Does anybody think that Ross Barkley is currently overrated?

We've seen it before, English lad with a direct style, runs at defences with the ball rather than laying it off and finding space and he's revered as the next best thing.

Barkley to me just seems like a mixture of Wayne Rooney and Jack Wilshere, runs into traffic, isn't good enough to get it out of his feet and he then decides to shoot or lose the ball. He's just hype atm because one of his shots due to his lack of ability to do a final pass go in the top corner.

Think about it this way, what top attacking midfielder has 0 assists in a premier league season? Especially since he plays such a direct style, you'd expect him to either get 10+ goals or to rack up the assists for a free flowing everton side?

Got this from an everton site who essentially is saying what I'm saying.

Barkley's stats are equally disappointing. Osman has done well from the same position, so maybe Ross needs to start picking out the runs of his colleagues and pulling the strings rather than pulling the trigger at every opportunity? He's had 50 shots and scored 4 compared to 28 shots and 2 goals for Ossie. Barkley has only played 159 more minutes than Osman.

Reply 1

Mackay

17

There's a difference between being rated and being said to have potential. I think a lot of people have said the latter, which is true, but you'd be a fool to rate him a world-beater just yet. He has an awful lot of potential but needs to be managed correctly. I have faith in Martinez to nurture his ability well - I think he and Rodgers are the finest man managers in the English game right now - so hopefully he'll go from strength to strength as he gets more experience.

Reply 2

Llamageddon

18

He can hold down a place in a team that gets european football more often than not and is solid in his position. Whether or not he is overrated depends on how highly people rate him. I rate him highly for Everton (though he isn't irreplaceable and doesn't shine compared to the rest of the admittedly strong squad) but don't think he's in the position of being first choice for England. He is making amazing progress all the time at the moment though and that's what is getting people excited.

Reply 3

Isometrix

11

It's only been his breakthrough season tbh. They did rush him into the England team too soon, but he did warrant a place with the season he had at Everton.

Reply 4

Manchester United

18

He's good, but he's not Adnan Januzaj.

Reply 5

MagicNMedicine

20

I agree with you. I think Barkley does have a lot of talent but the way he is being described is just not right. People are comparing him to a young Paul Gascoigne which is a bad comparison because he is some way behind where a young Gascoigne was. I've even seen it repeated a few times that he's like Gazza but with more pace so better. This is completely ridiculous. Barkley has more pace than Gazza but his touch is nowhere near as good. His main trick seems to be based around his pace, he knocks the ball past a defender and then races past them: and fair play to him it does work quite often as he does have pace and very good surge of acceleration. What he doesn't have is the close control that Gazza did, where he would take multiple touches and keep the ball with him while he went round people. So Gazza could get out of a tight situation from a standing start with two men on him and then take it round the oncoming defender. Barkley can't - Barkley can beat one defender when there is open space ahead of him but because he relies on knocking the ball ahead and chasing it, if there's a man in front it will get picked off. Also he tends to run down blind alleys and run in to traffic where Gazza wouldn't, he'd beat his man, get space then put in a killer pass. I don't see Barkley having that eye for a pass, he tries a lot of quick one twos and stuff but the radar is a bit erratic.

I'm not knocking Barkley here, and perhaps it's unfair to hold him up in comparison to a young Gascoigne because Gazza in his Spurs days was not a million miles off Maradona he was a genuine world class player, probably the last that England has produced, very few are of that calibre. The reason I'm bringing up the Gazza thing here is because that's the source of the overhype: this stupid Gazza comparison.

I fear that Barkley won't actually improve: like a lot of young English players he will burst on the scene with a lot of hype and then just play to the gallery, enjoy getting the roar of the crowd when he beats a man and then an "ooooh" and applause when the move fizzles out. He will get a big transfer and a big wage and then will just sit on his laurels and not progress, like Walcott did, like Wilshere did.

Reply 6

jam278

OP

10

Original post by Mackay

There's a difference between being rated and being said to have potential. I think a lot of people have said the latter, which is true, but you'd be a fool to rate him a world-beater just yet. He has an awful lot of potential but needs to be managed correctly. I have faith in Martinez to nurture his ability well - I think he and Rodgers are the finest man managers in the English game right now - so hopefully he'll go from strength to strength as he gets more experience.

See, these exact same things were said about Wayne Rooney and while he's developed into a very good player, there is still an inherent lack of tactical discipline in his play, poor touches but ounces of technique. That's what I see happening with Barkley.

Reply 7

MrSupernova

16

Not as much as Lallana...

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 8

Jkizer

16

I remember when some newspaper(s) somehow created a story whereby Liverpool were planning a £37m bid. That fee would be extremely overated indeed, especially for someone who basically had a good first half and an injury stricken second half.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 9

Mackay

17

Original post by jam278

See, these exact same things were said about Wayne Rooney and while he's developed into a very good player, there is still an inherent lack of tactical discipline in his play, poor touches but ounces of technique. That's what I see happening with Barkley.

I see what you're saying, but Rooney never had the athlete build of Barkley. He's so strong and able to handle himself. I think, if treated well, Barkley will have much less of Rooney's nonchalance.

Reply 10

MrSupernova

16

Original post by Mackay

I see what you're saying, but Rooney never had the athlete build of Barkley. He's so strong and able to handle himself. I think, if treated well, Barkley will have much less of Rooney's nonchalance.

Rooney was England's star player in Euro 2004 at the age of 18; Barkley is not as good as Rooney was at the same age.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 11

jam278

OP

10

Original post by Mackay

I see what you're saying, but Rooney never had the athlete build of Barkley. He's so strong and able to handle himself. I think, if treated well, Barkley will have much less of Rooney's nonchalance.

Rooney has a very atheltic build though, he's stocky yes, but he was quite fast and had a lot of tenacity that people feared in his younger does. Nowadays not so much but for the most part he has very good fitness and has improved technically. He ran the most vs Italy e.g. and I think that side of the game for Rooney is underrated nowadays because he doesn't drive as much any more.

Original post by MrSupernova

Rooney was England's star player in Euro 2004 at the age of 18; Barkley is not as good as Rooney was at the same age.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Yeah this. That's why I don't think Barkley will become that great of a player.

Honestly I think Wilshere is going to be Englands main man sans Rooney along with Sterling.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 12

MagicNMedicine

20

Original post by Jkizer

I remember when some newspaper(s) somehow created a story whereby Liverpool were planning a £37m bid. That fee would be extremely overated indeed, especially for someone who basically had a good first half and an injury stricken second half.

Well thats the going rate for that type of player, see Ozil :P

Reply 13

TheAnusFiles

9

Original post by MrSupernova

Rooney was England's star player in Euro 2004 at the age of 18; Barkley is not as good as Rooney was at the same age.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Rooney was in a decent team at Euro 2004. Barkley was given a few shots in a dire on. I've seen both come through, and while I would have said Rooney did look better at the same age, Rooney's underdevelopment leads me to believe that Barkley will be a better player

Reply 14

xDave-

19

A lot of young players are horrible at decision making in the final third. You have to hope that they'll grow out of that and start playing smarter. Otherwise you end up with an older player like Nani, who is a complete joke. Though, if they're actually good at football, they can get away with being greedy e.g. Robben. Barkley ain't looking like he's gonna be a Robben though.

Reply 15

MagicNMedicine

20

Original post by jam278

See, these exact same things were said about Wayne Rooney and while he's developed into a very good player, there is still an inherent lack of tactical discipline in his play, poor touches but ounces of technique. That's what I see happening with Barkley.

Rooney never really kicked on to the next level. I think he just thought he was a great player from dominating as a young player, so did the same things he's always done. Rooney plateaued young, as many of the brightest English talents did: Fowler, Owen etc.

In fact sad to say it but probably Rooney never even hit the heights Owen did at his best.

Reply 16

Old_Simon

12

For such a powerful man with huge hips and strong butt / thighs his touch can be really delicate. As everybody here says he is far from the finished article. No where near it. His decision making and final product can be really dire.

Reply 17

TheAnusFiles

9

Original post by Old_Simon

For such a powerful man with huge hips and strong butt / thighs his touch can be really delicate. As everybody here says he is far from the finished article. No where near it. His decision making and final product can be really dire.