Thierry Henry column: Everton’s Ross Barkley must turn Ronald Koeman’s criticism into a positive the way I did when Edgar Davids slated me
Arsenal legend Henry looks back to his time as a youngster at Juventus and tells Barkley how he can use Koeman's criticism to kick on
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I WAS 21 and sitting in the Juventus changing room when Edgar Davids came in and told me in no-nonsense language where I had gone wrong in the match we had just played.
Edgar was four years older than me and a legend. I looked up to him.
So when he gave me a rollicking me and told me I had not been good enough, it was hard to take.
But did I sulk? No. For me, it was a way to get better.
I wanted to learn. It was useful.
I love Edgar. But if you didn’t play well, he would tell you. Straight and to your face, honest and direct.
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Five minutes later it was ‘let’s go for a meal’. But if you stay with it, it eats you up. It is then difficult to learn from it and move forward.
Edgar had a major impact on my career and helped me so much during my time at Juve.
It is also the Dutch way. I played with a lot of Dutch players down the years: Marc Overmars, Dennis Bergkamp, Giovanni van Bronckhorst and many more.
They pull no punches. But they are not trying to have a go at you. I like it.
People who are offended by it have to understand it is their culture. In some cultures there are no excuses.
The reason I mention this? Two words: Ronald Koeman.
The Everton manager, whose team take on Manchester United today, has been critical of Ross Barkley — among others — this season.
And it has caused a few raised eyebrows — although I do not think it should.
When a manager praises a player it is accepted as good: “Wow, what a guy, they really get on!”
But when he is critical it is seen as harsh.
It is not that black and white for me. Criticism doesn’t have to be negative, it can be positive, it can be inspirational.
I reacted much better to a rollicking than I did to praise. If it was public it didn’t bother me.
Yes, it’s not nice to hear but I used it as a way to motivate me.
The best response is to show people they are wrong — in the long term. And to remember that they are usually trying to help.
For Koeman it’s a tactic, a way to spark a reaction from Barkley.
There is no doubt he likes him, he has played him in every position across the midfield — No 10, out wide, holding midfield.
If he didn’t like him, he wouldn’t play him. And he certainly wouldn’t talk about him.
The time to worry is when you are NOT being talked about!
Anyway, what can Barkley do? He has no choice: Ronald is his boss. His only choice: Play well!
On to the game and Koeman and Jose Mourinho need to be careful. It is massive for both coaches.
United have one victory in seven in the league while Everton have won one in eight.
Against Chelsea, United deserved to get battered but recently they look creative again but have just been missing chances. I say ‘just’.
That is their fault. Don’t cry for them. The game is about putting it in the net.
Under Alex Ferguson, they never used to let a team off the hook. And on Wednesday against West Ham they finally found their scoring touch. If they keep that up it will be a tough day for Everton.
But at some point Everton will bite back.
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Everyone thought Arsenal would kill Koeman’s Southampton last season and Saints won 4-0!
It is often against the ‘big’ teams that a poor run can be stopped.
Defeat will be a killer for either though. If United lose, that gap to Arsenal and Tottenham will get worryingly big.
For Everton, they must stop the rot.
Maybe it is time for Koeman to make a change. We know from last season at Southampton that he is not scared to mix it up if his side is on a bad run.
He dropped striker Graziano Pelle and brought in Shane Long towards the end of last season and Saints finished strongly.
Not that I’d drop Romelu Lukaku! He is key to Everton.
But Koeman is a clever manager. When I was at Barcelona he was manager of Valencia and beat us in the Copa del Rey semi-final across two legs in 2008.
We had a pretty good team then so it’s a decent achievement. Mind you, so did he with Juan Mata, David Silva and David Villa in the ranks.
Last season he led Southampton into Europe as they achieved their best Premier League points tally.
So Everton fans need to be patient. It is a great club, amazing fans and, of course, they want to be up there with Liverpool and City, to challenge for the league.
But so do a lot of teams. So do Arsenal. It isn’t easy to win the league!
If you told me my old club would go 13 years without winning it, I would have said ‘are you mad?’ But Leicester proved it is possible.
Now that is Ronald’s job: To make Everton contenders.
And if he’s not doing well, he won’t mind being told.