10 Jan 2018 19:35:20
Left back is priority for me. Not back up either because Baines has not been Baines since Season after Peanut left. The guy i think could make it seemless is Chilwell of Leicester. Not only looks like Baines, runs like him, moves forward like him, crosses well but is possibly a better defender than Baines ever was?! No brainer, big fee maybe but we need a ready made laeft back not potebtial.

1.) 10 Jan 2018
10 Jan 2018 19:57:03
At last someone who agrees with me that Baines isn't as good as he used to be. Don't misunderstand I've loved the guy since day one and there's been little better than seeing him bombing down the wing and whipping an inch perfect cross into the box, never mind his penalty record, but those days are few and far between. Age catches up to us all eventually.

2.) 10 Jan 2018
10 Jan 2018 20:13:47
Its a fact, he really struggles in some games, even his crossing has been substandard of late. I began worrying when he was easily bullied out of taking Peno's by Lukaku and Mirallas, Arteta used to at Free Kicks too but at least he was good then. My only worry is we get a potential player as back up instead of a 1st team regular left back. Garbutt was potential but failed miserably on loan and his confidence is rock bottom, lack of experience too for over 23!

3.) 10 Jan 2018
10 Jan 2018 21:13:15
Let’s not forget a lot were saying get rid of Jags and he did fine in the cup game, it could be Baines has been playing through the pain barrier and it caught up with him, I would not write Baines off just yet, but we need to get long term replacement when that time arrives.

4.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 11:50:12
The difficulty Baines has had in reaching all his previous performances is that we’ve never replaced Pienaar. Every player that has been given the left wing role has been right footed and always turned inwards and changed the direction of the attack across the pitch leaving Baines to halt his run and when it does come back to him it’s delayef and the impetus of his run is lost. Same thing happened when he played for England how many times was he stood out on the wing watching the game going down the right as soon as it crossed the halfway line.
If we play a left sided winger that Baines can link up with then you will see the best of him.
Big C p.

5.) 11 Jan 2018
11 Jan 2018 15:59:38
Big C You are 100% right. We played a system which involved Pienaar and Baines one side and Osman and Coleman the other. Both wingers and full backs had the ability to bomb forwards. Both wingers and full backs had the ability to shoot and score from distance. Both "wingers" had the ability to hold the ball up and play a one two with the full back overlapping. It gave us so many options going forwards and it gave us goals. It allowed us to play forwards balls out of defence quickly and allowed us to break out in numbers rather than hoofing it to Calvert-Lewin and hoping he could hold it up. Many people were critical of Pienaar and Osman and maybe with some justification as they both slowed up and were not as effective in their later years. but we still have replaced neither. And now we need to replace Coleman and Baines. very soon. Bolasie is probably our best but his goal and assist return is woeful in comparisson to the others.