Why Everton Must Restore Ross Barkley to Role Behind Forward Romelu Lukaku

Everton's second season under Roberto Martinez has yet to bring the highs associated with his inaugural term at Goodison Park.

A solid, if unspectacular start in the Premier League sees the Toffees 10th, on 14 points, currently unable to keep pace with the top four.

Everton's attack is not yet firing and Martinez must look to Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku to provide the answers.

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Currently, Everton are finding much fewer opportunities to shoot than any top-four rival. Even Stoke City, West Ham United and Southampton—sides Martinez would not have envisaged as direct rivals—have fired in more shots than the Toffees' 150.

Whereas at the start of the season, Everton were being clinical and finishing the chances they created—masking these troubles—that shooting has now regressed to the mean.

The sublime, individual strikes have dried up and Martinez's side are struggling to pose a persistent threat in the final third.

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Aside from a convincing 3-0 win over Aston Villa—aided by Brad Guzan's mistake—and a 3-1 win at Burnley—aided by Samuel Eto'o's excellence—scoring has been difficult in recent weeks.

To remedy this, Martinez must turn to what brought him most success last season: a one-two punch of Barkley at No. 10 behind Lukaku.

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Barkley's return from injury has come at a time when Lukaku is struggling for form and Eto'o and Steven Naismith have both impressed.

This has meant spells out of the side for Lukaku and one of Naismith or Eto'o often playing in Barkley's No. 10 spot, with the youngster used out wide.

As impressive as Naismith and Eto'o have been individually this season, Martinez must find the best way of coaxing consistency out of his team as a whole

Last season, the most fluent, rounded performances came with this Barkley-Lukaku combination, and this pairing must be given a steady run of games to rediscover their chemistry.

Barkley's spacial awareness and ability to turn and run at defences frees up extra room for Lukaku, who has suffered without as much pace in Everton's line-up.

The England international may eventually become a box-to-box midfielder, but at this early stage of his career, he's better off being unleashed in this freer role, void of restrictions and defensive responsibility.

Martinez actually restored this pairing for the 3-0 win against Aston Villa and both players excelled. Strangely, it's yet to be used in any other match this season.

For those needing extra persuasion, the statistics hammer home this point.

PL 2013/14	Lukaku-Barkley No.9/No.10*	No Lukaku-Barkley combo
Games	15	23
Wins	10	11
Points	33	39
Goals	31	30
Goals per game	2.1	1.3
Points per game	2.2	1.7
Barkley goals	4	2
Lukaku goals	9	6

Last season, there were 15 Premier League games in which Lukaku lined up as a lone striker with Barkley as his No. 10 (and both players stayed on the pitch for at least 45 minutes). Everton lost just two of those games and failed to score in only one.

In total, those 15 games returned 33 points and 31 goals. Everton actually scored fewer goals in the 23 games without this partnership, and, crucially, Lukaku was also far more prolific with Barkley behind him.

With Lukaku currently out of form, reforming this attacking duo is a must.

While an individual's performance may merit his inclusion, it's better to have the whole team in rhythm, which seems more likely to be achieved with this combination.

Most of Everton's best performances under Martinez, such as away games at Manchester United and Arsenal last season, have come with Barkley at No. 10 and Lukaku up front.

To ignite the season and gain some much-needed momentum, Martinez must once again unleash this partnership.

Statistics via WhoScored.com.

Follow @Matt_Cheetham