Chelsea: Ross Barkley capitalizes on good formation and poor opponent

Ross Barkley had an assist and two goals in the first 32 minutes of England’s Euro 2020 qualifier against Bulgaria. Chelsea can do better to set Barkley up for success, but Barkley must be able to deliver against better teams than this.

After a day of speculation that Mason Mount would have his first start for England against Bulgaria, Ross Barkley ended up being the only Chelsea player in Gareth Southgate’s starting XI. Mount replaced Barkley in the 73′ with the game at 5-0, as Barkley assisted the opener and scored the next two to set England firmly in command well before the first half ended.

Southgate set up in a 4-3-3, with Barkley playing on the left side of the midfield, but Barkley spent most of the game right between Marcus Rashford and Harry Kane on the forward line. Considering how deep Bulgaria defended and how high England maintained their defensive line for minutes at a time, it hardly even makes sense to acknowledge the full-backs as defenders. The Three Lions were in 2-4-4 most of the game.

This position worked much better for Barkley than his different, underwhelming roles at Chelsea over the last month. Barkley and Rashford combined well on one-two’s in the box, and their combined movements on and off the ball gave England good penetration of Bulgaria’s low block. If one of the two went around the back, the other would make a run through the defensive line. Ben Chilwell and Harry Winks were the main set-up men for Barkley and Rashford, and Harry Kane regularly dropped deep into a supporting role for the other three forward.

Barkley’s presence close against the opponent’s defensive line minimized his tendency to over-dribble or take ill-advised shots from range. His movement and shot selection resembled his best season at Everton – when he played right wing – more than his various stints around midfield.

The more Chelsea can bring Barkley into these higher positions, the better chance they will have of making him a productive part of the offence. Barkley has shown good willingness to drop deep from the No. 8 positions to retrieve the ball and bring it over midfield, but by the time he reaches the final third he either runs out of ideas or is too locked on the goal to bring his teammates into the play productively.

England had Winks and Jordan Henderson to bring the ball up the few times Bulgaria could get it out, and this allowed Barkley to make more incisive runs into the box. His interplay with Marcus Rashford is what Chelsea should strive to have him develop with Callum Hudson-Odoi.

However, Chelsea’s current structure is designed more for Mason Mount’s style of play than Ross Barkley’s, and with good reason. Even if they are subbed off for the other with club and country, they should not be viewed as interchangeable.

Barkley could, though, be a solid impact substitute for Mount by putting just enough of a twist on the run of play – combined with his physical abilities up against a fatigued opponent – to score late goals.

The more important factor, though, is to consider the opposition. Barkley’s showing against Bulgaria is hardly indicative of what he can do for Chelsea against Premier League or Champions League opponents. Even though the 6-0 scoreline was only the second-most embarrassing thing about Bulgaria on Monday night, we should not read too much into Barkley’s performance other than to say that if he could not put on a show and a stats sheet like this, he would have little chance of displacing Mount or anyone else from Lampard’s lineup.

Gareth Southgate’s formation and the opposition both worked strongly in Ross Barkley’s favour. Barkley cannot expect such a confluence to come his way at Stamford Bridge any time soon.

With whatever chances he has coming up he has to show that he can at least do this against midtable teams in England.