Everton: Individual Ross Barkley is a real problem for Ronald Koeman

Ross Barkley has been a star in the making for years now. A player with unlimited potential. But how long do you wait for that player? New Everton boss Ronald Koeman is already losing patience.

Everton were fantastic as they scored three goals to dispatch Sunderland 3-0 on Monday. Ross Barkley started the game for the Toffees, but he didn’t finish it. He didn’t even see the second half, never mind the final whistle.

Ronald Koeman hauled Barkley off at half time and already seems to be losing patience with the talented midfielder. Time and time again Barkley turned the ball over to the opposition in the first half. As per most games.

If it’s not a dribble too many, it’s an outrageous shot from too far out. If it’s not an ill-advised pass, then it’s yet more poor decision-making. Barkley is a turnover machine at times. When everything comes off, the highlights look great.

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But over the course an entire game, it takes too many attempts, too many misplaced passes, too many failed dribbles for that one highlight to come off. Koeman isn’t waiting around for that one anymore.

Barkley has all his talent in his feet. It’s in the midfielder’s head where the problems are. Poor decision-making over and over again. Barkley is overly greedy, too, but that’s not the biggest issue. The main problem is decision-making.

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Knowing when to dribble, where to dribble, when to pass, when to shoot, how long to hold the ball…. etc. It’s like Barkley’s still playing in the school yard sometimes. Dribbling past seven or eight opponents, looking to emulate his favorite Everton player that he’s seen on TV.

Except his favorite player probably doesn’t do it every time he receives the ball. Barkley should be incredibly dangerous around the opposition penalty box – and he is in an unpredictable way. But the way he mistimes passes, waits too long to release a teammate, shoots with three defenders around him – it lets the opposition off the hook.

This is stuff Ross Barkley was doing as a 17-year-old when he burst onto the Premier League scene in 2011. Barkley arrived with all the promise of tomorrow – but when will tomorrow come? Does the 22-year-old really look any more polished now than he did when he made his debut?

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Barkley has all the talent in the world, but his head doesn’t know how to get the best out of it. Barkley also has the kind of talent that should make the players around him better. But he can’t even improve himself. He’s still the same talented individual that doesn’t quite fit into the Everton team.

Koeman is the right coach for Barkley, however. If Barkley is going to realize his full potential, then the Dutchman will bring it out of him. But Koeman is already realizing that getting the best out of Barkley is a tougher job than anticipated.

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