Tuesday, 31 March 2015

Ross Barkley: "I'm A Striker"

Last night, Ross Barkley revealed in an exclusive that he feels his poor season has been due to being played out of position. 21 year old England international Barkley, has been often used as an attacking midfielder this season for Everton but he feels that he should be playing up front. Barkley also revealed that Wayne Rooney has been giving him advice as a striker once given to him by ex Manchester United legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer which Barkley feels could really help further his ability.

This season, Ross Barkley has been not as effective going forward as he was in the 2013-2014 season, Barkely has only scored 2 goals this season and has only provided 2 assists with neither of his goals coming from starting at central attacking midfield. Last season Barkley scored 6 times in 34 appearances for "The Toffees" compared to this season where he has only 2 goals in 29 appearances. Barkley may still be young but is he really a striker.




After a successful loan spell in the 2013-2014 season, Everton bought Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea for a club-record fee of £28 million. As well as being a key figure in Everton's team he has also recently formed a new-found strike partnership with  Arouna Kone which could prove to recover what his been a difficult season for Everton. This begs the question, if Ross Barkley really believes he's a striker and will be clinical there, then where would he be next season.  If Everton can be successful with Lukaku and Kone up front then would Barkley even get a look in. I feel that if he were to move to a different club such as Sunderland or maybe even Swansea to fulfil his desire.

Barkley currently has 11 caps for England with all of them coming under Roy Hodgson. If Barkley, wants to become a striker he is seriously jeopardising his England future. When Barkley has featured for England, he has often played as a number 10 or as part of midfield. If he were to pursue his ambition of being a striker, Barkley will certainly find himself a lot further down the pecking order as there are a lot of promising strikers coming through the ranks who are yet to cement their place in the England squad including Harry Kane, Charlie Austin and Saido Berahino.

In conclusion, I feel that Ross Barkley will have to undergo serious position training as well as a potential club move in the summer, realistically Barkley could become one of the worlds best attacking midfielders and is probably better in a "Number 10" role.


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