Bags of talent, just needs a chance – Ross Barkley perfectly encapsulates this Chelsea team
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Published 08/08/2019 at 18:46 GMT
Injury-free and with a good pre-season under his belt, it looks as if the stars are aligning for Ross Barkley, who is the perfect metaphor for Chelsea ahead of the new season, writes Pete Sharland.
Ross Barkley of Chelsea waves to fans during the pre-season friendly match between RB Salzburg and FC Chelsea at Red Bull Arena on July 31, 2019 in Salzburg, Austria
Image credit: Getty Images
If you were going to pick a stand-out name during Frank Lampard’s first pre-season as manager of Chelsea you probably wouldn’t have picked Ross Barkley.
The former Evertonian hasn’t exactly enjoyed life in London since making the switch 18 months ago - Lampard is already his third Chelsea manager and he will likely be playing in a third different position.
However, in Lampard’s seemingly preferred 4-2-3-1 formation the No.10 position is Barkley’s natural home, and even though it can be rash to draw conclusions from pre-season you would figure he is going to get a good chance to lock down that position.
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Ross Barkley of Chelsea FC during the Club Friendly match between Borussia Monchengladbach v Chelsea at the Borussia Park on August 3, 2019 in Monchengladbach Germany
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Despite the series of devastating injuries Barkley has already had to endure in his fledgling career at no stage has the talent ever been in question.
Few players are able to combine the technical ability in both feet that Barkley has with his raw power and ability to drive past players.
It’s that unique skill-set that set Barkley apart form his peers at a young age and something that clearly made Chelsea believe in him when they brought him to Stamford Bridge from Everton.
The drawback to all that talent is that it has been difficult for Barkley to lock down a position in the last few seasons.
Initially under Antonio Conte he was deployed on the right of the front three before rotating in the third central midfielder slot with Mateo Kovacic under Maurizio Sarri.
Barkley won’t automatically walk into the No.10 role under Lampard (or indeed an attacking central midfield role when it is a 4-3-3), there will be tough competition from the returning Mason Mount as well as Ruben Loftus-Cheek when he’s back from injury.
Yet Barkley speaks for this entire Chelsea team, and is a prime example of why the transfer ban put in place is not the worst thing in the world.
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Chelsea's English midfielder Ross Barkley celebrates after scoring during a football friendly match between Spanish Liga team Barcelona and English Premier League club Chelsea in Saitama on July 23, 2019
Image credit: Getty Images
Of course the timing could have been better. It was hardly ideal that it came in a summer where Chelsea’s best player (Eden Hazard) left and two of their most promising young stars (Loftus-Cheek and Callum Hudson-Odoi) were both struck down by Achilles injuries.
But Chelsea have been relentlessly signing players to their first team, academy and loan army for over a decade now, if there was any club who should be in a position to cope with a ban such as this it has to be them.
Kurt Zouma, Reece James, Tammy Abraham and Mount all returned from loan moves this summer. Marco van Ginkel, Michy Batshuayi, Kenedy and Fikayo Tomori are all back as well.
Barkley and Kovacic are fit and have had more time to adjust to life at Stamford Bridge, there is more than enough in this squad for Frank Lampard and his coaching staff to be getting on with.
Chelsea's English midfielder Ross Barkley celebrates after scoring during a football friendly match between Spanish Liga team Barcelona and English Premier League club Chelsea in Saitama on July 23, 2019
Image credit: Getty Images
Now they have been given a chance, it certainly hasn’t happened as early as most Chelsea fans would have wanted, but we’re here now.
For what feels like decades, but in reality is probably just one, supporters at Stamford Bridge have been crying out for more of the homegrown talent to be given a chance. Those exciting youngsters who were signed only to be loaned out, the players who made a name for themselves through the academy, now it is their time.
Ironically Barkley doesn’t really fit either of those descriptions, yet no player perhaps signifies the current situation more than him. There is an abundance of talent within this Chelsea team that has been crying out to be given an opportunity. It’s now going to come, they have to seize it.
Barkley seems to understand that, telling the Chelsea website during pre-season just how important it is that players step up following the departure of Hazard with the freedom to be more creative that comes from Lampard.
“Eden was a great player but he is gone and he has new challenges now and we have to replace the goals and create chances, but I am sure we have that much quality in the squad to step up to the plate.
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Ross Barkley of Chelsea FC, coach Frank Lampard of Chelsea FC during the Club Friendly match between Borussia Monchengladbach v Chelsea at the Borussia Park on August 3, 2019 in Monchengladbach Germany
Image credit: Getty Images
“He [Lampard] says to express yourself on the pitch, take risks, don’t be too safe, to shoot and to try to take chances, which I can do, and he has brought the work ethic he used to have as a player into the squad now he is a manager and we have been working really hard.”
Perhaps Conte and Sarri were simply demanding too much of Barkley tactically, they were restricting him as a player and limiting his creative freedom. Lampard could be the perfect antidote to that, a manager who can take the shackles off Barkley, and allow him to trust his own judgement.
How Barkley and the rest of the Chelsea squad adjust to the increased responsibility on their shoulders will be pivotal to the Blues this season. It’s imperative they take it in their stride to ensure Chelsea stay competitive in the league, and to make sure Lampard doesn’t become part of the revolving door at Stamford Bridge.
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