BARKLEY’S A BIG DEAL
Contract rebel shows Toffees he’s worth it
ROSS BARKLEY let his talent do the talking with a wonder strike for Everton.
The England star was told by his boss Ronald Koeman that he has just nine more days to give an answer over his future, with a new contract waiting to be signed.
His response was poetic, a dramatic piece of art to light up an otherwise turgid contest as he produced a superb shot from distance to show his talent cannot be hurried.
Koeman says he must be sold if he does not sign a new deal, but that one goal alone is enough to make Goodison fans wonder whether that would be the correct decision.
On a night when industry and organisation held sway, it was always going to take something special to break a dull deadlock.
Koeman is right that Barkley still needs more end product – with this sort of finishing, he should score more. But his goals are worth waiting for.
Watford will testify to that. They had largely contained the home side. Then on 56 minutes, the midfielder produced a strike of real intelligence that wrong- footed Heurelho Gomes and found the corner.
He received a standing ovation when he was subbed 12 minutes from time and no wonder. He is a local boy, a home-grown talent and a true fan. It would be a big call to sell him.
From the game’s earliest moments it seemed Barkley was determined to respond to Koeman’s ultimatum.
As early as the sixth minute he took the ball outside the box, turned with grace and balletic ease past two defenders then fired in a left-foot shot that Gomes did well to turn aside.
Tom Davies has a different enthusiasm, a boyish love of what he does and a clear delight in how he goes about it.
He dragged another save from Gomes when he ran from deep and unleashed a 25-yard left-foot shot. But it took a reminder from Watford that for all their apparent lack of ambition they still possessed threat to ignite the crowd.
Daryl Janmaat crossed for Troy Deeney, who seemed certain to score.
Instead, under pressure from Leighton Baines, the striker shot wide and that seemed to spark Everton and Barkley, who seized his moment of glory.