Baker plays like a proper centre half

[onje_villa]

We looked a bit dodgy defending set pieces last night but I thought other than that, how nice it was to have a dominant centre half in Baker. All the talk is of Vlaar being "concrete" and an enforcer but for me he's more of a ball player and he has certainly been outplayed aerially by a number of strikers this season already (Shaun Long as an example).

Baker really does tower over people and has just a touch of the Martin Laursen about him (God I miss him, and it was great to see him on the TV last night. Probably my favourite Villa player the mid 90s.).

[JUAN PABLO]

loved it when Laursen said last night , my times at Villa was the best of my career .

[pauliewalnuts]

I like Baker a lot.

He's far from perfect (to be honest, there were times last night when our entire defence scrambled around in panic every time the ball came into our box, so it's not just down to him), but he is one of those centre halves who makes it look relatively effortless. Strong, good awareness, and puts in a well-timed tackle.

[PaulWinch again]

He did well, but he really needs to work on his distribution. A lot of our struggles last night were due to poor distribution from the back.

[Chris Smith]

The counter argument is that a hard working but limited player like Jason Roberts caused us all sorts of problems last night. He's still got a lot to learn.

That said, he's strong and quick and seems confident so he's got a chance but I think it will be a year or so before we know if he's going to be up to it.

[nick harper]

Reminds me of early Ugo a bit. He's gangly and looks a bit awkward, but he does have the attributes to be a decent no nonsense centre half and he's not afraid to throw himself in where it hurts. Think he would benefit form playing alongside Vlaar rather than Clarke.

Looked uncomfortable at times last night but we need to bear in mind he hadn't played for several weeks.

[PaulWinch again]

I personally think Clark is the better player, but Baker is a useful back up and he might develop in time.

[UK Redsox]

He did well, but he really needs to work on his distribution. A lot of our struggles last night were due to poor distribution from the back.

He did have some James Collins-esque moments

[Hookeysmith]

The counter argument is that a hard working but limited player like Jason Roberts caused us all sorts of problems last night. He's still got a lot to learn.

That said, he's strong and quick and seems confident so he's got a chance but I think it will be a year or so before we know if he's going to be up to it.

Jason Roberts might be a bit part average premiership player but he is a fecking string bugger who knows all the tricks in the book and uses them to his advantage. He really was starting to throw his weight around in the 2nd half and just as he was up steps Clark to take him out (he got a yellow BTW) Roberts stared at him and Clark just stared right back at him - 10 mins later the effect was worth it as Roberts limped off

[UK Redsox]

Jason Roberts might be a bit part average premiership player but he is a fecking string bugger who knows all the tricks in the book and uses them to his advantage. He really was starting to throw his weight around in the 2nd half and just as he was up steps Clark to take him out (he got a yellow BTW) Roberts stared at him and Clark just stared right back at him - 10 mins later the effect was worth it as Roberts limped off

That's your Theory

[Dave Cooper please]

Clark will do a 'Barry' and move into the holding midfield role I reckon. Baker is the better centre-half in my opinion.

[OCD]

Before this season I would have said he's a holding midfielder too. I've been impressed with him as a centre half for a while now though. There's still the odd mistake there (small things) but he's 23 and having his first proper run in the position. Yesterday he was even the senior figure in Vlaar's absence. He'll only become a better centre back with time. In the meanwhile I hope Baker can become more composed on the ball.

[Mister E]

The fact that the back four was so inexperienced last nght, the few panics were probably inevitable and they would have been given a right runaround against better opposition. But I've already said on the post-match thread that I thought Baker was outstanding last night: he covered for CC a couple of times and got better through the game.

Both CC and Baker had obvously been told to 'man up' at half-time: Baker's first tackle in the left-hand corner was a cruncher, and CC stopped being bullied by Roberts after a few comings-together.

I do think that Baker might well end up being the better CB than Clark ... maybe CC will do a GazzaBazza and step up to CMF.

[seanthevillan]

Reminds me of early Ugo a bit. He's gangly and looks a bit awkward, but he does have the attributes to be a decent no nonsense centre half and he's not afraid to throw himself in where it hurts. Think he would benefit form playing alongside Vlaar rather than Clarke.

Looked uncomfortable at times last night but we need to bear in mind he hadn't played for several weeks.

I agree with this comparison, I might have written elsewhere that I think Baker is quite raw - he does crowd-pleasing things like win headers and time sliding tackles well but these are the basics at this level. I'm not sure his positional sense is completely there, though obviously this comes with experience and playing with Vlaar would benefit him.

[maidstonevillain]

[quote author=onje_villa link=topic=48420.msg2186410#msg2186410 date=1354105339
 Martin Laursen about him (God I miss him, and it was great to see him on the TV last night. Probably my favourite Villa player the mid 90s.).
[/quote]

mid 90's !