Everton news: Ronald Koeman laments negative fixation with 'out-of-form' Ross Barkley in heated press conference

The irascible Dutchman all but lost it in his post-match press conference when asked about Barkley’s performance at the Vitality Stadium

Ross Barkley has joined a long list of England midfielders yet to deliver on their full potential (Getty)

What is it about under-performing England midfielders that creates so many headlines and so much interest? Everton manager Ronald Koeman, who put Ross Barkley up against Jack Wilshere in a 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth at the weekend, appears to have reached boiling point on the issue.

The irascible Dutchman all but lost it in his post-match press conference when asked about Barkley’s performance at the Vitality Stadium during Everton’s first Premier League defeat of the season, which came just days after they also lost to Norwich in the EFL Cup.

In fairness, Barkley hadn’t been that bad. He was one of his side’s better players in a match that Bournemouth deserved to win through Junior Stanislas' superb 23rd minute strike - and probably came closest to fashioning an equaliser with a second-half header which drifted narrowly wide of its target. But Koeman was in no mood to discuss it.

“I don’t answer about that question,” said the former Southampton manager. “Why do I need to explain or tell always about just one of my players? You don’t ask me about Coleman, you don’t ask me about anyone else. What I don’t like is that every game I have to the explain what was the performance of Barkley. Every week I get that type of question.”

The irony for Koeman is that although media interest in Barkley’s continued failure to fulfil his obvious talent is long-held, it was only really reignited when the Everton manager substituted him during a victory over Sunderland earlier this season and revealed: “‘I had individual talks with Ross, he needs to improve.”

He is right, however, that Barkley shouldn’t have been the focus of post-match analysis this time, primarily because Bournemouth deserved the limelight for a high-energy, vibrant display in which they created enough chances to have won the game by a greater margin.

The performance of Harry Arter, in particular, deserved recognition but manager Eddie Howe is just discovering what it means to have a high profile England midfielder in his ranks having taken Wilshere on loan from Arsenal for the season.

Ross Barkley is visibly disappointed after his side slumped to a 1-0 defeat by Bournemouth on Saturday (Getty)

Wilshere, like Barkley, is yet to reach his full potential, although in his case injuries have been a bigger barrier than aptitude in limiting his impact for club and country. His long wait to play a full 90 minutes of club football has now stretched to two years and three day after he was substituted on 75 minutes, having played steadily rather than spectacularly during his time on the field, hitting the crossbar in the first half.

The last time Wilshere survived an entire match was a 2-1 Carling Cup defeat for Arsenal against Southampton on 23 September, 2014, but Howe remains certain it will come eventually.

“He will play 90 minutes the day he deserves to play 90 minutes or the moment he can play 90 minutes,” said the Bournemouth manager. “ At the moment I just want to manage his workload so that he can stay fit. That’s so, so important for him – and I think he recognises that.

“Who knows when he’s play the full 90, but the way he played today it won’t be too far away. It’s not a big issue for Jack or for me – as long as he plays the way he did today he’s going to have a massive impact on our season.”