5 Christmas gifts Everton fans deserve this year

#1 Confidence for Ross

Any and every Everton fan will fondly remember the days when Ross Barkley was a bright youngster brimming with confidence.  Just more than a year ago, Barkley was the toast of Merseyside having enjoyed a wonderful breakout season on his way to 8 goals and 8 assists.

What has befallen the Englishman is tragic for the fortunes of Everton as he has quickly fallen from the good graces of Koeman.  Not only that, but Barkley has recently been struggling to remain in the England squad, an unthinkable selection problem just one year ago.

Barkley seemed to have the world at his hands and the rest of the Everton attacking group was all the better for it, having easy chances set up at every turn.  Across the board Barkley has been less influential, completing eight fewer passes per match and more importantly attempting those mazy runs far less (down to 1.1 dribbles per match this season from 3.1 a year ago according to whoscored.com.

You could say the fault can be found in Koeman’s system emphasizing ball possession much less than Martinez, but the fact still remains that Barkley just looks like a different player.  A year ago he was never afraid to take the ball at the top of the box, beat his mark and snap off a quick shot before a new defender could step up.  Now you can see the thought bubble churning through options on his way to yet another disappointing result, more often than not a misplaced final pass or a blocked shot.

The gift for fans this season is that Barkley would just regain a fraction of that former confidence. Lukaku can’t continue to carry the scoring load himself and with Barkley regaining his form, the loss of Yannick Bolasie hurts less.