Alejandro "Álex" Baena Rodríguez

[Misfit]

bald?

Can't beat the first man with crosses

 

[hero]

Is CAA Stellar and CAA Base aligne

Stellar is the Gareth Bale's agent agency.

 

[PCozzie]

Is CAA Stellar and CAA Base aligned?

"Hey, CAA have been on the phone. They want to represent you."

"Yes! This is the BIG time! CAA Stellar yeah?"

"Um...no...CAA Base"

"Ohhhh"

 

[Ghost Hardware]

As an AM competing with Maddison? Absolutely, superb potential.

As a winger in our current system? Nailed on disaster.

You can ask @Ghost Hardware for more on this, pretty sure he will agree with me that the only way Baena fits in wide for us is with a complete overhaul of our attacking structure.

He’s 100% a creative AM not a WF. To emphasise this you can see from the chart below how much he drifts central when playing wide. This is what he does and where he is by far most dangerous. And he really is dangerous. He averages around 4.3 successful passes into the box per game from the positions he currently operates in which is the second highest in the league. No surprise as he leads the league in assists but still I feel the stats show it’s not a fluke he’s top.

Could he play on the wing for us from a technical point of view? To a basic degree possibly yes, he’s fast and a better dribbler than his stats suggest imo, but probably on the right rather than the left due to his tendency to cut in and a reluctance to use his left (from what I’ve seen at least). However as I said in my opening post I really struggle to see him being effective so wide with any real regularity. He just isn’t a touchline winger. At all.

He is by far his best operating in between the lines in the left half space. This is where he causes most problems for the opposition. Obviously as the graph below shows he drifts around a lot and it’s that lack of an anchored position that makes him such a threat. He’s hard to pin down and that is something that should be encouraged as he develops not curtailed imo. By forcing him to stay wide you would essentially be limiting his game and negating what makes him so effective.

Essentially he could play WF in our system from time to time but i really don’t see it working with any regularity unless we are planning to change our system. He is a quality player tho just not the answer to our issues on the wing, I don’t really see him adding much of anything to our wing play tbh.

And to add further watch these extended highlights from Villarreal’s win against Osasuna from earlier in the season. This was an excellent performance from Baena, you only see glimpse of it unfortunately, who was directly involved in two goals. This is him starting on the “wing” btw, as you can see he spends very little time there. He is number 16.



(On a side note he actually reminds me of a more developed Soulé who you know I’m a big fan of. If anything I’d actually say Soulé is more of a winger but they have a similar skill set and vision)

 

[alexis]

He’s 100% a creative AM not a WF. To emphasise this you can see from the chart below how much he drifts central when playing wide. This is what he does and where he is by far most dangerous. And he really is dangerous. He averages around 4.3 successful passes into the box per game from the positions he currently operates in which is the second highest in the league. No surprise as he leads the league in assists but still I feel the stats show it’s not a fluke he’s top.

Could he play on the wing for us from a technical point of view? To a basic degree possibly yes, he’s fast and a better dribbler than his stats suggest imo, but probably on the right rather than the left due to his tendency to cut in and a reluctance to use his left (from what I’ve seen at least). However as I said in my opening post I really struggle to see him being effective so wide with any real regularity. He just isn’t a touchline winger. At all.

He is by far his best operating in between the lines in the left half space. This is where he causes most problems for the opposition. Obviously as the graph below shows he drifts around a lot and it’s that lack of an anchored position that makes him such a threat. He’s hard to pin down and that is something that should be encouraged as he develops not curtailed imo. By forcing him to stay wide you would essentially be limiting his game and negating what makes him so effective.

Essentially he could play WF in our system from time to time but i really don’t see it working with any regularity unless we are planning to change our system. He is a quality player tho just not the answer to our issues in the wing, I don’t really see him adding much of anything to our wing play tbh.

View attachment 139412
And to add further watch these extended highlights from
Villarreal win against Osasuna from earlier in the season. This was an excellent performance from Basra, you only see glimpse of it unfortunately, who was directly involved in two goals. This is him starting on the “wing” btw, as you can see he spends very little time there. He is number 16.



(On a side note he actually reminds me of a more developed Soulé who you know I’m a big fan of. If anything I’d actually say Soulé is more of a winger but they have a similar skill set and vision)

Very annoying commentary by someone determined to show off their Spanish pronunciation

 

[yellowbean]

Never seen him play, my La Liga viewing days ended when sky stopped their coverage, but im not really keen going for another diminutive talent from that league. Just feels players from other leagues like Serie A and the Bundesliga adjust better to the rigours of the Premier league.

 

[jurgen]

Interesting how few links to 1 on 1 specialist dribbler wingers we have had since Ange arrived, compared to the amount of people calling for one.

That's not to say it wouldn't be good to have, and we won't sign someone like that, but when you look at the efficiency of Johnson (who has had a slightly mixed reception on here until recently) compared with the darling Doku, maybe Ange has other ideas about the best way to score goals in this league.

 

[Dunc2610]

Interesting how few links to 1 on 1 specialist dribbler wingers we have had since Ange arrived, compared to the amount of people calling for one.

That's not to say it wouldn't be good to have, and we won't sign someone like that, but when you look at the efficiency of Johnson (who has had a slightly mixed reception on here until recently) compared with the darling Doku, maybe Ange has other ideas about the best way to score goals in this league.

I think Ange prefers versatility over specialism

 

[djhotspur]

Interesting how few links to 1 on 1 specialist dribbler wingers we have had since Ange arrived, compared to the amount of people calling for one.

That's not to say it wouldn't be good to have, and we won't sign someone like that, but when you look at the efficiency of Johnson (who has had a slightly mixed reception on here until recently) compared with the darling Doku, maybe Ange has other ideas about the best way to score goals in this league.

Maybe, but city still have grealish, doku, they've just signed another specialist 1v1 that is joining in the summer, most of the best teams in the world have very good, fast dribbling wingers.

 

[dontcallme]

Never heard of him but will be devastated if we don’t buy him.

 

[spursville]

This always makes me laugh because judgements on a players character and/or stuff he may or may not have done almost certainly come from people who've done nasty or stupid things at some point in their lives as well. And almost certainly some of you, in real life, have the morals of a polecat. Not wanting Spurs to sign him for what? Something he might have done? And if he did, as unsavoury as the alleged whatever might be, is there no room for regret and learning a lesson?

It's the constant and totally unforgiving nature of it. Some of you must lead fucking perfect lives and for those who actually don't, have you ever got past a mistake, regretted it? Or do people have to hold it against you for the rest of your life. And I couldn't give a 9 inch shit with added sweetcorn about the standards footballers are held to, they are also fallible and human.

TBH I don't much care what he's supposedly done, nothing is proven and if he plays well for Spurs and behaves himself, that'll do for me.

Fucking dickpickles.

PS: I know i'm going to leave myself open to 'clever' comments on this and I won't be forgiving you

Good post. I guess we all draw the line somewhere but where? I'd take a peak level Suarez for example (despite the biting etc.) but Greenwood?

 

[dontcallme]

Has a bit of Eriksen about him.

Half of us will constantly spell his name wrong?

 

[Ghost Hardware]

Interesting how few links to 1 on 1 specialist dribbler wingers we have had since Ange arrived, compared to the amount of people calling for one.

That's not to say it wouldn't be good to have, and we won't sign someone like that, but when you look at the efficiency of Johnson (who has had a slightly mixed reception on here until recently) compared with the darling Doku, maybe Ange has other ideas about the best way to score goals in this league.

We’ve been linked to Neto, Raphinha and, just recently, Williams plus last window we were looking at Nusa. I’m fairly confident we will still be targeting a 1v1 WF as I don’t see us suddenly changing our tactics so significantly as to regularly accommodate a wide playmaker who drifts central. The only question is how much money we allocate to what position in the front line.

 

[philll]

Stellar is the Gareth Bale's agent agency.

What a superstar, even his agent has an agent.

 

[bceej]

We’ve been linked to Neto, Raphinha and, just recently, Williams plus last window we were looking at Nusa. I’m fairly confident we will still be targeting a 1v1 WF as I don’t see us suddenly changing our tactics so significantly as to regularly accommodate a wide playmaker who drifts central. The only question is how much money we allocate to what position in the front line.

We might want a central playmaker who can drift wide to rotate with Madison, though. Remember Ange saying that was a quality he liked.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

We might want a central playmaker who can drift wide to rotate with Madison, though. Remember Ange saying that was a quality he liked.

I’m sure we will look for one especially if Gio goes. I don’t see Gio moving on and us not bringing in a playmaker to replace him. My point is more that if we bought Beana I think he would be seen as a playmaker who can play wide on occasion but I also think we will be looking for a 1v1 WF as well considering we have already been linked with quite a few. It’s clearly a profile we want. I don’t think getting one means we won’t get the other.

 

[bceej]

I’m sure we will look for one especially if Gio goes. I don’t see Gio moving on and us not bringing in a playmaker to replace him. My point is more that if we bought Beana I think he would be seen as a playmaker who can play wide on occasion but I also think we will be looking for a 1v1 WF as well considering we have already been linked with quite a few. It’s clearly a profile we want. I don’t think getting one means we won’t get the other.

Does seem to be what the general informed consensus is - fingers crossed.

 

[Yiddo1982]

He look a decent player, but profiles very similarly to Maddison, and our top target should be at 1v1 dribbling winger.

 

[Frozen_Waffles]

He look a decent player, but profiles very similarly to Maddison, and our top target should be at 1v1 dribbling winger.


View attachment 139433

I think we're probably looking for both. Maddison and GLC are the only creative attacking midfielders we have. Presuming Gio goes we'll definitely need one. Especially considering Maddisons injury record.

I always worry about signing from Spain though, the game is so different to the PL, especially in the AM role, he won't get nearly as much space or time in the PL.

Even GLC has struggled, he's had some decent form but has not really lived up to the potential (obviously injuries have played a big part).

Anyway that aside with the Gudmonsson links we are obviously looking for more creativity in the AM role. I imagine this is in addition to a winger who can take on players.

I think we may be signing quite a few players this summer.

 

[Ghost Hardware]

For anyone interested, Baena’s Villarreal take on Williams’s Bilbao in an hour. Both start. Villarreal not having a great season but until their 1-0 loss to Atletico last week were on a 4 match win streak in the league. Should be a good game.