In 2011, ex-England defender Martin Keown anticipated that Barkley would become ‘one of the best players we’ll ever see in this country’, and former Evertonian Tim Cahill quipped that the Toffees youngster was the most talented player he’d ever worked with. Last term, Barkley impressed in the Championship during short loan spells at Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds, recording four goals in 17 appearances throughout his time with both Yorkshire outfits.
Upon returning to Goodison in February, David Moyes gave the 19 year old an opportunity to shine against Arsenal, where the Toffees starlet looked smart, tidy and inventive in midfield, before narrowly missing a curling effort from long range.
Things would have come much sooner for Barkley, had it not been for a serious injury in 2010 on England Under 19s duty, breaking his leg in three places. But the slow recovery appears to be a blessing in disguise, with Martinez remarking after last weekend’s Man of the Match performance: “I think he is a lot older in terms of football experiences and I think his time with England has really helped him in terms of opening his mind. His loan periods have helped as well and going through a serious injury at a young age too. So I would say he is a lot ‘older’ than his age reflects.”
And the feeling of maturity beyond his years is shared by Everton captain Phil Jagielka, who now believes Barkley is taking his abilities more seriously: “He is thinking more like a professional footballer now instead of a kid just having a good time. He is also a fantastic lad. He is always trying and out there practicing and if he keeps going in the right direction, hopefully we will have quite a player.”
So we have a player who dons unbelievable technical ability with both feet, possesses that natural English power, robustness and aggression, has the confidence to take on his marker and drive through the middle of the park, finishes matches with 95% pass completion ratios for a total of 53 passes, but most importantly and vitally for any young athlete, appears to have already developed the temperament and mentality to succeed.
But what’s next for young Barkley? Well the test for any youth product seeking to transition to senior level is consistency, which cannot be proved or disproved in a single outing. Dominant displays week-in-week-out is too high an expectation physically and mentally for the 19 year old, but a sign that his Norwich performance wasn’t simply a one-off will be expected sooner rather than later. Having shown his potential however, especially in front of goal, Premier League defences will begin to take note of Barkley, and pay special attention to him.
Yet there are few better locations for Barkley to progress his game than at Everton. The Merseyside outfit’s limited finance and subsequent squad depth means that the midfielder will receive plenty of first team action over the coming season, especially if Marouane Fellaini departs for Manchester United before deadline day, whilst the recent appointment of Roberto Martinez at Goodison looks set to have an ameliorative effect on the youngster.
The Spaniard consistently brought through a series of promising youngsters during his time at Wigan, including the likes of James McCarthy and Callum Mcmanaman who are now turning the heads of major Premier League clubs, and Martinez’s planned philosophical revolution at Goodison Park, with a new technical and possession-based approach to compensate for the expected sales of Fellaini and Leighton Baines, could well have Barkley at the centre.
But whether the England junior is used sparingly or excessively this season, I have little doubt that Martinez’s influence and the style of play he insists upon will be of great benefit to Barkley’s progression as a footballer, and make him stand out against other young English talents.
There’s already been a great furore in the English media surround Barkley after his showing at the weekend, and granted, the midfielder as proved nothing yet apart from his potential. But it’s difficult to not get excited about a young home-grown talent displaying such pedigree, especially amid what seems to be the new dark ages of the England national team.
But either way, it seems a young star is beginning to shine at Everton, and the whole country can look forward to not relying upon one single entity in Jack Wilshere when considering the Three Lions’ near future.
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