Aston Villa podcaster Neil Dunworth has been sharing his thoughts on Villa midfielder Ross Barkley and his current run of form for the club.
This comes after Dunworth recently made an appearance on the latest episode of The Villa View Podcast where he reflected on the recent 0-0 draw between Villa and Wolves.
On the subject of Barkley, who came on as a substitute during the second half of the game against Nuno Espirito Santo’s side, Dunworth had this to say about him and his cameo appearance.
He said: “I know there already is on social media a big discussion about Ross Barkley, but he looks two yards slower than he did at the start of the year, he tries to do this turn when he gets the ball and he has his back to a defender or to a midfielder – he tries to do this little pivot around him and he looks like he can’t control his feet when he does it.
“There’s a serious lack of confidence in his own ability for Ross Barkley at the moment.”
Barkley signed to Villa on a season-long loan deal from fellow Premier League side Chelsea earlier on in the current season.
Since arriving at Villa Park, the 27-year-old, who is currently valued at £19.35 million, has made 16 appearances for Dean Smith’s side in which he has managed to score three goals and provide one assist in a Villa shirt (per Transfermarkt).
TIF Thoughts on Neil Dunworth’s comments on Barkley…
Given how Barkley failed to have a shot at goal and only managed to make one key pass (per WhoScored) for Villa when he came on against Wolves, it’s safe to say he didn’t have too much of an impact when he had the opportunity to do so.
Do you think Barkley has lost his confidence?
Yes
No
Moving forward, Smith will have to find a way to get Barkley’s confidence back up so he can start performing for the team again.
In our view, with Barkley not having started a game for Villa since their 2-1 defeat against Leicester City last month, the Englishman should be given the opportunity to start a game from the beginning again instead of coming on as a substitute to see if he can turn his form around before his spell at Villa Park comes to an end.