Ross Barkley

[chrisw1]

He did well today.  However, Emery had an absolute melt down at him for about 1 minute......not sure why.

I saw that but couldn’t see who it was at. A lad near me said it was Tielemans.

I think Jacob Tanswell mentioned this and it was because he was pushing up too far and leaving us exposed.

Either way, I thought he looked really good when he came on.  My only real concern with him carrying over last season's form was how he would react to not being the main man and starting on the bench.  Hopefully we have our answer - an excellent addition to the squad.

[Smithy]

He did well today.  However, Emery had an absolute melt down at him for about 1 minute......not sure why.

I saw that but couldn’t see who it was at. A lad near me said it was Tielemans.

I think Jacob Tanswell mentioned this and it was because he was pushing up too far and leaving us exposed.

Either way, I thought he looked really good when he came on.  My only real concern with him carrying over last season's form was how he would react to not being the main man and starting on the bench.  Hopefully we have our answer - an excellent addition to the squad.

Yep, there are also some players who need games for match sharpness, and who struggle to maintain a level if they're not starting week-in week-out (I think SJM might be one of those types), and though I thought Ross would be one of those, it certainly seems like the version we've bought is much better than the version we loaned.

[Somniloquism]

It was around about the same time Bogarde pushed up a few times and then stopped, so it might have been meant for him as well with Barkley being the man receiving the bollocking to pass the message on.

[Somniloquism]

Yep, there are also some players who need games for match sharpness, and who struggle to maintain a level if they're not starting week-in week-out (I think SJM might be one of those types), and though I thought Ross would be one of those, it certainly seems like the version we've bought is much better than the version we loaned.

Didn't we try playing Barkley in a 10 role when we first had him. I seem to remember he was close to forwards at the time.

[Risso]

Yep, there are also some players who need games for match sharpness, and who struggle to maintain a level if they're not starting week-in week-out (I think SJM might be one of those types), and though I thought Ross would be one of those, it certainly seems like the version we've bought is much better than the version we loaned.

Didn't we try playing Barkley in a 10 role when we first had him. I seem to remember he was close to forwards at the time.

Yes we did. He's probably still quite capable of doing it as well. Tielemans did for a few games last season.

[Somniloquism]

Although when Tielemans was playing that role at the start of the season, that was when people were stating "no wonder Leicester got rid" and "we had the wrong one and should have got Maddison". I think it was the lack of pace and closing down that was causing him issues. But he did get better, although is made for the 8 role.

[Dave]

Yep, there are also some players who need games for match sharpness, and who struggle to maintain a level if they're not starting week-in week-out (I think SJM might be one of those types), and though I thought Ross would be one of those, it certainly seems like the version we've bought is much better than the version we loaned.

Didn't we try playing Barkley in a 10 role when we first had him. I seem to remember he was close to forwards at the time.

That's where he'd spent pretty much his whole career, so it would have been strange if we'd tried him anywhere else. It's only when he went to Luton that they thought he might be a bit better pretending to be Toni Kroos instead of pretending to be Phil Foden.

[rob_bridge]

Think he will play an important role for us as go to both starting maybe 15 games and subs maybe even more.

[Drummond]

He's a great option to have. Did really well on Saturday and showed a calm composure. I'm sure he did something really serious like pass right instead of left that caused Emery to lose it.

Emery is very demanding of his midfielders, he would react similarly with Luiz too.

[Mister E]

He’s going to be really helpful when we’re trying to break down teams playing deep. We struggled with that at times last season and the speed of his passing should make a huge difference.
 

I think you're right: he and Tielemans on Saturday really seemed to put their boot on Everton's throat and slowly squeeze their resistance out. Add a right-winger as an out-ball and we have some great options across the middle of the park.

[Hookeysmith]

I thought Ross was the difference on Saturday when he came on and brought the best our of Tielemans who was exceptional.

[Smithy]

We have some ridiculous strength in depth now in midfield.  Let's just hope we rotate a bit more than we have in the past, because we have the quality now to ensure every midfielder still has plenty of miles left in their legs come April/May - let's make sure we use it.

[john e]

I thought it was a mistake bringing Barkley back but he did very well when he came on showed his composure and experience and made a difference in the second half
if he continues like that I will have no problem in been proved wrong

In fact the two players that I thought would be weak links this year were Barkley and Tielemans with the loss of Dougie
Both are making me look a bit of a numpty at the moment which isn’t hard to be fair

[Risso]

I thought it was a mistake bringing Barkley back but he did very well when he came on showed his composure and experience and made a difference in the second half
if he continues like that I will have no problem in been proved wrong

In fact the two players that I thought would be weak links this year were Barkley and Tielemans with the loss of Dougie
Both are making me look a bit of a numpty at the moment which isn’t hard to be fair

That ship sailed a long, long time ago John!

[john e]

I thought it was a mistake bringing Barkley back but he did very well when he came on showed his composure and experience and made a difference in the second half
if he continues like that I will have no problem in been proved wrong

In fact the two players that I thought would be weak links this year were Barkley and Tielemans with the loss of Dougie
Both are making me look a bit of a numpty at the moment which isn’t hard to be fair

That ship sailed a long, long time ago John!

Ha ha, I know