 |
| Barkley has scored six goals already this season |
On the occasions Ross Barkley is not glued to his television screen dissecting matches from all over Europe, his search for perfection leads him to YouTube.
There, he will pore over the sort of stars one of England’s pre-eminent youngsters might be expected to follow in order to smooth away any rough edges – Zidane, Scholes, Gascoigne and Cazorla – with the exception of one.
“I have looked at Mike Tyson and how he used to be,” explains Barkley. “I really liked him, just how powerful he was. He had no fear.
“I've watched clips of him just walking into the ring with no jacket on. Just fully focused. You can take a lot from loads of other sports. He would just go into the ring, fully focused on knocking his opponent out.
“I just want to play with no fear.”
It is the manner in which Zidane, Barkley’s boyhood idol, dictated play in his pomp that appeals and when the Everton midfielder was with England recently he watched Gascoigne run the game against Holland at Euro ‘96.
Yet the fascination with Tyson offers a different insight that is about power, brutality and the clinical dismissal of rivals. So far this season, he has married silk with steel.
To suggest Barkley has clambered off the canvas following what proved a difficult campaign for everyone at Everton would be an over-exaggeration.
There is no great secret to his renaissance, one which has seen him score more goals by the end of November than in any of his previous top flight campaigns.
For only the second time since 2010, Barkley did not spend his summer in an England jersey and so was able to rest. He has stayed injury free and, crucially, his confidence has been bolstered partly because Roberto Martinez is no longer whipping him off after 60 minutes.
As a result he is no longer the whipping boy, the Goodison crowd backing Barkley’s swaggering contribution rather than grumbling as was the case last term when, as with all local lads, he became an easy target for restless natives.
That the 21-year-old is philosophical about the stick he took highlights a willingness to take responsibility for his career rather than blaming others for hiccups.
“I probably needed that to get to where I am now,” he said. “I believe you have to go through difficult spells to get to better times ahead.
“Last season was difficult after the World Cup. I didn't have much time after that to get really sharp for the new season, and then I got injured a few days before the opening game. That set me back.
“Sometimes you need the fans to get on your back. Some people might go into their shell but not me. I take it. I understand that if I have done something bad, they will get on your back. There is no pointing moaning about it.
“The next day I will go into training, work hard and know that I need to get better.”
The quest for self-improvement has resulted in Barkley being more thoughtful in the one area of his game in which he had been occasionally lax: distribution.
He boasts a pass completion rate of 86.5% - and 84% in the opposition half – but it is in front of goal where he is now scoring tap-ins as opposed to howitzers alone.
Barkley regards himself as an entertainer and, as such, knows assists and goals can be his only currency. After six in 76 league games, he has 5 strikes in his last 13 although he is keen to emphasise it is eight in total since August for club and country in all competitions.
“I do feel like I'm a player who entertains and gets people on the edge of their seats, as well as trying to be a game-changer who can win a game for the team,” he said.
“I feel like I've improved with my performances as well as my goals this season. I'd been scoring great goals from outside the box before, but I've realised there are more goals for me inside the box as well, so by getting in and about the box I've managed to score goals like the two against Aston Villa at the weekend.
“They were not worldies, but I was there in amongst the players to get the tap-ins, so it all adds up.
 |
| Barkley has become a key cog in Roy Hodgson's England side ahead of Euro 2016 |
“I wasn't really thinking about getting in the box (before), I was letting our strikers do it. But now I know that, in the No10 role, you've got to be a midfielder who can operate like a striker as well.
“In the past few seasons I've made a few mistakes as well as doing great things and I think I'm getting the balance right now.
“I know to keep it simple when I'm deep on the pitch but to take risks when I'm higher up the pitch, and try to make chances.
“Sometimes people look at the bad things but I never focus on that. I just focus 80per cent on what I can do, not what I can't do.”
Off the field, there has not been the slew of adverse publicity and cutting headlines that have accompanied the progress of others left in his slipstream with Jack Grealish, anonymous when Barkley was excellent last weekend, a prime example.
There will be moments when he is blown temporarily off course in the future, but, crucially, Barkley is giving himself the best opportunity to fulfil the rich potential Everton privately spoken about while he was still in his early teens.
“I am just being more professional,” said Barkley, who proves himself to be thoughtful, engaging company during the interview. “You can always be more professional. I get more massages, I come in to training every day that bit earlier. I eat better food. It's everything, really.
“I don't really go in to town. If I do, it's just for food with my mates. You need to cut a few things out if you want to be the best you can be.
“Partying? I don't really think about that. I just think about football. You can do what you want after you have finished your career, but football careers don't go on for so long. You have to put everything you have got into making it the best it can be.
“My Mum has brought me up to focus on doing my best. She told me that I might not be able to do stuff with my friends but they would love to be in my position.
“She keeps my feet on the ground.”
What Barkley wants to achieve at Everton, and whether he needs to win something to be remembered, is put to him and he answers as you would expect. Increasingly, it is about what the Goodison Park club can do for him.
When Martinez signed Brendan Galloway from MK Dons, he overlooked Dele Alli because he considers Barkley to be better (both in the same team for years to come might be something) and Everton’s philosophy is based upon him staying put long-term.
Yet the suitors will come calling this summer and when they do Barkley will probably be at his computer once again.
“Zidane was my favourite player growing up,” he says. “I always watch clips on him. The way he moves with the ball, dictates play and creates chances. I watch clips of all players. I watched Ozil in the summer and Yaya Toure.
“It won't be just the best clips, it will be clips of what they do through the whole game.
“I've been watching Cazorla. He's good at creating chances and dictating play for the size of him. He is a great player. Who else? Scholes.
“I've watched clips on Gascoigne, too, in that match against Holland (at Euro 1996) when he ran the game. I was watching that while I was away with England.
“I try and replicate what I have seen. I think it is good to do that. I will try and take bits into training. I will work on stuff that they are good at. You try and pull it off in training and then take it into games.”
It’s put to Barkley that the next budding superstars will probably pouring over compilations of his own performances.
“If kids are watching me play, that's great,” he adds.
If? Of that there can be no doubt.
Post a Comment Blogger Facebook Disqus