The Technical Area – Assessing Barkley’s Opening Displays

Just a couple of matches into the new season, Ross Barkley has already equalled last term’s two-goal haul after finding the net against Watford and Southampton. With an assist also thrown in, the Everton playmaker sits third amongst midfielders in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) with 20 points accrued.

After playing a leading role in the Toffees 3-0 win at St Mary’s on Saturday, Everton manager Roberto Martinez heaped praise on the England international:

“Even when things are not coming off, Ross still wants the ball. I think that’s quite unique… The bravery that Ross has is that he will show for the ball from any angle, he’ll want it, he’ll try to be positive and make things happen for the team. When he gets in the box, when he controls the situation, that is the sign of an incredible footballer.”

Barkley has been subject to significant investment across the Fantasy games over the last few days and has already risen to 6.6 in FPL. With that in mind, we cast an eye over his displays so far for signs of improvement, comparing him to team-mates and fellow midfielders in the opening couple of fixtures.

Involvement and Creativity
In terms of Barkley’s position, he has lined up in the “number ten” role in Martinez’ preferred 4-2-3-1 formation in the opening couple of matches. Last term, the young Evertonian played in that position in 14 of his 29 appearances, playing seven times on the left flank, while he was also utilised in a deeper central midfield role on five occasions. Of his two goals and two assists in 2014/15, half of those came playing in the central attacking midfield position, suggesting he’s at his most dangerous as a Fantasy asset when Martinez hands him the central support berth behind Romelu Lukaku.

As we can see, Martinez is clearly keen for Barkley to see as much of the ball as possible in the final third – his 62 touches are more than any Everton player. Lukaku has received more passes in this area (42), though, with the midfielder next in line on 39. Barkley’s ability to take on an opponent has seen him make ten dribbles; a tally greater than any team-mate.

Barkley’s total of 62 touches in the final third is identical to United’s Memphis Depay, for example, whilst the 39 passes received in that area is more than Depay (36), Philippe Coutinho (38) and Dimitri Payet (34). Despite being stationed centrally, his ten dribbles is on a par with Leicester’s Riyad Mahrez and superior to the likes of Payet, Raheem Sterling and Sadio Mane, on nine apiece.

Although he’s at the hub of Everton’s play, Barkley’s creativity has been in low supply for the Toffees. Martinez’ men have averaged 55.9% possession – the fifth highest in the league so far – yet their playmaker has mustered a mere two key passes, teeing up a team-mate every 95.5 minutes. Far from impressive, granted, but still only second to Tom Cleverley’s four for the Merseysiders, equal with the likes of Andre Ayew and just one less than Juan Mata.

Although his frequency of key passes is significantly down from last term’s 62.6, it’s almost identical to Barkley’s average of 96.2 in 2013/14, where, as we’ll see, he offered much more of an offensive threat in the final third.

Goal Threat
Comparing Barkley’s statistics from last season to the two matches played so far in this campaign, there are some notable differences. Perhaps the most important is the fact he has played the full 90 minutes in both his appearances in 2015/16, whereas he averaged 71.2 minutes last term. While that would help explain a slight increase in the midfielder’s attacking statistics, it’s clear Barkley has made a significant leap forward this season in terms of goal threat.

The 21-year-old has averaged 3.5 goals attempts per match so far, compared to 1.8 last term, with the goal attempts from inside the box (up from 0.4 to 1.5) reflecting a similar improvement.

In terms of frequency of attempts, Barkley is averaging a shot on goal every 27.3 minutes, which is far quicker than last year’s 40.5 minutes, where he scored just twice. It is, however, far more similar to his 2013/14 stats once again, where he fired an effort every 30.4 minutes and found the net on six occasions.

Crucially, Barkley’s accuracy is significantly on the up. So far, 57.1% of his attempts have been on target, which is far superior to his stats from the previous two seasons of 24.1% and 25.5% respectively. The youngster’s lack of composure has cost him dearly in previous campaigns – he netted only 7.6% in 2013/14 and 3.9% of his efforts the following year but with his touches in the box also on the up (from 1.6 to 2.5 this year), there’s growing hope that he may finally be set for a breakout Fantasy season.

Amongst Everton’s options, Barkley leads the way for attempts (seven, with Romelu Lukaku next best on five) and efforts on target (four, with Lukaku on three). When compared to other midfielders, he also holds his own. So far, only Leicester’s Mahrez has managed more shots on target (five), with Barkley’s figures very similar to Tottenham’s Christian Eriksen here – both have registered four efforts on target and three shots inside the area.

In terms of other midfielders in the mid-price bracket, Barkley has registered more goal attempts than the 6.6-rated Yohan Cabaye (seven to five) and the 7.1-valued Andre Ayew (seven to six), although the Swansea attacker has fired all six of his shots from inside the box and looks to offer a greater close-range threat.

With a price tag of 6.6 in FPL, those impressive shooting statistics alone make Barkley a viable contender for our five-man midfields, although the Toffees dire upcoming schedule (MCI, tot, CHE, swa, wba, LIV, MUN, ars) may mean it’s best to look elsewhere for now.

If Barkley can maintain this marked improvement, though, particularly in terms of shooting accuracy, the Everton midfielder will be ripe for investment when the Toffees schedule eases from Gameweek 11 onwards (SUN, whm, AVL, bou, CPL, nor, LEI).

*The Technical Area is put together using the statistics available in our members area. For access to such data and tools on every player, team and match of the 2015/16 season, and for exclusive members articles like this, click here for details.