HODGSON’S CHOICE
Barkley winning over Roy at last
THERE was a groundswell of enthusiasm for the youngster. Comparisons were made with Paul Gascoigne. A place in the World Cup starting XI beckoned. And then Roy Hodgson seemed to damn Ross Barkley’s eye-catching performance in a World Cup warm-up match against Ecuador in Miami in 2014 with the faintest of praise.
‘He lost the ball an awful lot of times as well,’ said Hodgson as the momentum gathered to hail the young star. ‘If he’s going to be the player we want him to be, he has to make better decisions of when he turns with the ball.
‘That’s not a criticism, but there were other performances out there which merited your obsession more than Ross Barkley’s.’
Reminded of that moment on Friday night, after Barkley had produced another, even better display for England, Hodgson remained unmoved at his churlishness back then.
‘I am not a fan of hype,’ he said. Indeed he is a man who would recoil at the thought of making a simplistic soundbite, however much easier it might make his life.
As it was Barkley did play a role in that dismal World Cup campaign, coming on as a sub just after the hour mark against Italy and Uruguay and then starting when all was lost against Costa Rica.
But on Friday Hodgson was in a more expansive mood than in Miami. The 21year-old Barkley is now performing consistently for Everton.
For those who saw him as the future of England over a year ago, Hodgson might point to Barkley’s last season with Everton, when he scored two goals and rarely looked at ease.
In the game against Ecuador Barkley had also been given some specific defensive instructions which he struggled to carry out. Though Hodgson didn’t spell it out at the time, that was the reason for his caution, not any inherent distrust of his talent.
Friday’s performance against Estonia, though not without its mistakes, was the latest example of Barkley’s recent improvement.
He has scored four goals for club and country this season and now has a consistent run at No 10 for Everton.
‘He is maturing and getting better all the time,’ said Hodgson (right). ‘He was 18 when he came to us. Dele Alli is another example. At 18, 19 you’re just starting on a career.
‘Obviously a coach, myself in this case, has seen something special in you but I don’t like players to get carried away, I like them to keep their feet on the ground.
‘To be fair to Ross he has never shown signs of getting carried away. He is a very serious professional who wants to work at his game. I am sure at Everton he has received a lot of good advice from Roberto Martinez, which he has taken on board. Football at the highest level is about decision-making.
‘What you want your talented players, like Ross and Raheem Sterling, to do is choose the good moments when they put the ball at risk and try things, and the moments when really it is doomed to failure, so they keep hold of the ball. ‘I thought his decision-making was very good against Estonia and maybe that was something to do with his being made man of the match because he was certainly good at the other aspect of his game, in terms of taking people on and going past them. ‘We knew we would need that because we were going to play against a compact team, an organised team and quite an experienced team.
‘We knew we would need to be patient, persistent. Passing the ball in front of them would not win us the game, what would win us the game is people being prepared to go beyond them both with and without the ball and in Raheem and Ross we had two people who would go beyond them with the ball.’
But if it seems as though Euro 2016 might be the time for Barkley to shine, Hodgson remains cautious.
‘It’s competition for places. When we played Slovenia we had Jordan Henderson, Fabian Delph and Jack Wilshere. Against Estonia we have James Milner, Adam Lallana and Ross Barkley. Outside that there is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and injured players like Michael Carrick and Ryan Mason.
‘It is a question of fighting your way in and forcing the coaches to give you a chance both because of your performances with your club and in training like Ross has done. And when the chance comes along take it so people say good things about you.’
Barkley will surely retain his place against Lithuania but the bigger question is whether he will get the chance to play against France and Spain in the November friendly matches. Lining up against the likes of Sergio Busquets, Santi Cazorla, a rejuvenated Lassana Diarra and Blaise Matuidi, when space is limited and decisionmaking even more crucial, will tell Hodgson more about his England credentials.
Hopefully he will get his chance. Slowly, surely he is earning it.