Osman critical of former Everton team-mate Barkley

Leon Osman admits former Everton team-mate Ross Barkley has not ‘kicked on’ as much as he should have.

Osman spent nearly two decades at Everton and played in the midfield alongside Barkley when the latter burst on the scene in the 2013-14 Premier League season.

However, Barkley is now 23 and has come in for some criticism following recent poor performances, while Toffees boss Ronal Koeman has left him out of his starting XI on numerous occasions.

And Osman, who made 432 appearances for Everton, insists Barkley does not have the excuse of being a young player to fall back on any more.

“I don’t like to put him down but he’s been playing in the first-team now since he was 17, 18 years of age – and that’s a long time to have been playing in the Premier League and not kicked on and not made that next step,” Osman said.

“He should have the experience behind him at this level and it’s worrying that he’s still being talked about as a young player and ‘give him time’.

“He’s got all the talent in the world but he keeps on making more wrong decisions than right decisions in a game.

“Having had four or five years experience now you would have expected him to learn to have started to make them right decisions more often than not, but as of yet we’re all still waiting for that to happen.”