Ronald Koeman has revealed the secret to Ross Barkley’s Everton renaissance.
Barkley struggled during the formative months of the current campaign with a series of inconsistent performances from the burgeoning Blues midfielder.
But a more advanced role in recent weeks has coincided with the England international delivering some of his most accomplished displays to date.
Koeman spent large parts of this season publicly challenging Barkley, 23, but admits that he has no complaints about the player’s current vein of form.
He said: “We had several individual talks about his performances; about his football, about his position.
“Because in the last few games he played in different positions than he was before in the midfield.
“I think that’s the best for the team at the moment, it’s the best for himself and he’s working hard.
“I told him ‘if I don’t talk to you any more to you then you need to be afraid’.
“I’m still talking to him and I’m really happy about his last performances and keep going.”