🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Ross Barkley

[Magic Lamps 11,692]

Machine. Amazing assist so super smooth movement made it look easy and if the goal means we are now a threat from range it gives oppositions quite a bit more to think of. Hope he can keep it up. Definite starter next week but in the cup I wanna see Kovacic and RLC together. 

[Special Juan 28,141]

He's a really good physical presence now too, he has muscled up and under Sarri he is now technically much better and more complete as a player.

If he carries on like this he is going to become undroppable, and that's testament to the lad and how hard he's worked to get into this position.

 

[Sideshow Luiz 2,310]

Barkley vs. Pogba:

 

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

On 29/10/2018 at 9:22 PM, Jason said:

 

Think comparing 9 games against 150 is daft but no doubt he's improved his game here this season. Even last season he looked lost when he played.

[NiclasCFC 2,582]

Nominated for player of the month, vote below!

https://potm.easports.com/

[Tomo 21,751]

12 hours ago, OneMoSalah said:

Think comparing 9 games against 150 is daft but no doubt he's improved his game here this season. Even last season he looked lost when he played.

This is what happens when a manager focuses on actually coaching you instead of moaning about how shit you are.

[Jase 43,479]

Something interesting in the article for those possession nerds out there...

Without goals from the centre‑forward or midfield, there is only so far any side can go. Perhaps Hazard can reach the 40-goal target Sarri has set for him but it would be much easier if he were not the only threat opponents have to deal with. That’s why Barkley is so valuable.

He has never been exactly prolific over his career – just 28 league goals to date – but Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic and Kanté have only 38 over their careers between them. That Barkley has scored in each of his last three games for Chelsea is not a coincidence. But nor is it a coincidence that Sarri has not started Barkley against either Liverpool or United.

He presumably sees Kovacic as the safer option, although at the moment that may simply be an issue of familiarity. Certainly there is little to support a view that Barkley is somehow unreliable or untrustworthy in possession: his pass success rate is lower than Kovacic’s but is still 92%, the second highest at the club and the fifth highest in the league. Factor in the detail that Barkley has three assists to Kovacic’s one and, although there is a small sample size and the nature and condition of the opposition has to be taken into account, there is an argument Barkley’s passes hurt the opposition more.

What the 92% figure clearly suggests is that Barkley has become more judicious in his pass selection. That is a significant leap from a career average of 85.2%, one that can only partly be explained by the possession-based nature of Sarri‑ball. The suggestion is that there is a maturity about him now and he no longer feels the need to play the killer pass at every touch.

The other metric in which there has been a significant improvement is in distance run. Even to the naked eye, Barkley looks sleeker than in the past, and the stats show he is running on average 1.5km per 90 minutes further than in his Everton days.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Got to be honest, and this is no indictment of Kovacic, but I'm not really that bothered if Mateo stays at Real beyond this season, because Ross can do his job - and arguably, he's better at it. 

Yes, I know they are different players with different skill sets, and yes, they offer different things... but I think Barkley is more suited to the style of play Sarri wants to see. Kovacic is great at carrying the ball and creating space for others with his movement, but this is something Loftus-Cheek offers, too. Ross is just different to the other CMs we have at the club. 

[Jase 43,479]

His passing in the first half against Palace...Jesus Christ! Hope all that recent praise hasn't gotten to his head!

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

6 hours ago, BlueLion. said:

Got to be honest, and this is no indictment of Kovacic, but I'm not really that bothered if Mateo stays at Real beyond this season, because Ross can do his job - and arguably, he's better at it. 

Yes, I know they are different players with different skill sets, and yes, they offer different things... but I think Barkley is more suited to the style of play Sarri wants to see. Kovacic is great at carrying the ball and creating space for others with his movement, but this is something Loftus-Cheek offers, too. Ross is just different to the other CMs we have at the club. 

The Kovacic and Hazard link up is exceptional though. They understand each other on and off the ball and often look to find each other.

Kovacic is a better footballer than Ross and Ruben (fair to say he's similar to Morata in regards that hebplayed for a top top club but never really started) and has got similar footballing intelligence to Eden which is why they combine so well I think, even in the Arsenal game when he came on for his debut, within his first 5 minutes he and Eden combined and you could just tell. The Liverpool match as well for me was a big proving point that Eden and Kova are great together.

I think Ruben could be a more rounded box to box player with a bit of work defensively and positionally. I think Ross and Kovacic are more forward thinking than him, although he can carry the ball well but his final pass isn't as good as theirs. Ross offers much more of a goal threat than both of them for me but he offers more, even at Everton he was a creative hub for them and now he has a bit of maturity to his play. Bit panicky today at times but it wasn't a brilliant performance from the team, sloppy with the ball, got some luck and also had some good David Luiz moments like that excellent block in the first half. 

1 hour ago, Jason said:

His passing in the first half against Palace...Jesus Christ! Hope all that recent praise hasn't gotten to his head!

Nobody in MF bar Jorginho passed well in the first half I thought. Even Jorgi gave some balls away but there is a much better decision making process when Ross gets the ball, which even when he makes bad passes or mistakes he still gets on the ball and still manages to find his team mates. Kante and Azpi were more concerning for me in regards to giving the ball away today, a lot of sloppy passes after 1-1.

[Clockwork 1,794]

2 hours ago, Jason said:

His passing in the first half against Palace...Jesus Christ! Hope all that recent praise hasn't gotten to his head!

He has poor awareness and decision making always been the case.

[Jase 43,479]

1 hour ago, OneMoSalah said:

Nobody in MF bar Jorginho passed well in the first half I thought. Even Jorgi gave some balls away but there is a much better decision making process when Ross gets the ball, which even when he makes bad passes or mistakes he still gets on the ball and still manages to find his team mates. Kante and Azpi were more concerning for me in regards to giving the ball away today, a lot of sloppy passes after 1-1.

Still not an excuse, is it? Pretty sure Barkley gave the ball more times away than anyone else and it wasn't like those passes were long range passes, they were short passes and he messed up so many times. 

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

59 minutes ago, Jason said:

Still not an excuse, is it? Pretty sure Barkley gave the ball more times away than anyone else and it wasn't like those passes were long range passes, they were short passes and he messed up so many times. 

Perhaps but you could see today that nobody was completely sharp for the full 90 minutes in MF, we were sloppy. Ross has had 4 or 5 games on the bounce where hes been impressive, think we can let him off for misplacing a few passes, everybody had an off day in that regard.

[Dazzy_Vance 454]

Barkley and Kovacic should both be in the side. Kante should lose out as he has been shoe-horned out of his natural position. Sarri is trying to turn him into Allan, which he’s not. IMO our best midfield going forward in terms of balance and fluidity would be:

Kovacic-Jorginho-Barkley

[Vesper 30,185]

9 hours ago, BlueLion. said:

Got to be honest, and this is no indictment of Kovacic, but I'm not really that bothered if Mateo stays at Real beyond this season, because Ross can do his job - and arguably, he's better at it. 

Yes, I know they are different players with different skill sets, and yes, they offer different things... but I think Barkley is more suited to the style of play Sarri wants to see. Kovacic is great at carrying the ball and creating space for others with his movement, but this is something Loftus-Cheek offers, too. Ross is just different to the other CMs we have at the club. 

Kovacic is a superb football player, he needs to play where Kante is. His football intelligence and grasp of the game are truly WC,IMHO. Kante is one dimensional (it just so happens that his one dimension is to be the best DMF destroyer in the last 10 years of world football) so Sarri needs to either change his role, or just be prepared to always have (unless something changes) one hand tied behind out back in terms of MF offensive flow. Palace are simply dreadful in MF, and still he couldn't crack many nuts.

I absolutely fail to see why Sarri cannot come up with a scheme to unleash Kante AND keep a three man midfield. Kante and three CB's (like I have said many times before>) with all 4 handing off to Jorginho to start the ball a flowing. Those back 4 (Azpi as right CB) could surely provide enough width for adequate cover. and dropping Alonso will be no huge loss, as Kante can also provide left side cover (or right) as the situation warrants in the back third of the field. 3 CB's also takes pressure off Luiz (as he would be in the middle CB) to also push ball up a bit and take advantage of his true strength (passing). Kovacic would also be on the left (B to B MF) and is superb at track backs and is more than capable of high pressing as well.

I am a BIG proponent of playing to the strengths of your players. Kante is being square-pegged into a round hole atm. Kovavcic is not a pure AMF.

If we simply let Kovacic go back to RM and do not bring in a another gifted CMF, I predict doom in terms of truly world class results. It just isnt going to happen, especially with the rest of the moves/lack of moves that appear to be on the horizon.

[El P. 1,354]

4 minutes ago, Dazzy_Vance said:

Barkley and Kovacic should both be in the side. Kante should lose out as he has been shoe-horned out of his natural position. Sarri is trying to turn him into Allan, which he’s not. IMO our best midfield going forward in terms of balance and fluidity would be:

Kovacic-Jorginho-Barkley

Kante was not shoe-horned out of his natural position, he was shoe-horned out of his natural system. That system being compact/defensive one.

[Dazzy_Vance 454]

6 minutes ago, El P. said:

Kante was not shoe-horned out of his natural position, he was shoe-horned out of his natural system. That system being compact/defensive one.

I don’t think he should be playing so advanced but I get what you’re saying.

[El P. 1,354]

Just now, Dazzy_Vance said:

I don’t think he should be playing so advanced but I get what you’re saying.

Yes, we are thinking the same. He is playing that advanced because of the attacking system. I don't think anyone who wants to play attacking-pass-free-flowing football would have him at the defensive midfielder position.

[Milan 17,957]

Mr. Play-it-safe. I don't know if it is a lack of confidence but he is far, far from being a quality addition or having an impact from the bench. Our midfield options, apart from Kante, are very limited. The club needs to address this as well as other positions. And there are many of those.

[Fernando 6,585]

21 minutes ago, milan.cech said:

Mr. Play-it-safe. I don't know if it is a lack of confidence but he is far, far from being a quality addition or having an impact from the bench. Our midfield options, apart from Kante, are very limited. The club needs to address this as well as other positions. And there are many of those.

He is just good to have for the HG quota.