Leighton Baines VS Ashley Cole

By Adedayo Ayodele

Here is my take on Baines vs. Cole debate.

I can only assume Baines was picked over A.Cole due to his excellent delivery from set-piece, as in my humble opinion Cole is a much better defender although he didn't play much last season (but still a great left-back for me).

But shouldn't Hodgson allocate that specific task to Gerrard who top the Premier League assist from set-piece last season?

The same season in which Baines was not amongst the top 10 in assist, let alone assist from set-piece. Even worse decision to choose Baines over Cole considering England's drop of quality in the centerback area (Terry-Ferdinand to Cahill-Jagielka), where Cole would've made a world of difference. 

Not a dig at Baines (I think he's a good player) just perplexed over Hodgson's decision on this one. If it were me, I would've brought Cole AND Baines (and play them in that order), and left Shaw at home.

Classic example of Hodgson picking "flavor of the weeks" over better performers for that particular tasks. oh well, seems its late already.. Btw, Johnson shouldn't start any more games for England and Liverpool.