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Everton's Leighton Baines spotted at Manchester United.. studying for new role as Toffees' Philipp Lahm
Full-back the Reds tried to buy attended midweek Bayern clash because Martinez thinks he can become a holdImages
Grand central? Martinez sees Baines moving from full-back to midfield like Lahm did
Leighton Baines was ORDERED to go to Manchester United on Wednesday by his manager... to get a practical tutorial in how to become a football great.
Everton boss Roberto Martinez scouted Bayern Munich's Champions League visit to Old Trafford, and took his England full-back along for the ride to observe exactly how the Germans' Philipp Lahm operates.
Speaking about their unconventional visit, the Spaniard explained he believes Baines - who United have tried to buy, only to have the Toffees turn them down - can one day play the same role as Lahm... and perhaps even rival him as the best holding midfielder in the game.
“I always thought Leighton can develop into Lahm’s role in the years to come and I wanted him to watch Lahm in a live game rather than on TV,” Martinez explained.
“It was a very good experience for him, because otherwise you only see the player when he’s on the ball.
“It was important for Leighton to watch a player I feel he can be as good as - or even better. Lahm doesn’t give the ball away, he’s got a very low centre of gravity and technically he is as good as it gets.
“I’m not saying Leighton is ready for it now, I want him to concentrate on being a left-back, but it’s important for him to have that in the back of his mind.”
It is not the first time Martinez has invited players to view a masterclass in how to perform a role - and he revealed he once took his entire Swansea team to learn from Barcelona.
“That was very powerful in terms of understanding what we were trying to do. Watching how they kept possession helped the penny drop,” he explained.
“We went for two days, trained over there and took in the game. It was the season we won the League One title.”
Meanwhile, Martinez has told his players they can deliver a knock-out psychological blow intheir Sunday showdown with Arsenal.
The teams go head to head in a shoot-out billed as a decider for fourth place – and the Toffees'boss reckons the winners will take a massive edge in the race for a Champions League place.
“It’s a direct confrontation which means it’s going to be incredible psychologically,” insisted Martinez. “This game, of course, is more important than any other game because it has a psychological blow attached to it.
“We have the chance to fight for top four, which is a remarkable achievement. We have to stay calm and believe we can get a points total that will get us into the Champions League – and the important thing is, that is still possible.
“Every year it’s harder to do that. But we have earned the right to fight for that position – nothing else. It is about maintaining our form and performances from here.
“We’re playing at home and that’s something we’re really excited about. Home advantage is significant. We know that we’re playing a team who have had dodgy spells but always come through them to qualify for the Champions League, so it will be tough.”
Do people think are Leighton can make the switch to midfield?
