One of the stories not so well known about Ross Barkley is that he started as a centre-half. That was his position for Ash Celtic when he was playing junior football in Liverpool and it was where he played for Broadgreen school, wearing a No6 shirt with “Rossi” on the back, on the day they won the 2008 Echo Cup at Anfield and Rafael Benítez presented him with the trophy.
Barkley still has the photographs at home and, even at the age of 14, they are not just notable for the way he makes his opponents look Lilliputian but also the fact he had a couple of inches on Benítez. The player he modelled himself on was Rio Ferdinand because he liked the way a footballer in that position could be so graceful on the ball. Then one day everything changed and he was told his days as a defender were over. “Because I was constantly running out with the ball from the back,” Barkley recalls, with a wry smile.
The decision was made by Neil Dewsnip, once Steven Gerrard’s PE teacher at Cardinal Heenan school before 17 years on the staff at Everton and now a part of the Football Association’s technical team for the country’s best 17- to 21-year-olds. Barkley was switched to midfield and what a shrewd piece of foresight that now looks judging by Xavi Hernández’s comments earlier this week that Barkley would not look out of place at Barcelona and that moment when Roy Hodgson brought up the G-word. “In terms of being able to run with the ball, with pace and power, you could compare him to Paul Gascoigne,” the England manager said. “Once Gascoigne set off and went by people, they didn’t catch him. Ross Barkley is the same.”
The new Gazza? Let’s hope Barkley can just make his own name without the permanent need for comparisons. He has watched a few clips of Gascoigne playing for Everton but it’s a reminder of his age that he does not really know much about Italia 90 and all that. “I was only, like, three when he was playing,” he reminds us.
This is his first time before the England press and it is funny how these occasions can affect players who otherwise bristle with confidence. Wayne Rooney was so flustered before his first media event at Goodison he tried to take a swig direct from the water bottle (“pour it in the glass, Wayne,” David Moyes whispered). Barkley is more composed but obviously nervous, with his arms folded and his stiff body language made all the more apparent by Leighton Baines being there to chaperone him – legs crossed, chilled out, perfectly happy 90% of the questions will be for his younger colleague.
Barkley has done his preparation, though. A few weeks ago, he was at the back of the room when Gary Neville had a session with the media. Before the World Cup, he sat quietly in the shadows when it was Steven Gerrard’s turn. There is a lot to take in. But he is getting used to everything happening so quickly. “A year or two ago I was playing reserve football,” he says.
“I’ve gone from that to the World Cup, being around the likes of Bainesy, Stevie G, Lamps, knowing it’s not a kids’ game any more. I’ve had to learn very quickly. When I was younger I just used to get the ball and take on all the players because I was bigger and stronger. You cannot do that in the Premier League. You are playing against men. I’ve still got a lot to learn.”
He is an avid learner and one of the things Baines notes afterwards is how dedicated the 20-year-old is to improving himself. Yet it has not been straightforward. Moyes will say Barkley, at youth-team level, was the closest he had ever seen to Norman Whiteside. He was strong, fast and skilful, with brilliant stamina and, more than anything, absolutely fearless in his tackling. Then, while playing for England Under-19s in a European Championship qualifier in Belgium in 2010, Barkley went into a challenge from which he did not get up. His leg was broken in three places. “I was only 16,” he says. “And I think it did affect me when I came back. I did well initially and made my debut but, after that, I struggled for a bit, just getting my confidence back to get my leg in, tackling-wise.”
This is a part of his career where he feels indebted to Moyes. “He helped me a lot. I remember I was recovering at home after my operation and he came around to my house, which he didn’t need to, to speak to my mum and reassure me everything was going to be OK. He told me that as soon as I was back he was going to push me to try to get me into the team.”
Yet the coaching staff at Everton did worry for a while that Barkley had lost his courage. He had loan spells at Leeds United and Sheffield Wednesday but was sent back early both times. Barkley insists they were still worthwhile. “It was when I came back from Leeds that things started to change. I went from being a kid to having to man up and going into a man’s game.”
With England, there is another reminder of his youthfulness when he thinks ahead to the Slovenia and Scotland games and talks about being grateful “there is other young talent in the squad, and knowing there are other lads around my age for me to mix with”.
Rooney has clearly been a big influence. “He’s helped me a lot, whenever I’ve needed any advice. He’s been telling me recently that when the wingers have the ball I have to get in the box – not just be on the edge of the box – because with my movement I will get loads of goals that way. I’m working on that at Everton and working on it here as well.”
Later, he names Gerrard, Lampard and Paul Scholes and talks about wanting to develop their habit of controlling games. It is not the first time he has mentioned learning from others and, in the next seat, Baines is nodding with approval. “What’s interesting for me is to sit here, listen to him talk and hear that he’s still looking to add things to his game,” England’s left-back says. “He’s a thinker, a young, exciting player with lots of raw ability but you can hear from his answers that he’s thinking about how to add to his game.
“If anything, he has the natural ability of the people he mentioned. You don’t often see players like him, with his power, someone who is so big, so physically strong and quick, but who can move his feet and have his agility. But he’s right in saying there are still things he can learn from those players. He’s thinking about the other things, slowing things down, making the right decisions in the right areas, and we are seeing that already. It would be different perhaps if he wasn’t showing the intent to learn. But he is.”
Barkley, for instance, did not take offence after standing out in England’s pre-World Cup friendlies in Miami only for Hodgson to criticise him for trying to beat opponents and losing the ball. “I’m the type of player who takes risks, so every now and then I’m going to give the ball away. I just have to learn not to do it in silly areas of the pitch.”
Hodgson, it turns out, can see similarities with the most gifted English player of his generation. Barkley is certainly quieter than Gascoigne and the England manager was almost apologetic after it popped out of his mouth.
The similarities, however, are obvious. “I’m not scared when I’m on the pitch,” Barkley says. “I don’t see anything to scare me. I’m just a young lad who grew up hoping to play in a World Cup for England – and I did. Hopefully, there will be more in the future as well.”
