How do we fix the Ross Barkley problem?

An Everton player was on the right hand side of the pitch, he drags the ball back with a nice piece of skill to create space. He tries to curl the ball past another defender to free Seamus Coleman down the right wing. Instead of finding him, the ball drifts out of play and it’s a throw in. I was a good idea, but lacked execution. If that was Ross Barkley, the lack of execution would have been met with jeers and groans. It was Yannick Bolasie, and he was applauded.

That, in a nutshell, is what Ross Barkley has to live with. Everton fans have been conflicted for a long time now about whether it’s fair, whether it should matter, and whether Ross Barkley is as good as we think he can be, or is he just a decent player who has the odd good game.

Why does Ross Barkley get a harder time than anyone else? Most of the time a player gets that kind of treatment from the fans as they don’t like the player, or resent him being in the team. With Barkley, it’s the complete opposite. The treatment he gets is due to a desperate desire from the fans for him to be the player we hope he can be, and when he’s not then it is incredibly frustrating. That frustration is then taken out on Barkley, which only makes the situation worse.

When he has games like he did against Sunderland and Norwich, you start to lose hope that he’ll ever fulfill his potential. Then he’ll have a great game and you’ll once again be full of hope for his future. All young players have bad games, and they are inconsistent, but at some stage you have to grow up and there isn’t that long left where Barkley will still be considered as ‘young’ in the context of being a footballer.

When it was suggested after Euro 2016 that Barkley lacked a footballing brain, Evertonians were up in arms defending our man against the attacks from people outside the club. After the Norwich game however, Barkley’s decision making was once again being called into question. It’s the contradiction that Everton fans have, we’re fiercely protective, but we know his flaws, and we’re worried about them.

So is it our fault? Well, I don’t think we help, and I don’t think we can help it. I’m not sure any amount of money someone receives could prepare them for every mistake they do at work being met by jeers and groans from over 30,000 people. If you had that many people watching over you at work and scrutinising your every move, you’d probably be very nervous and make even more mistakes too. I hate it when I make a grammatical error, but thankfully I don’t have thousands of angry Evertonians shouting at me when I do. That’s the life of Ross Barkley, and it’s not going to change anytime soon. It was also the life of the likes of Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Paul Scholes, they had to deal with it, and did.

I think Barkley’s biggest problem is between his ears, and I’m not convinced it’s a football brain that’s missing, just the complete lack of mental strength to deal what he has to go through. His lack of confidence is painfully obvious and he lacks an ego that all of the great players have. Take Paul Scholes, a man not associated with ego or arrogance. But to believe and prove that you were good enough to belong in the Manchester United midfield in the mid 90’s must have took a huge amount of inner belief and self-confidence. He may not have been confident in front of a camera, but he must have believed he belonged on a football field. I don’t think Barkley does feel he belongs, whether you believe the Barkley hype or not, I don’t think he does.

Ronald Koeman has already proved himself to be a man of no nonsense and one who isn’t afraid to make tough decisions. It begs the question, how long does Barkley have? If Everton want to improve and spend money improving the squad, will Koeman really want a player that he can’t rely on? It’s a big season for Barkley and the man that we were so desperate to not see leave the team by means of being sold, may leave it by finding himself on the bench.

So how do we solve the Barkley enigma? Well, it’s all on him. The Goodison crowd isn’t going to change, the pressure isn’t going to change and if the expectation ever changes, then it’s too late. He is soon to be 23 and still has time, but we were saying he had time two years ago, he can’t plateau for another two years. I’m not ready to give up on him, and I still believe that he can be something special, but I’m starting to wonder if my belief is just due to a romantic bias towards a player who I only want to see the best in. I hope he starts to truly believe in himself, we all know how good he can be to watch, and hopefully he can start to be that player on a consistent basis as soon as possible, before it’s too late.