One of the pleasant surprises of this season has been Chris Baird morphing into a very tidy central midfielder. Perhaps we shouldn’t be all that astonished considering that Baird has filled this role with distinction for Northern Ireland in the past but he solved a real headache for Roy Hodgson at a time when injuries threatened to ravage the Fulham squad.
Just last night, I was talking with two Fulham fans who both felt that Baird offered a hell of a lot more in the holding role than Dickson Etuhu. They also felt that Baird isn’t as limited as Etuhu and could probably do more than just drop anchor in the middle of the park. His range of passing was something I commented on after the Roma home game and we should also reflect on just how well Baird’s come back from a nightmare first six months at the Cottage, when some Fulham fans were getting on the back of their own player.
Hodgson’s certainly been impressed with the manner in which Baird has taken his chance.
I think he’s got a lot of competition for that place, he knows that. The fact that he’s a utility man gives him more chance of playing than if he only had one position he could play in.
At the moment, since he’s come into that role he’s done extremely well alongside Jonathan Greening and Danny Murphy. Now he’s making it harder for Dickson Etuhu and Kagisho Dikgacoi to break into the team.
We’ve used a lot of players this year. There are a lot of players taking part who hardly got a look in last year. We’ve needed the squad and with all the games we’ve got, we’re still going to need them. Whilst people like Chris Baird are playing so well it’s a great advantage for me because I know that I’ve got good players battering the door down to get into the team.
Hodgson picks up on Baird being singled out when he was playing in the wrong position under Lawrie Sanchez too.
I think he was harshly and perhaps unfairly judged before, playing at a time when things weren’t going well for the Club, playing in a position [right-back] which is arguably his least favourite position. He can play at right full-back but his more favoured positions would be centre back or in central midfield.
Unfortunately when the team was being tarred with a somewhat negative brush, a lot of the tar stuck on him. Since I’ve worked with him he’s always impressed me with his ability and the things he can do. It’s just great that, due to an injury, he got his chance and he’s grabbed it with both hands.
I’d like to think that during the two years we’ve worked together his game is perhaps better now than it was two years ago – but you’d have to ask him that. But it’s certainly not changed to the extent that he’s gone from someone who was a very poor player into a good player. He’s always been a good player, now he’s getting the chance to show it.
Long may it continue.
My support of Baird is well documented. I think, however, that it is precisely his decent passing range that had a negative impact on his game when he first came to the club.
Whilst we know that he does not like playing at right-back, one can see why Sanchez decided to play him there. Of the defenders we had at the club (Konchesky, Knight, Hughes, Bocanegra, Stefanovic, Volz, Pearce), Baird is probably the one who is best with the ball at his feet and passing it. In fact, on his early showings when he wasn’t being destroyed down the flanks, I remember some supporters saying that he was the best ball-playing right-back we had since Finnan. As a result, you can perhaps see why Sanchez thought we would be gaining something by playing him at full-back – a defensive role where his passing could be utilized in our attacks, putting crosses into the box for McBride to latch onto.
However, the problem really stemmed from his lack of pace. If he was in an advanced area (in a position to cross the ball into the box), and a team-mate lost the ball, Baird would be hopelessly out of position, and didn’t have the speed to get back. Somebody like Pantsil does – if he makes an error, he tends to have the pace to atone for it. Baird’s defensive qualities (reading the game, heading the ball, making interceptions and blocks) are not utilized at all at full-back, and his deficits (mainly lack of pace) are cruelly exposed when the likes of a rampant Ashley Young was running towards him, turning him inside out.
A central role is certainly the best place for him. Whether that is in defence or midfield remains to be seen. In midfield, his reading of the game has added another defensive element to our game – you so often see him picking off passes to the opponent’s 10 or playmaker (the Robbie Keanes or Frank Lampards); and in centre midfield, you are far less likely to have speedy, tricky players running full pelt right at you. With three attacking midfielders alongside him (Murphy, Dempsey and Duff), we can perhaps afford to have a midfielder to shield the back four and play simple passes.
However, whilst his passing is decent, he doesn’t have any creativity at all, and perhaps needs an extra touch before passing the ball, putting more pressure on Murphy. And in games such as Stoke away, he doesn’t have the physical presence of an Etuhu that is perhaps needed.
Baird has certainly done an excellent role in midfield, and provides us with yet another type of player there. In addition, his new role in a more advanced position has also led to more game time for Chris Smalling – and that can only be a good thing.