Aston Villa journalist Gregg Evans has been sharing his criticism for Villa midfielder Ross Barkley after his latest appearance for the Midlands club in their recent 2-1 defeat against Manchester City in the Premier League.
This comes after Evans recently made an appearance on the latest episode of The Athletic’s Villa-themed 1874 podcast where he spoke about a number of topics concerning Dean Smith’s side.
On the subject of Barkley, who came on as a substitute during the second half of the game against Pep Guardiola’s side, Evans had this to say about the player.
He said: “He doesn’t do enough for me now. I’ve seen enough of Ross Barkley now to realise that he’s becoming a bit of a liability for Villa.
“He’s not helping out enough as he should, really. Whether that’s impacting on John McGinn, I don’t know.”
Villa signed Barkley on a loan deal from fellow Premier League club Chelsea back in September until the end of the season.
Since joining the Villans, the 27-year-old, who is currently valued at £18 million, has made 20 Premier League appearances for the club, scoring three goals and providing one assist in the process (per Transfermarkt).
TIF Thoughts on Gregg Evans’ comments on Barkley…
Looking at the City game in particular, Barkley was unable to help turn the game around for the home side as he ultimately earned himself an underwhelming match rating of 6.05/10, making him one of the lowest-rated players for Villa on the night (per WhoScored).
Have you had enough of Ross Barkley?
Yes
No
Given how Barkley hasn’t started a game since Villa’s 2-1 defeat against Leicester City back in February and the fact that he hasn’t managed to score a goal or provide an assist since January, it’s easy to see why Evans has had enough of the Englishman and that he sees him as a ‘liability’ for the team.
In our view, it’s a shame that Barkley’s season at Villa has fizzled out in the way it has considering he played 90 minutes in each of his first five league appearances for the club, scoring two goals and providing an assist during that time.
Moving forward, unless Barkley can have an impactful run of appearances for Villa until the end of the season, his chances of Villa wanting to keep hold of him beyond his current loan deal seem slim.
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