Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has praised Ross Barkley for reviving his career at the club and says the midfielder is currently ‘tactically’ ahead of Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Barkley, who will face his old club Everton at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, had a difficult start to life in London after his January transfer but found his best form under Sarri.
‘In the first month he was in trouble,’ said Sarri. ‘Then he started to improve in every training, in every match. He is a complete player. He has physical qualities. He is fast.
'Technically he’s very good, good with left and right foot. I think he’s on the way to becoming a very important midfielder, not only in England.’
Barkley played alongside Loftus-Cheek in the 1-0 win over BATE Borisov on Thursday night but Sarri said: ‘We played Loftus and Barkley together, two very offensive midfielders. It’s not easy for me and I think it’s not very easy for them.
‘Barkley at the moment from a tactical point of view is a step ahead of Loftus.’
courtlow
194
Ruben is younger but on a steep learning curve. If he too works hard, focusses on the important things in the game and keeps humble, he'll get there. He's got bags of natural talent. He now needs to make sure he matches that with the right attitude.
Nesaiknruy_Legend
190
He has done well but he needs to develop consistency. This is the problem with all our players but Kante, Kovacic and Jorginho. We have essentially a team of 11 world beaters at their best. However the problem is that there are 8 players in our line up alone that are so inconsistent. That includes Hazard as he's also had a a lot of off games... Ross is one of the worst cases along with Ruben and Christensen. These 3 in particular can either give you a 10/10 or a 3/10 performance. And with all due respect Ruben and Christensen give a hell of a load of 4/10 performances where once in a while we see Barkley give a 6/10 at least. I hope this makes sense. Our squad have all got exceptional abilities but they're hindered by things mostly mental. Nearly everyone in there has a prem title before so there are clearly good players there.....