1) Have Barkley’s best years gone to waste?
Chelsea’s Abramovich era has launched the careers of many promising footballers into the stratosphere. It has also halted a few in their tracks. Steve Sidwell, Scott Parker and Danny Drinkwater all left clubs where they were hot properties to sign for Chelsea, where they spent varying portions of their prime years watching blankly from the dugout. To this list we can add Ross Barkley, trusted to take a penalty but nothing more on Saturday by a manager for whom he has played 428 minutes this season. Five years after moving to west London, Barkley has started fewer league games for Chelsea than he did in his final season at Everton, and has had as many managers as he has scored league goals. Not every talented youngster will fulfil their potential; not every transfer will be a success. But it’s hard to think back to Barkley’s breakout years and not lament the scattergun stockpiling in which football’s super-clubs can afford to indulge. Alex Hess
