Leighton Baines

[stretford blue]

Article in the echo quoting Leighton saying the players have 'no chemistry'. Oh dear Leighton, you know what the punishment for speaking out is, there's the bench lad.

Thats a pretty damning statement,basically no team spirit

 

[Darrenc34]

Still get picked, had a shocker against Utd but plays ok in general

 

[II McColl II]

Hes spot on about the chemistry though, none of the players look comfortable next to each other and its hard to name a single partnership anywhere on the pitch

Coleman doesnt really connect well with lennon or del
Jags is switching between stones and funes mori
Baines doesn't have a left sided partner at all
Barry and mccarthy look disjointed and besic either cant stay fit or struggles to change bobs plans for the first 2
Barkley and rom are very rarely on the same wavelength

For me del and rom are the only 2 who are of similar mindset with the way del looks to go direct to him when he can.

Doesn't speak well for the manager all these players going public about there own personal feelings on their careers and the team and the frustration we all have seems to be boiling over with alot of the players not having a clue whats going on.

Meanwhile the chairman is at every interviewing opportunity praising Martinez like he is gods gift, hopefully Moshiri is smart enough to not be conned in to buying anymore of Kenwrights theatrical performances.

 

[Jags..class]

Hes spot on about the chemistry though, none of the players look comfortable next to each other and its hard to name a single partnership anywhere on the pitch

Coleman doesnt really connect well with lennon or del
Jags is switching between stones and funes mori
Baines doesn't have a left sided partner at all
Barry and mccarthy look disjointed and besic either cant stay fit or struggles to change bobs plans for the first 2
Barkley and rom are very rarely on the same wavelength

For me del and rom are the only 2 who are of similar mindset with the way del looks to go direct to him when he can.

Doesn't speak well for the manager all these players going public about there own personal feelings on their careers and the team and the frustration we all have seems to be boiling over with alot of the players not having a clue whats going on.

Meanwhile the chairman is at every interviewing opportunity praising Martinez like he is gods gift, hopefully Moshiri is smart enough to not be conned in to buying anymore of Kenwrights theatrical performances.

True, he buying good players but not putting it together like a jigsaw. Baines been wasted under Martinez.

 

[Saint Domingo]

Still adore Bainesy and Jags. Appreicate him for voicing out the concerns.

To be honest I can't understand anyone knocking those two before even questioning the manager. Ones up there in the conversation for our best LB of all time and the other is probably our best prem centreback, yet fans threw them under the bus just like that as part of this ridiculous idea to absolve the manager of even 1% of blame.

 

[maccavennie]

True, he buying good players but not putting it together like a jigsaw. Baines been wasted under Martinez.

Unfortunately both our full backs have the last 2 seasons though Baines has been injured a large part of that, probably playing when he shouldn't have been though as he's the type to do that.

 

[FisherEFC]

True, he buying good players but not putting it together like a jigsaw. Baines been wasted under Martinez.

They are all being wasted under martinez. The 2 biggest threats to EFC are the manager and chairman, one has brought nothing but mediocrity to the club for over a decade but was propped up by good performances from the previous manager, now he's faithful to the current manager who's delusional and out of his depth, it's a very fatal friendship.

We need to voice our displeasure asap in my opinion otherwise we'll be up s*** Creek without a paddle next season without Roms goals.

 

[sageyefc]

True, he buying good players but not putting it together like a jigsaw. Baines been wasted under Martinez.

Hes been injured half the time

 

[Saint Domingo]

Class player. Good to see the fans showing how much he means to the club.

 

[bluestevon]

Class player. Good to see the fans showing how much he means to the club.

Agree, just wish for once he wasn't left alone to play the entire left hand side of the pitch, same way Hodgson used him against Italy and we slaughtered the dimwit for it, yet loads of posters still criticise Baines without realising that our bloke does the same thing every game with him

 

[Tennessee Blue Mike]

Shouldn't have apologized. Spot on.

 

[ToffeeDoug]

It is with great sadness, that I can report that one of my favourite ever Everton players has completely gone in the legs. Sometimes you just have to be up close to pick things up that mere TV watching wouldn't give you. In about the 10th minute of the first half, Baines creditably won out in a feisty tussle with their winger and poked the ball 7-8 yds away and ran after it, but even though Baines was in front of the Palace player, he lost out in the 'race' and even pulled up short knowing he wouldn't get there first. He simply couldn't sprint that short distance and he knew it. It was right in front of the Everton fans and there was something of a collective gasp as the penny dropped that Baines' body is chuffed.
And this now explains why Baines' style going forward has changed so much, stopping dead when he gets the ball and passing it tamely sideways infield. No surging forward runs. It had been assumed this change was down to the lack of a pivot in front or following new instructions from RM. But I think he has realised he hasn't got the pace to get up and down anymore so doesn't try.

 

[mawders]

He's not fully fit

 

[sageyefc]

It is with great sadness, that I can report that one of my favourite ever Everton players has completely gone in the legs. Sometimes you just have to be up close to pick things up that mere TV watching wouldn't give you. In about the 10th minute of the first half, Baines creditably won out in a feisty tussle with their winger and poked the ball 7-8 yds away and ran after it, but even though Baines was in front of the Palace player, he lost out in the 'race' and even pulled up short knowing he wouldn't get there first. He simply couldn't sprint that short distance and he knew it. It was right in front of the Everton fans and there was something of a collective gasp as the penny dropped that Baines' body is chuffed.
And this now explains why Baines' style going forward has changed so much, stopping dead when he gets the ball and passing it tamely sideways infield. No surging forward runs. It had been assumed this change was down to the lack of a pivot in front or following new instructions from RM. But I think he has realised he hasn't got the pace to get up and down anymore so doesn't try.

Injuries have took it out of him, not the same player and doubt he'll ever get back

 

[John Osters Love Child]

i think at his best he never had to run up and down the wing, he never really had to tussle with other players because Pienaar and him would just pass it around people almost at a walking pace with ease. And when Bainsey bombed forward Pienaar would cover so he didn't need to leg it back. Sadly we've never found another player on that left to click with him in that way - it's almost doubled the work load Baines has had to do over the last 2 seasons and injuries have really taken their toll.
I do think RM has forced Baines to change his game too but i'm on a proper downer with the manager so i could quite easily blame him for anything right now - my washing machine is knackered and i'm pretty certain that's Roberto's fault.