The spotlight was on Gareth Barry on his 600th Premier League appearance, the expectation on Idrissa Gueye after an exceptional start to his Everton career and the pressure all on Ross Barkley following a very public dressing down before Middlesbrough arrived at Goodison Park. It demonstrated the latter’s refusal to hide, and lack of ego, that the entire heart of Everton’s midfield functioned as Ronald Koeman demanded.
If a half-time substitution at Sunderland last Monday and repeated calls for improvement were Koeman’s way of testing Barkley’s mentality as well as ability, then his satisfaction with the 22-year-old’s reaction was justified.
In the closeted, precious world of the Premier League it can be dangerous for any manager to issue public warnings and criticism of their biggest talents. Koeman, like Everton managers before him, had no such concerns with Barkley.
“What is testing?” he asked following the 3-1 victory that left his team second in the table. “Yes, maybe Ross was under pressure but if you don’t handle the pressure you can’t play in the Premier League.”
Koeman added: “It was an important game for Ross and he responded. You can’t always say what you think about players but I try to be honest with them. He was very good, he played like I like to see.
“Offensively very strong, and defensively he was very important for the team. Maybe in 90 minutes he lost less balls than he did in the first ten minutes of the last game.
“After Monday, first of all you speak to the player and you need to support the player. You expect a reaction from the player too. Players are not so stupid that they don’t know when they play well or not so well. We watched all the clips, we had a good talk and we had a good solution. It was good for the boy to continue. He’s four or five years in the first team now and that means more responsibility in the midfield. He showed how good he can be.”
The England international had accepted the Dutch coach’s unflattering analysis of his 45-minute display at the Stadium of Light during their conversation last week.
As usual, he put in extra training at Finch Farm and, despite the scrutiny on his every pass and being frequently outnumbered, he drove his team forwards at every opportunity against Middlesbrough.
Not everything Barkley attempted paid dividends but not every player would attempt what the midfielder produced at Goodison, certainly not in such pressurised circumstances.
A stunning turn outside the visiting area fooled Daniel Ayala and prompted a vital covering challenge from Ben Gibson. When V?ctor Valdés thwarted Barkley’s third determined run and shot of the game, the Gwladys Street broke into song about the player they call a diamond.
Appreciation is genuine for one of their own, although Koeman is not alone in wanting greater consistency from the midfielder. The manager repeated: “This is his fourth or fifth season in the Premier League.
He is not a young player any more.”
Phil Jagielka, the captain, who has been alongside Barkley throughout, offered a revealing insight into the boyhood Evertonian’s mindset after his individual setback at Sunderland.
“Ross was one of the happiest players on Monday night even though he may not have been particularly delighted with his own performance,” the defender said. “He knows it is a team game.
“It was great the manager gave him another opportunity to perform and it may not have been Ross’s most dazzling of games but he got around the pitch, put tackles in and his shirt was absolutely drenched afterwards.
“That is what we want from him and what everyone wants from him. We know his qualities and if he puts those performances in week in, week out, the goals and assists will come. First and foremost it is about playing for the team.
“He struggled with that a little bit on Monday but he is not going to go and crawl into a hole or hide. He has had such a lot of expectation from a young age but he has learned to deal with it. I am delighted for him that he has played a big part in this win.”
Once again, Barkley operated in front of an outstanding midfield axis on Saturday as man of the match Gueye and Barry broke Boro’s attempted forays time and again.
The veteran struck a timely equaliser, his second goal in five games under Koeman having gone 102 games without a goal before this season, while Gueye’s only error was spraying a pass out to Tom Cleverley. Cleverley was warming up in the technical area, ready to replace Barry, at the time.
“He was outstanding, he was perfect in every aspect of football,” Koeman said of Gueye, a £7m signing from Aston Villa.
 “Yes, he wins a lot of the second balls and tackles but he also showed great composure on the ball – left, right and always trying to play forwards.
“He is a fantastic signing for the club and I hope we keep him a long time – but I don’t know.”