With the latest set of pre-World Cup friendlies over and England having laboured to a win and a draw, one thing stood out – where was former Everton star and academy graduate Ross Barkley?
Given the lack of quality, creative midfield options available to England boss Gareth Southgate you might have thought that the ex-Everton play maker would have been included in the squad.
But of course Barkley has hardly played any football since his controversial £15 million move to Chelsea in January. After recovering from injury he has made virtually no impression since he swapped Merseyside for West London.
Barkley is a talented if at times inconsistent footballer but one who did appear to lose his way somewhat at Everton towards the end of his time at the club.
He appeared to have fallen out with former manager Ronald Koeman and wasn’t necessarily making the progress expected of him. A move away perhaps wasn’t the worst option for both the player and Everton.
The problem is of course that he has gone to a club that seems to be a sort of black hole for young talent, where it seems to get lost forever!
His situation further underlines the endemic waste of young English talent that is now a feature of the modern-day Premier League.
Another former Everton player to whom this happened is of course Jack Rodwell when he left Goodison Park for Manchester City.
Chelsea are probably the biggest culprits in this process. Every season they loan out a full squad load of players although not all are English of course.
But this season for example they have sent out on loan two talented young English players who starred for England last summer; Nathaniel Chalobah and Ruben Loftus-Cheek to Watford and Crystal Palace respectively.
Neither are it seems, going to be given the chance to develop their game at Chelsea and both will probably eventually either be sold permanently to another Premier League club or a side lower down the leagues.
It’s true that both players might have failed to go on and fulfil their early promise but this process seems to happen far too often.
Another example of this trend is what has happened to Marcus Rashford at Manchester United. His career is in danger of stalling as he continues to be marginalised while United bring in one star forward after another.
Again for him it might be better to move away from Old Trafford to try to find regular starting place and develop his obvious potential. Personally I’d love to see Rashford come to Everton.
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To be honest I would rather Everton win the Premier League than England win an international prize, but ideally I still would like to see a competitive and successful national team as well.
And international football can though benefit the development of young players. It’s become a little fashionable to decry the international game as a distraction and a throwback to a bygone time.
In an era of mega-rich players, fixture pile-ups and with the hype and glamour of the Champions League, the international game seems increasingly less relevant to the top players and their clubs, who worry about injuries on international duty.
However I think that exposure to international football can be a good learning curve for these younger players. The tactical and technical demands placed on them help improve their game, especially if they don’t have the chance to play regularly in European competition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMNTUF5zsA8
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Getting back to Barkley and Everton, his situation is a stark reminder of what happens to so many young English players when they are tempted by high-profile moves to more glamorous clubs.