Gareth Barry has admitted Everton FC must win the Europa League to guarantee a return to Europe next season.The Toffees are currently 12th in the Premier League and 18 points of fifth-placed Southampton, with 12 games remaining of what has become a difficult domestic campaign.
Roberto Martinez’s men face Young Boys at Goodison tomorrow with a strong chance of progressing to the Europa League’s last 16 after winning 4-1 in Berne last week.
And midfielder Barry, 34, knows that only going all the way to victory in May’s Warsaw final will enable Everton to continue their European adventures in the 2015/16 season; via the considerable reward of a place in the Champions League.
Addressing the media before tomorrow’s round of 32 second leg, the veteran said: “Realistically the best hope we’ve got is to go on and win this competition. That was always the target from the outset - to go on and win it. Then if you win it you get into the Champions League so it’s a massive target for us.
“At the same time we still want to go back and finish well in the league.
“I think we’ve shown we’re more than capable of going all the way. We’ve proven we can compete against the best in Europe and in games against the top English teams on our day we can beat anyone. There’s no reason we cant go all the way.”
Barry admitted he cannot fathom why the Blues have struggled to match their impressive European form in the league.
“It’s tough to put your finger on anything,” he said. “If you look at our performances it does seem as if in the European campaign we’ve been able to get away from our problems in the Premier league There’s no pressure on us and were able to perform. But in the Premier League we’ve been unable to get a consistent run of games and build that confidence level up to where we were in the previous campaign.
“Also we’re still hopeful that if we can perform in the Europa we can transfer it to the last 12 games in the Premier League.
“Everyone knows its about winning games and getting results and our points total is not what we wanted it to be. But there are still plenty of games left and we want to go on a great run and finish as high up the league as possible.
"Ross just needs to relax in front of home crowd " - Barry's advice to Everton team-mate
Ross Barkley’s fortunes have mirrored that of the club; with a strong display in the Swiss capital last week followed by an underwhelming performance during Sunday’s 2-2 draw with rock-bottom Leicester City.
But midfield colleague Barry has urged his team-mate to relax, and says his quality will then shine through.
“Ross is still really young and people seem to forget that,” he said. “He had a fantastic season last year. The big test for a player is to go on performing at that level week in week out ,season after season. No player can consistently do that. He still has a big learning curve.
“His performance away against Young Boys last week was tremendous.
“He was like the team really - he performed at a different level than he did at home,
“At home in front of his our own fans he probably just needs to relax a bit more, not worry about anything and his ability will come through.”
Pressed on the same theme, an indignant Martinez was quick to defend his players.
“There has been a lot of cheap talk from the outside; a lot of talk about Romelu Lukaku, Ross Barkley - there’s been a lot of talk about our form,” he said.
“We just accept that and focus on winning matches and enjoying our football. Ross is one of the best European talents and you need to find a way to be consistent because you will get opposition sides who will man mark him.
"As a team we can take advantage. If you have two players marking him we can have a man spare.
“We’re focused on the game tomorrow and we’re enjoying being in Europe. It’s a unique opportunity to get into last 16. Theres been a lot of talk about the scoreline last week but this is another game and another 90 minutes.
“Young Boys were outstanding at the weekend against Basel and were looking forward now to playing in front of our fans at Goodison and another European night.”
By Greg O’Keeffe, Liverpool Echo
