The curious case of Ross Barkley

August 20th 2011. Everton continue their traditional slow start to a season under David Moyes with a dismal one nil defeat at home to newly promoted QPR (beaten 4-0 by Owen Coyle's Bolton the week before). There is, however, one positive to come from the game.

A sparkling performance from a Premier League debutant lifts hopes. At just 17 years old this boy seems to have it all. He is strong, he can run with the ball at great speed, he is inventive and he has two good feet. 

Five years on though, and the jury is still out on Ross Barkley. 

Injuries, loan spells and an unsurprising lack of trust from David Moyes in a young player sees Barkley's development stall. Loan spells at Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds do little to persuade Moyes to select Barkley.  

In comes Roberto Martinez as Everton manager - the young attacking midfielder thrives. They come devastatingly close to Champions League qualification but in the year of a world cup there is surely a chance for Barkley to announce himself on the world stage?

Barkley makes his debut against Neil Warnock's QPR

Except Roy Hodgson is England manager. After an exciting performance against Ecuador, Hodgson is critical of Barkley, making his first England start. Despite clearly being the best player on the pitch, Hodgson bemoans his decision making asking journalists why they don't obsess on someone else. In Brazil, Barkley is limited to cameo appearances from the bench until England's fate is sealed and they are knocked out. This is fairly typical of Hodgson, but it also sums up people's opinions on Ross Barkley in his career so far. 

There just seems to be a reluctance to accept and trust him as a top quality footballer. 

Take last season as an example: In 48 games, Barkley scored 12 goals and assisted a further 11. Not only was that his most effective season to date, one in which he was nevertheless widely criticised by fans and pundits alike, but the 23 goals he contributed to in 2015-16 was bettered by only Harry Kane and Jamie Vardy of those selected for Roy Hodgson's England squad for the European Championships. 

How many minutes did he get in the tournament? Zero. As England toiled and struggled against Iceland, in a performance desperately lacking someone willing to take a risk, who would run at defenders, Ross remained sat firmly on the bench. 

Maybe it's an Everton thing?

As Everton struggled under Roberto Martinez last season, so did he. In the second half of the season he lacked confidence but when he raised his game he raised his team. In the FA Cup semi final against Manchester United him and fellow England international John Stones were at the heart of everything good as Everton pushed them all the way. In the game Barkley created several chances (particularly for Romelu Lukaku) that went begging. Had one or two gone in, would he have been hailed as the star man? 

For a player who is as close to the complete package as England are going to get, why are people so cautious of him? Turning 23, he clearly has his best years ahead of him and what he badly needs at this point is an England manager who will invest in him. 

This brings us on to the new England manager, Sam Allardyce, who has left Barkley out of his first England squad in charge. While Allardyce brings a different approach, you have to be puzzled that he did not select Barkley in a squad that contains Theo Walcott, Michail Antonio, Jordan Henderson and names Wayne Rooney as a midfielder. 

Having stumbled across watching his debut against QPR that day I was sure Ross Barkley was set to become an England star for years to come. He still can, but I now have a nagging feeling that we could be about to waste one of the most talented players in a generation. 

Home comforts

Sean Dyche thinks that English football managers get a hard time.

He says that if he was foreign he'd be hailed as a genius. Now I am actually a fan of Dyche, I like the values he instills into his teams, I like what he has done on a fairly limited budget but I don't know many foreign coaches who have been called a genius who's sole title is the Championship (having got relegated the season before).

I may not be willing to say
 this to his face though...

He says he was criticised for playing a four four two formation with Burnley in the Premier League only for Claudio Ranieri to be lauded for his approach with the same system just a year later.

But here is a thought for Sean Dyche. His Burnley side that year were relegation favourites, just like Leicester the season after. Burnley were relegated, Leicester won the league by ten points. Dyche was unable to find a system that got the results needed to survive, while Ranieri was able to extract incredible performances from previously limited footballers to create history. Ranieri was also able to adapt their strategy as Leicester became harder to beat as the season went on. So there is certainly more to it than Dyche claims, don't you think?

When I read interviews with English coaches who have spent time abroad, I often see the same thing said. The other nations think we are arrogant! And this from a young English manager does little to dispel the myth.

When you look at the current crop of young coaches coming through it's no wonder there is a majority of foreign coaches at the top level of English football. There was a real struggle to find viable English candidates for the national team manager's job. Eddie Howe has done an excellent job, producing excellent football with Bournemouth but who else is there that really strikes you as a potential world class manager? Lower down the divisions, there are promising young coaches, but it is up to them to prove themselves.

Ajax's 'De Toekomst' which means 'The Future'.
An open access facility.

Something that has summed it up is the recent ventures abroad from British coaches ending in failure. Both Moyes (who also performed miserably when given arguably the biggest job in football) and Gary Neville were both sacked within a year of being appointed at Real Sociedad and Valencia. The Premier League is hyped up as the most challenging league in the world but when tested abroad the last English manager to have any success is the late Sir Bobby Robson nearly twenty years ago. We have to do more to raise our standards.

It is however positive to see coaches taking the plunge and working abroad in many different roles. For English coaches to become more rounded and adaptable it is vital that they pick up these experiences. Hopefully it can become the norm rather than simply an exception.

I know that one of my ambitions is to work abroad, whether that be in senior football or developing
young players. In fact, next month I am fortunate enough to be visiting one of the best youth systems in the world at De Toekomst, Ajax's famous academy set up. You can expect a blog on that trip!

The open nature of academies across Europe is in stark contrast to academies in England. Everything is top secret. You have to have some form of identification or permission to get in to places. Rather than share ideas, you get the feeling that clubs are more worried about other clubs gaining an edge on them. While you can understand it to a certain degree, particularly from a financial view, it is still disappointing that this is the attitude we have.

This may be the next step for us as a nation in terms of developing better players and coaches! We have been going in the right direction (Youth Award, change in structure of coach education, England DNA) but this would enhance what is already a positive process.