Everton boss Roberto Martinez has a choice to make in replacing Gareth BarryDarron Gibson is similar sort of player while Muhamed Besic can also help fill that void
He is Everton FC’s metronome – the ever dependable virtuoso who keeps them ticking over and glides through games gilding every intervention with class and nous.
If there was one player Everton could really ill afford to lose, it was Gareth Barry .
Cue Jordi Gomez’s awful tackle on Sunday, and the sight of the 33-year-old linchpin rolling about the Stadium of Light pitch in agony.
Barry is old-school. Unless he’s really hurt, the former England international is the type to get back up and run it off.
It quickly became clear that wasn’t an option.
Already nursing an ankle problem he suffered during the Lille game, not to mention a bad gash down the front of his shin, Barry had soldiered on in Wearside. It shows how important he is to the Blue cause that Martinez decided to risk him.
It’s been that sort of season for Everton so far. Ross Barkley, John Stones, Kevin Mirallas, Seamus Coleman, Antolin Alcaraz…influential performers have been dropping like flies.
It’s not yet clear how long the Toffees will have to do without Barry.
The man they signed on a three-year-deal in the summer has a good track record of fitness at Goodison, but his ankle is currently too swollen for Finch Farm medics to be able to ascertain the length of his lay-off.
There is no bone break, as first feared in the North East, but there is ligament damage. His absence will be a matter of weeks rather than months say the club based on the early medical advice.
So how can they cope? Who will fill arguably the biggest pair of boots in the dressing room?
At least there are options.
Darron Gibson is the nearest thing Martinez has to a like-for-like replacement, and the Republic of Ireland international is just over his own long injury lay-off. Like Barry he has a good range of passing, coolness in possession, and a schemer’s brain.
Gibson looked decidedly rusty on Sunday, especially when he dawdled on the ball in his own area and nearly cost a goal. But he also contributed some smart distribution and will get sharper as his match fitness improves, provided that he can avoid further injuries of the sort which have plagued him so far.
It’s key that whoever comes into the side alongside James McCarthy, quickly develops something as close to the telepathic relationship he has with Barry as possible.
The fans’ choice might well be Muhamed Besic. The Bosnian has impressed since joining in the summer, and has what it takes to become a Goodison cult hero.
Martinez may well prefer an axis of experience and youth in the heart of his 4-2-3-1; bear in mind that McCarthy only turned 24 today.
But if he decided to give Besic a chance there would be plenty of support. His bright, dynamic and confident displays to date have endeared him. Besic is an under-rated passer too, and could flourish under the remit of starting the play like Barry.
The 21-year-old is more likely to feature if Martinez plays a 4-3-3 system, but Martinez might spend the limited time he has with Besic during the international break tutoring him into how to play in a pair just in front of the defence. We will see.
Whatever the short-term solution, it won’t be ideal. Barry is too important not to be sorely missed.
Let’s hope he has exceptionally fast healing ankles.
Source: Echo
