West Ham United vice-chairman Karren Brady has praised Everton midfielder Ross Barkley.
West Ham United vice-chairman Karren Brady has told The Sun that she thinks that Ross Barkley is too good to be left out of the England squad.
Barkley, 22, entered the season as one of English football’s top talents despite failing to even get on the pitch for his country at Euro 2016, and many expected a big season for him under new Everton boss Ronald Koeman.
Everton’s Ross Barkley in action with Chelsea’s David Luiz
With a goal and an assist in his first two games of the season, Barkley looked like he was finding more consistency, but he was taken off at half time against Sunderland in September, and has been in and out of the side ever since.
The England squad to face Scotland and Spain was announced on Sunday, and for the first time in a row, Barkley was left out completely as his start of the season has cost him his place in the Three Lions squad.
There’s no doubting Barkley’s quality, but he needs to become more consistent, and we saw just how good he can be against West Ham last month, scoring the second goal in a 2-0 win for Everton and impressing throughout.
Everton manager Ronald Koeman with Everton’s Ross Barkley after he is substituted
That wasn’t enough to earn an international call-up from Gareth Southgate, but he has earned praise from West Ham United’s vice-chairman Karren Brady.
Brady told The Sun that he thinks Barkley has been made to work harder by manager Koeman, and is simply too good to be left out of the England squad based on his performance against her West Ham side.
Brady added that Barkley must now perform every week to realise his potential, though she joked that he hopes he doesn’t excel against West Ham in the future.
Everton’s Ross Barkley
“Ronald Koeman has made it clear to Ross Barkley that he has to work his passage,” said Brady. “It’s the lesson even the best young players have to learn, and especially them because carelessness is an unnecessary blight on the richest talent.”
“I’ve seen some who never learned and the cost in points was so excessive the manager felt they had to leave them out. Although only 22, Everton star Barkley is too good to be left out of the England squad and put in a performance that helped undermine my team at Goodison Park. Now he must do this every week to realise his potential — but not against West Ham!” she added.
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