Leighton Baines

Read in the paper the other day that he's only ever scored 6 free kicks in the PL. Anyone know if thats true? That number seems far too low to me.
 
Sam said:
Read in the paper the other day that he's only ever scored 6 free kicks in the PL. Anyone know if thats true? That number seems far too low to me.
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Which would mean 4 before this season? Definitely sounds like bollocks.
 
Colin129 said:
No we don't, wait until the summer & get him for much less when his contract has run down. Next year may be too much for Evra to give his swash buckling best for another full season.
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By need, I didn't mean we are bad in that department as of now, but I sense there will be some competition for him if we are to buy in summer. Moyes pull will work in our favour but other factor which I was wondering was, will Everton, who are stubborn in negotiations, reduce asking price significantly in summer? A call for Moyes to take based on judgement of what will be price difference in January vs Summer and the pros and cons attached and is it worth spending more and getting him earlier than summer. For him personally, 6 months at a top club and possibly playing CL, can help in world cup preps.
 
Don't need him, and imo I don't think he is the one we should go for. He's really overrated, I mean how come no other top 4 team who haven't got a good left back haven't attempted to sign him other than us now that Moyes is with us. Chelsea have Cole who is the exact same age as Paddy, and isn't exactly getting better with it, and Bertrand isn't that good either. He's an international, yet only we are trying to sign him?
 
He's an excellent fullback and easily the best attacking fullback in the league. Not overrated in the slightest and despite the defensive side of the game not being his forte, he still carries that out well.

In my eyes he is definitely the best leftback in the division and certainly an upgrade on Evra - as much as I love him.
 
Baines is a class. And Evra has been defensively poor for nearly 4 seasons now.
 
Mitch_93 said:
Don't need him, and imo I don't think he is the one we should go for. He's really overrated, I mean how come no other top 4 team who haven't got a good left back haven't attempted to sign him other than us now that Moyes is with us. Chelsea have Cole who is the exact same age as Paddy, and isn't exactly getting better with it, and Bertrand isn't that good either. He's an international, yet only we are trying to sign him?
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Because we rely on crosses. Others do not

Not signing Baines isnt going to suddenly give us a lot more creativity through the middle like Chelsea, Arsenal and the rest. It just means we're less effective at what we rely on to create chances
 
Ekeke said:
Because we rely on crosses. Others do not

Not signing Baines isnt going to suddenly give us a lot more creativity through the middle like Chelsea, Arsenal and the rest. It just means we're less effective at what we rely on to create chances
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I didn't say anything about creativity or crosses, I'm on about his ability as a footballer. Also, I do know a bit about football so I do know that a full back is not bloody central player, I just think he is the WRONG player for us and I don't understand that if he is so good why aren't other teams interested?

Lynk said:
Baines is a class. And Evra has been defensively poor for nearly 4 seasons now.
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To quote MoneyMay: No he hasn't.
 
Mitch_93 said:
I didn't say anything about creativity or crosses, I'm on about his ability as a footballer. Also, I do know a bit about football so I do know that a full back is not bloody central player, I just think he is the WRONG player for us and I don't understand that if he is so good why aren't other teams interested?


To quote MoneyMay: No he hasn't.
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But for a slight return to form last season, Evra has been a disaster defensively for several years, especially in Europe.

And your argument against Baines is that Chelsea have not tried to sign him so he must be shit? WTF? Since when do United just follow them.
You've given no real arguments as to why Baines would not be a good player for us, so I have to assume the reason is that he only plays for Everton so he's not exotic enough for your muppet heart.
 
i'm sure we're preparing a £20m bid as speak.

That's the original valuation with a supplement for being in Jan, and a supplement for him now being 1st choice England left back!
 
Lynk said:
Baines is a class. And Evra has been defensively poor for nearly 4 seasons now.
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Not getting at you personally Lynx but I honestly shocked at how many people think Baines is a big step up on Evra as a defender. Its a myth. I know im repeating myself but they they have v similar weaknesses as well.

Also the way people go on you would swear Evra was once good at defending. He never has been imo. Competent at best but thats not the reason hes been so important to us over the years.

20million on Baines at xmas would be stupid imo.
 
It's not really sad when the player in question is the best LB in the league.
 
In all honesty I think it is quite understandable to a point but I would expect it to pay fairly quick and substantial dividends. If the logic is that the manager knows these players better than other people do, and knows they will make the step up and solve a problem he has quickly identified in his new squad, then fair enough. It is an effective and legitimate use of a form of insider knowledge.

But its fair to scrutinize those transfers and question them. Because if you are not getting good value for money (because the manager knows the player's market value is below his intrinsic value) or an instant / significant improvement (because the manager's intimate knowledge of the player allows him to make a fast and accurate assessment of his value to the new squad) then it just suggests a certain myopia on the part of the manager.
 
I kind of wish we got Coentrao, cause we'd have probably gone on to buy him. Younger and potentially better than Baines, and will probably cost the same.
 
Baines is 29 by the time we could possibly sign him - I do like him a lot as a player though. He is one of the best players in the Premier League in terms of creating chances alongside Silva, Mata, Özil et all and he is a left-back.

Whether it is him or Shaw, I just hope we will sign one of those two.
 
I expect Coentrao to cost more than Baines. If he's cheaper, sure why not. But I expect Madrid will want a lot for him considering he cost 30 million euros + Garay
 
It'd be insane to go into a season with Shaw/Fabio as your two left backs. But I think I'd prefer it buying Baines for anything over £15m. You'd definitely need to buy an anchorman with experience to help out Vidic with the rest of them being so young.
 
Zen said:
It'd be insane to go into a season with Shaw/Fabio as your two left backs. But I think I'd prefer it buying Baines for anything over £15m. You'd definitely need to buy an anchorman with experience to help out Vidic with the rest of them being so young.
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If they're good enough, they're old enough, that is the philosophy of Manchester United. Shaw showed this season and last that he is a class act.

Rafael was more or less a first team player at 19, I don't see why it would be insane.
 
Rafael has had Neville around, Evra who plays the fullback position so can help, and in the middle Rio/Vidic with VDS in goal. Pretty obvious to difference there. Pretty sure O'Shea and Brown were around too. Lots of experience to fall back on and go to for guidance. Your potentially looking at Shaw/Fabio/Smalling/Vidic/Evans/Jones/Rafael next season.....forget VDS having like 15 years on DDG at the same times too.

I'd still love Shaw mind you. I'd fully support the risk, but would hope they could persuade Evra to stay for a year at least with him.
 
Hellboy said:
If they're good enough, they're old enough, that is the philosophy of Manchester United. Shaw showed this season and last that he is a class act.

Rafael was more or less a first team player at 19, I don't see why it would be insane.
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Rafael was a much better player at 19 and had the benefit of having an easier part of the team to take over from, hence more games. Luke Shaw has never played for a top 4 team, it will be a HUGE gamble to make him our first choice left back. Besides he's actually just turned 18. We should look to our own in Fabio and get a better replacement for Buttner as a back up, Fabio just needs the games and I reckon Evra leaving in the summer could prove to be what he needs to kick on and become what we always wished him to be.
 
Mitch_93 said:
Rafael was a much better player at 19 and had the benefit of having an easier part of the team to take over from, hence more games. Luke Shaw has never played for a top 4 team, it will be a HUGE gamble to make him our first choice left back. Besides he's actually just turned 18. We should look to our own in Fabio and get a better replacement for Buttner as a back up, Fabio just needs the games and I reckon Evra leaving in the summer could prove to be what he needs to kick on and become what we always wished him to be.
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Do you think Fabio is better than Shaw ?
 
Zen said:
Rafael has had Neville around, Evra who plays the fullback position so can help, and in the middle Rio/Vidic with VDS in goal. Pretty obvious to difference there. Pretty sure O'Shea and Brown were around too. Lots of experience to fall back on and go to for guidance. Your potentially looking at Shaw/Fabio/Smalling/Vidic/Evans/Jones/Rafael next season.....forget VDS having like 15 years on DDG at the same times too.

I'd still love Shaw mind you. I'd fully support the risk, but would hope they could persuade Evra to stay for a year at least with him.
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Fair enough. I still hope we manage to keep Vidic, it would be a disaster to lose him + Evra & Rio in one summer.
 
Hellboy said:
Do you think Fabio is better than Shaw ?
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Not seen enough of Shaw to say so. However, just because he's a good prospect doesn't mean a move to us will be good for him or us. I would rather take a chance with Fabio, because at least we know what he is capable of and what he could be capable of.
 
If he can't play ahead of effing Buttner, there must be a reason behind it. Still, I would absolutely love Fabio to break into the team. His contract is up next summer, I really don't think he'll stay beyond this season especially if he doesn't have a run of games between now and January.
 
Zen said:
It'd be insane to go into a season with Shaw/Fabio as your two left backs. But I think I'd prefer it buying Baines for anything over £15m. You'd definitely need to buy an anchorman with experience to help out Vidic with the rest of them being so young.
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How? Shaw is one of the best leftbacks in the league.
 
If I were you I'd buy Shaw pronto pronto and stick him in there. He will struggle a bit but he's got 12 years service to come.
 
Mourinho blatantly wants a new English core, Shaw replacing Cole and Barkley replacing Lampard seems too obvious. But then again, so did Rooney going there at one point in the summer.
 
Mitch_93 said:
Rafael was a much better player at 19 and had the benefit of having an easier part of the team to take over from, hence more games. Luke Shaw has never played for a top 4 team, it will be a HUGE gamble to make him our first choice left back. Besides he's actually just turned 18. We should look to our own in Fabio and get a better replacement for Buttner as a back up, Fabio just needs the games and I reckon Evra leaving in the summer could prove to be what he needs to kick on and become what we always wished him to be.
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I dont think he was personally. Shaw is certainly a better defender. Obviously Rafael has developed that side of his game since though.
 
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