Do we like Baines in Mid Field?

[The Esk]

Personally I think he would do a great job in a free role front of the 2 DM, he can tackle, has some pace, can get up and down the pitch, play a pass and can shoot with both feet. He's an intelligent footballer, would love to see him develop this role.

 

[bitter-no-better]

Thought he did well considering. Would like to see him in the role again as he is a better threat going forward than he is defending at the moment. His pass to mirallas was very good but so was kevs movement.

 

[TX Bill]

Would rather have him there if it's a desperate situation (which I guess the Newcastle game was) but if all healthy, then no.

 

[Tree13]

Baines was better than Barry.

Our CDM depth has collapsed, despite looking strong in pre-season. Gibson is done IMHO. Besic was ill, Barry has been in woeful form since his injury (possibly not properly recovered) and now McCarthy is carrying an injury. Additionally Garbutt needs game time if we are going to convince him to re-sign. Circumstances justified the selection against Newcastle, and I would not be against Baines playing in midfield again because he did pretty well. We ask our CDMs to drop in to the fullback spots to cover when our fullbacks push forward, so it's fairly sensible to assume Baines could handle the defensive side of the transition easily enough. As another poster has already mentioned, Baines brings pace and energy to our midfield and allows us to press the opposition higher up the pitch - this is a good thing. He also has vision, and a passing range and accuracy to make use of his vision.

There's no point whatsoever in selecting Barry or McCarthy if they are carrying injuries. Gibson is never available. That leaves Besic, and someone needs to play alongside him. Your choices are Osman, Barkley, Oviedo or Baines; personally I think we need Barkley playing in the no.10 position, I don't rate Osman as a CDM and I'd like to see Oviedo playing on the LW. At this point Garbutt is a better LB than Barry is a CDM, so the decision is simple IMHO.

 

[Kurt.]

I honestly give up..... See ya all .

 

[stamullenblue]

Garbutt looks ok and rather see him an baines than mcgeady and Baines - worth another couple of tries I think

 

[degsy]

No it's an awful idea moving one of our best players out of position into a place he's never played before and he looked like a fish out of water. We've got more than enough cover in that area of the pitch to never need do it again and considering he looked lost against a fairly weak Newcastle midfield I hope we never see it again.

Maybe yes maybe no But Baines without Pienaar( who is finished ) is not the World Class Baines we all still think plays here, what we have now is the Top Lid Baines, who will always have a Pienaar shaped ghost in the corner of his eye he wants to play a 1-2 with.
No Pienaar= Baines can do another job if he can

 

[The Equaliser]

Would rather experiment with it during pre-season.

Think it might work in the future but it's a bit daft trying it out now.

Yep. There are times to try things and there are times not to.

When the team is patently low on confidence would seem to be the worst possible time.

 

[MassBlue]

Thought Baines did ok for his first time out and longer term it might work. Aside from his defensive qualities, he's calm on the ball and his plays with a picture of the play and movement in his head (not all our midfielders seem to). Plus I just wonder whether he's starting to lose a little bit of pace, which might make midfield more of a match for his skill set than full back. If Garbutt keeps developing, it would be a smooth transition. But where does Oviedo fit in? Forever a reserve?

 

[Lien]

No. An utterly absurd move, was genuinely laughing at the insanity of it.

 

[Zatara]

Makes a lot of sense....

Ignoring Osman/Pienaar/Barry/Gibson and Barkley who should be behind Lukaku for now;

McCarthy
Besic
Baines
Ledson

As the 4 options there.....pretty good.

 

[technojoe]

Should be a poll for this…I think it's too early to tell but right now a big no.

 

[Arteta2391]

I guess Roberto is a man of his word

 

[Dozbik]

I liked this and hope to see more of it in the future.

 

[Leeboy]

I thought it was a real bad idea.

He was out of his depth, he was unclear what to do and where to run and was pretty sad to watch for me.

a 70% fit Besic should have played