Everton’s recent draw at Chelsea had David Moyes calling Leighton Baines the second best left-back in the league as the defender’s impressive display helped rescue a 1-1 draw against the out-of-sorts champions. Last weekend, the defender continued his recent good form with yet another eye-catching performance in Everton’s home draw with Wigan.
Baines picked up 3 Fantasy Premier League (FPL) Bonus Points as he caused Roberto Martinez’s side problems from the first to the last whistle and although Moyes’ side still struggle in the bottom half of the table, their left-back is continuing to accumulate the Fantasy points.
Moyes’ decision to field Seamus Coleman as a right midfielder has garnered the young Irishman much Fantasy attention as an Out-of-Position defender, but as this “Average Position” map below-taken from the Wigan match – shows, it is Baines who is actually playing further forward, despite taking to the pitch as a left-back.
Baines (3) was not just more attacking than Coleman (23), he was also further forward than any of Everton’s midfield, creating chance after chance for the home side; once again, it was simply poor finishing that denied both the club a valuable win and Baines a much-deserved assist or two.
His goal-shy players are a source of frustration right now for Moyes, as the Everton boss pondered post-match:
I don’t think you get better chances in the Premier League than we did today. The longer we didn’t take them the more frustrated we got and the more anxiety came into our play and the crowd. We just have to take those chances. The worrying thing is we are not beating teams at Goodison who, over the years, we have done.
I am saying ‘Is it something else other than just not scoring goals?’ and I am finding it hard to look further than that. It wasn’t just the centre-forward today, there were chances shared around the team and no-one converted any of them. The anxiety is coming from the form and our position (two points above the relegation zone). We are all wondering where we are going to score a goal.
For as much as they are currently not taking them, at least -thanks mainly to Baines- Everton are creating chances aplenty. A look at the chalkboards below illustrates just how much of a threat Baines was on Saturday in comparison to Coleman in terms of balls into the box. Through either his corner-kick duties or balls delivered from the left flank, Baines’ delivery was always menacing.
When combined with the number of passes each player made against Wigan, the Heat Map chalkboards below give further indication of just how attacking Baines’ role is. He made 87% of all passes in the Wigan half compared to Coleman’s 83%, but there is substantial difference when you consider Baines made a total of 62 passes, whereas Coleman made just 27.
At £7.2m in FPL, Baines may be the pricier of the two, but a look at his playing time this season shows he has not missed a single minute of Everton’s league campaign and provides a surety of selection £4.9m Coleman cannot. For defenders, his six assists is twice the amount of second-best Ashley Cole and, in addition, Baines currently has the second-best points haul of any defender in FPL, despite the fact that Saturday’s goalless draw was his team’s first clean sheet in seven league matches.
With the likes of Chris Brunt, Charles N’Zogbia, Matt Eterington, Charlie Adam and Kevin Nolan offering great mid-priced midfield options, many Fantasy Managers have cash to spare and although Baines is one of the costliest defenders, he still offers better value-for-money than most. Those with Tim Cahill for Everton cover could do worse than consider him as an alternative, given the Australian’s imminent Asian Cup duties.
Everton are renowned for picking up the pace in the second half of the season and if Moyes can inspire them to repeat last season’s brilliant turnaround, Baines should see his Fantasy points swell even further.
