Nathan Baker - Sold

[*shellac*]

That's very Cantona.

[PaulWinch again]

Yeah I'm sorry, but I'm fairly sure Baker probably isn't good enough on a consistent basis for the Premier League let alone international football.

[MoetVillan]

At least he shows he can do it, working on consistency is far easier than not having the ability in the first place.  Hope he continues to develop and can deliver these performances week in week out.

If I was England manager though I would be getting Shawcross in the squad at the moment.  He has been well and truly shafted

[PaulWinch again]

At least he shows he can do it, working on consistency is far easier than not having the ability in the first place.  Hope he continues to develop and can deliver these performances week in week out.

If I was England manager though I would be getting Shawcross in the squad at the moment.  He has been well and truly shafted

Baker can handle it if teams play very direct against him and if we sit back and defend. However if teams play it to feet and we try to attack his positioning and lack of awareness are exposed and he's shown to be very limited.

[MoetVillan]

i remeber him having a great game against Arse, and they play it to feet.  infact i tended to worry more with BigSamLongBallTactics against him if he makes a misjudgement and then looks to maim the player coming through

[paul_e]

It's not particularly that there's a specific style of play he struggles with, it's that sometimes he just switches off.

Add to that the fact that's he's very nervy in possession and you get the player we've seen who has the odd good game but too often ruins an otherwise decent performance with a couple of howlers.  If he can fix the concentration issue and work on his passing game he can make it but he's getting to the age and more importantly the number of appearances where these problems should be mostly sorted by now.

[KevinGage]

I like Nathan, but he is some way off international football. 

His positioning is -at times- even ropey for a PL centre half.  And I agree on the point about concentration too.

We've seen how Jagielka, anotherwise decent centre half, doesn't look cut out for the elite level. Baker is a couple of notches below Jagielka.

He has time on his side. Different players develop at different rates.  For him, the penny might drop when he is 25/26. But for now, he is isn't even ready to be a regular in our side, nevermind talk of international football.   

[paul_e]

I like Nathan, but he is some way off international football. 

His positioning is -at times- even ropey for a PL centre half.  And I agree on the point about concentration too.

We've seen how Jagielka, anotherwise decent centre half, doesn't look cut out for the elite level. Baker is a couple of notches below Jagielka.

He has time on his side. Different players develop at different rates.  For him, the penny might drop when he is 25/26. But for now, he is isn't even ready to be a regular in our side, nevermind talk of international football.   

over 100 senior professional appearances now though, The concentration issue (which underpins the positioning issue) I can hold out a little longer for but his passing is a big concern. Last season he averaged 23 passes a game at 68% completion so 7-8 passes per game that he's given the ball away, even if some of those are long punts up field it's still far too high.


Vlaar, in the same team and with the same focus on booting it up field, averaged 80%, which is much closer to what should be expected.


Clark had a bad year last season (after starting well) and even still he was 73%, he's normally up around 80% as well.

[KevinGage]

He'll never be a great passer from the back, but then neither were Teale, Ehiogu, Collins, Dunne or countless others.

The game has changed, but he is more in the traditional mould of a stopper.  There is still a role for a player like that (though maybe not as first pick for the better sides).   He does need to work on his distribution, if only to move it up from suspect to functional. Simple passes from left to right he is OK with. Left to left or using his right peg is clearly an issue.

[SoccerHQ]

He's actually not too bad against the top teams, he frequently has brilliant games against Chelsea at home.

He was awful end of last season and that was mostly against bottom half teams in the run in.

[Dave]

Is there anybody ahead of Baker as this year's player of the season so far?

Damning with the very faintest of praise, but I don't think we've had too many better players up to now.

[Ron Manager]

Is there anybody ahead of Baker as this year's player of the season so far?

Damning with the very faintest of praise, but I don't think we've had too many better players up to now.

Alan Hutton

[LeeB]

Is there anybody ahead of Baker as this year's player of the season so far?

Damning with the very faintest of praise, but I don't think we've had too many better players up to now.

Alan Hutton

I was going to post that, put Baker seems to be doing the seemingly impossible in this team, namely improving.

[eric woolban woolban]

Any news on what injury Baker suffered after being stretchered off?

[SoccerHQ]

Improving but he is made of glass.

Thought he was going off in the first half when he seemed to do his hamstring.

The injuries disrupt the good form he's in.