5 England players with a point to prove after the international break

#5 Ross Barkley

Ross Barkley flattered to deceive for England against Bulgaria and Kosovo

While England’s defence has come under criticism for its performance against Kosovo, which saw the Three Lions concede three sloppy goals, perhaps no player has come under more fire for his performances over these two recent games than Chelsea midfielder Ross Barkley.

Despite not starting the season too strongly, Barkley was selected as England’s playmaker against both Bulgaria and Kosovo, and to say he flattered to deceive would be an understatement.

Simply put, Barkley was too much of a peripheral figure to really make an impact on either game; he played some nice passes and did win England a penalty against Kosovo, but largely went missing for swathes of both games, and with James Maddison and Mason Mount both hot on his heels for the starting spot as the playmaker in the midfield trio, he essentially failed to stake his claim strongly.

That’s why it’s so important for him to perform well when he returns to Chelsea this weekend. Southgate clearly likes his talents, and to be fair he did play excellently in England’s March qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Montenegro. But Chelsea boss Frank Lampard hasn’t quite seemed convinced just yet and has preferred Mount as his playmaker thus far.

Even if Barkley isn’t played in the same position as he’s featured for England, if he wants to really cement his spot in Southgate’s side he needs to be more consistent for Chelsea over the next few weeks. He arguably has more of a point to prove than anyone else simply because his place seems so at risk.