England recall is on the cards for the midfielder after a recent upturn in form following Ronald Koeman’s reshaping of his side

Sometimes managers confound stereotypes. Tony Pulis brought up 300 Premier League matches in charge by belying his image as one of the game’s great puritans to eulogise about a flair player.

Sometimes praise comes from unexpected quarters. Ross Barkley had spent much of the season as the recipient of managerial criticism. After he helped outclass West Bromwich Albion in a 3-0 win for Everton, the player found his fan club had swelled to include both Pulis and Ronald Koeman, who traded tributes.

The tune has changed, the sound of constant carping replaced by something altogether more upbeat. Just before Christmas, Koeman wondered if Barkley would ever fulfil his potential. Seven wins in 11 league games later, an underachiever has been rebranded as an achiever. The manager remains unapologetic about his policy of tough love.

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If it seemed part of the Dutch tradition of outspokenness, Koeman argued that life as a local in a demanding environment prepared Barkley for his manager’s words. “He is used to having critics because when he came through the academy, he was the Everton boy,” he said. “That means maybe the people are watching Ross more to see what he is doing.”

And what Barkley is doing now is different, both in terms of his position and his productivity. Koeman has become the second Everton manager to reinvent him. Roberto Martínez inherited a substitute and marked his arrival at Goodison Park by installing Barkley as his No10, even before selling the previous incumbent, Marouane Fellaini. Koeman is building a team around the Merseysider but without giving him a fixed position.

Instead Koeman is asking others to give him the platform to play. He has constructed a midfield brimming with energy. His signings Morgan Schneiderlin and Idrissa Gueye and his protege Tom Davies can do the donkey work. He selected Gareth Barry to keep possession against Albion. “We don’t need players like Ross on the halfway line. We have enough players behind the ball,” Koeman explained.

“We need players like Ross between the lines and close to the box. We need players like Ross to have shots, to have assists and that is one of his big qualities. The boy is so strong, so good on the ball. He is shooting left, he is shooting right, he is clever, he sees chances.”

With the No10 position often obsolete, Barkley has a freer role, playing ostensibly off the right but with a licence to roam, a tendency to raid and a habit of making those Gascoigne‑esque rampaging runs. He confounded a West Brom team configured with rigid vigour, materialising in various players’ zones rather than allowing any one immediate opponent to concentrate on him.

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Koeman’s midfield makeover has lent Barkley a new look. In one respect, he has proved Everton’s organic replacement for the injured Yannick Bolasie as the dribbler in chief, the man charged with providing unpredictability. In another, he is offering efficiency. His last five games have brought a goal and three assists.

Yet as he impressed two managers, the verdict of a third may be more instructive. On Thursday, Gareth Southgate names his first squad since securing the England job on a permanent basis. Barkley achieved an unwanted hat-trick in being overlooked by three national managers in a calendar year. He was the only attack-minded player in the Euro 2016 party Roy Hodgson did not use in France. Neither Sam Allardyce nor Southgate called him up at all.

He seemed a victim of competition for places, with the precocious Dele Alli, Adam Lallana – named England’s player of 2016 – and Wayne Rooney, granted the protection of the captaincy, the preferred No10s. His new role gives Southgate other options. Barkley is not a winger but he can play off either flank. Considering Southgate’s shortage of high-calibre out-and-out wingers, it may afford him an opening at international level. If so, Koeman, a tormentor of England in his playing days, may belatedly make reparations – and Barkley’s renaissance will take another step.