Koeman: Barkley will learn lessons from his week of controversy

However, Everton manager Ronald Koeman has told his player to return to normality by concentrating on his football after having been punched in a Liverpool bar a week ago, and then been the subject of an incendiary column by Kelvin MacKenzie in

Though uncertainty surrounds his future after stalling over a contract extension, the midfielder delivered an exemplary response to the commotion.

Twice he cleared off his own goal-line and it was his wonderful run and shot that delivered the second goal, which spurred Everton on to an eighth consecutive home victory at the expense of Burnley. Koeman who has offered his support, has told Barkley to learn from disruptive situations.

“It’s what happens in life. You will learn from things that happen,” Koeman said.

“I also did some stupid things when I was 19, 20 or 21. He will learn from football seasons, how he did last year, how he’s doing this season. We changed his position in the team and it’s much better for the boy to give that creativity in the team. He assists, he scored a goal, he’s a local boy and the local boy will have, most of the time, more critics than any other player.

“That’s sometimes difficult for him. He’s even had criticism from his manager, but that’s football. If I’m not happy then I don’t listen to the name – he’s a player in the team and that’s how I like to work with everybody.”

The Burnley central defender, Michael Keane, has also attracted Koeman’s admiration this season. Like Barkley, the 24-year-old has under 18 months remaining on his contract and is still a work in progress. That was evidenced by the way in which he was rolled by Romelu Lukaku for Everton’s third goal. Yet there is no denying Keane’s rich promise, which frustratingly may take him away from Sean Dyche, the manager who has accelerated his development.

“It’s a compliment in that people think there must be life at Burnley so they have a look and when they do they think there are some really good players there,” Dyche said.

“Then there is that edge of worry, that eventually someone comes in who are way more powerful than us financially and start pushing the boundaries but it’s not something that’s new to me.”