2018/19 Leighton Baines

[chriswho]

The truth? You wouldn't know it if it punched you in the face........pathetic lad - you never sat in the ground watching that crap did you?

Decidedly NOT "mellow" comment from mellowblue. Calm down bud. All friends here.

 

[Pete Campbell]

I think this may be a long week for Baines. I have no doubt there will be enquiries and we didn't pay 20m for Dinge so that he could sit on the bench.

Leighton may have a decision to make and if he wanted to leave I wonder if the club would force him to stay.
Connolly or Robinson could cover that position.

Linked to Burnley and Newcastle. Any truth in either of those?

 

[BigMick]

Linked to Burnley and Newcastle. Any truth in either of those?

Surely Leighton, as a good club man, would want to stay and battle for his place against someone whose never played in the Premier League, rather than throwing in the towel and seeking a swift exit? Depends on what Marco says to him, I suppose.

 

[LocalNative]

Credit where it's due. He was excellent.

 

[Jozzy]

Credit where it's due. He was excellent.

Agreed, deserves to hold his spot for next week.

 

[Gwladys St. Glory]

Desire will keep him going until he fully breaks down but hopefully intelligence will tell him it's ok to have breaks before that happens...still has a lot to offer.

 

[evertonarntwe]

Shouldn't be starting over digne but he had a good game

 

[Pete Campbell]

Amazing what some competition can do for a player. He was fantastic today.

 

[Tubey]

Amazing what some competition can do for a player. He was fantastic today.

It wasn't competition as such; it was knowing he had a player ahead of him he could stick a ball to and not be caught out of position afterwards.

If Jordi Alba had Bolasie ahead of him, he'd look worse too.

Baines is far from finished. I can see why people thought that last season as it did look on occasion that his legs had gone, but he had Bolasie ahead of him and Keane alongside him - anyone would look woeful in that setup.

Don't get me wrong, Digne should transition into first choice over the next few weeks and months if he's good enough, but Baines is more than good enough for this squad.

 

[APN_EFC]

I don't remember if it was martinez or Koeman, but one of them was encouraging Baines to consider a move like Philip Lahm - moving from LB to Defensive Mid. I'd still love to see him there maybe over Schneiderlin. Sadly i think it would have been an ideal switch 2 years ago, but tougher to make today.

I remember that too. I Bet you it was Martinez, but because of his status and maybe his position the players didn't go for it. Would have been a great idea 3 years ago, maybe instead of Barry.

 

[Everton_Gary]

Played well today and out in some good balls on free kicks and corners. That said, his time as a starter may be coming to a close, which is a good thing. He's not the player he used to be and hate to see him fall apart on the field and have people only remember him for that. Out with the old, in with the new

 

[TheBigIguana]

He can still attack but every ball out to his wing results in a chance to put a good cross in because he can't cover the ground to close it down

 

[SuperTimCahill]

This game shows how important it is for Baines to have good players alongside him. That went missing when Pienaar left and he didn't look the same. Today the combination play down our left was just like back in the days with Pienaar. Pure class. May it continue!

 

[mkrudden]

Outstanding today.

Where are his naysayers?

 

[Toffeelover]

Cant wait until we get another manager to get us our best ever PL season so we can portray him like Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton. That'll be progress if we do. Sadly I doubt we'll get another season like that for another couple of decades.

Dave for a change think positive.