Mauricio Pochettino envisages a deeper role for Everton’s Ross Barkley at Tottenham and it makes a lot more sense.
Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has a plan for how he can fit Everton’s Ross Barkley into his system – play the England international in central midfield.
This is according to a report from the Times, which states that Pochettino views Barkley as the ideal successor to Mousa Dembele in the deeplying role – with the Argentine unsure the 30-year-old will be able to compete at the highest level for much longer.
Mousa Dembele of Tottenham.
For the Toffees the 23-year-old is used to a much more advanced role, although it is not unusual for him to play slightly deeper; admittedly usually in a three-man central midfield, though.
That extra man allows Barkley’s lack of discipline in the position to be less obvious, with more defensively-minded players adjusting to compensate for the more attack-conscious England international.
At Spurs, Pochettino utilises a two-man central midfield currently, with Dembele and Victor Wanyama working in perfect unison to break up the play and then distributing it efficiently.
Barkley has the second part of that in his arsenal already and there are few better tactical coaches than the Tottenham boss to mould the Englishman into what he wants to succeed in the other part.
The burgeoning success of Dele Alli and Eric Dier in particular has largely been down to Pochettino’s ability to envision different roles for the two that is perhaps not obvious to most.
Plus, with Barkley playing deeper it takes away the burning question of how he could oust Alli, Christian Eriksen and even Son Heung-min and the returning Erik Lamela from an attacking midfield role. Further back there are more potential opportunities with Dembele, Wanyama and youngster Harry Winks the only options.
Everton’s English midfielder Ross Barkley (R) takes a shot as Arsenal’s Spanish defender Hector Bellerin (L) defends.
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