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Leighton Baines: England's Best Left-Back Ahead Of Ashley Cole?

Leighton Baines: England's Best Left-Back Ahead Of Ashley Cole?
Samuel Luckhurst

News Ashley Cole was out injured for England's World Cup qualifier with Montenegro on Friday prompted some pessimistic reactions when he is not even his country's best left-back.

Leighton Baines was named in the Premier League Team of the Year for the last two seasons and Manchester United fans are now ruing their club's failure not to sign the 28-year-old from Everton.

Unlike the majority of their areas, England are blessed with four excellent left-backs. Arsenal's assured Kieran Gibbs has been drafted into the squad following Cole's rib problem and Southampton's 18-year-old Luke Shaw is a genuinely exciting prospect.

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The changing of the guard?

Baines is comfortably the best of the quartet, though. Everton fans could handle Marouane Fellaini's departure but had Baines swapped Manchester for Merseyside the acrimony might have had theatrical chairman Bill Kenwright in tears.

And it is testament to the Liverpudlian's class he has recovered from that Wembley nightmare against Mexico three years ago.

With weeks to go until the 2010 World Cup, Baines played his worst game at the worst possible time and was dropped by Fabio Capello in favour of Stephen Warnock.

Leighton Baines' England appearances
England v Egypt - International Friendly(01 of19)
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LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 03: Leighton Baines of England clears the ball away from Ahmed Al-Muhammadi of Egypt during the International Friendly match between England and Egypt at Wembley Stadium on March 3, 2010 in London, England. (Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
England v Mexico - International Friendly(02 of19)
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LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 24: Leighton Baines of England reaches out for the ball after being fouled by Giovanni Dos Santos of Mexico during the International Friendly match between England and Mexico at Wembley Stadium on May 24, 2010 in London, England. (Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
Soccer - International Friendly - Denmark v England - Parken Stadium(03 of19)
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England's Leighton Baines (L) battles in the air with Denmark's Thomas Enevoldsen (credit:PA)
England v Ghana - International Friendly(04 of19)
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LONDON, ENGLAND - MARCH 29: Leighton Baines of England (L) clashes with Dominic Adiyiah of Ghana during the international friendly match between England and Ghana at Wembley Stadium on March 29, 2011 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
England v Switzerland - EURO 2012 Qualifier(05 of19)
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LONDON, ENGLAND - JUNE 04: Stephan Lichtsteiner of Switzerland (L) tackles Leighton Baines of England during the UEFA EURO 2012 group G qualifying match between England and Switzerland at Wembley Stadium on June 4, 2011 in London, England. (Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
England v Sweden - International Friendly(06 of19)
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LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 15: Christian Wilhelmsson of Sweden (L) tangles with Leighton Baines of England during the international friendly match between England and Sweden at Wembley Stadium on November 15, 2011 in London, England. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
England v Netherlands - International Friendly(07 of19)
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LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 29: Leighton Baines (R) of England battles for the ball with Arjen Robben of Netherlands during the international friendly match between England and Netherlands at Wembley Stadium on February 29, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
England's Leighton Baines (R) vies for t(08 of19)
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England's Leighton Baines (R) vies for the ball with Norway's Tarik Elyounoussi during the International friendly football match between Norway and England at Ullevaal Stadium in Oslo on May 26, 2012. AFP PHOTO / DANIEL SANNUM LAUTEN (Photo credit should read DANIEL SANNUM LAUTEN/AFP/GettyImages) (credit:Getty Images)
England v Italy - International Friendly(09 of19)
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BERN, SWITZERLAND - AUGUST 15: Leighton Baines of England in action during the international friendly match between England and Italy at Stade de Suisse, Wankdorf on August 15, 2012 in Bern, Switzerland. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
Moldova v England - FIFA 2014 World Cup Qualifier(10 of19)
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CHISINAU, MOLDOVA - SEPTEMBER 07: Leighton Baines of England celebrates scoring to make it 5-0 during the FIFA 2014 World Cup qualifier match between Moldova and England at Zimbru Stadium on September 7, 2012 in Chisinau, Moldova. (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
England v Ukraine - FIFA 2014 World Cup Qualifier(11 of19)
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LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 11: Leighton Baines of England in action during the FIFA 2014 World Cup Group H qualifying match between England and Ukraine at Wembley Stadium on September 11, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
England v San Marino - FIFA 2014 World Cup Qualifier(12 of19)
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LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 12: Leighton Baines of England in action during the FIFA 2014 World Cup Group H qualifying match between England and San Marino at Wembley Stadium on October 12, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
FBL-WC2014-SWE-ENG-FRIENDLY(13 of19)
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Sweden's midfielder Sebastian Larsson (L) vies with England's defender Leighton Baines during the FIFA World Cup 2014 friendly match England vs Sweden in Stockholm, Sweden on November 14, 2012. AFP PHOTO / JONATHAN NACKSTRAND (Photo credit should read JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
Soccer - International Friendly - England v Brazil - Wembley Stadium(14 of19)
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England's Leighton Baines (right) and Brazil's David Luiz battle for the ball (credit:PA)
San Marino v England - FIFA 2014 World Cup Qualifier(15 of19)
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SERRAVALLE, SAN MARINO - MARCH 22: Leighton Baines of England takes on the San Marino defence during the FIFA 2014 World Cup Qualifier Group H match between San Marino and England at Serravalle Stadium on March 22, 2013 in Serravalle, San Marino. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
Soccer - International Friendly - England v Republic of Ireland - Wembley Stadium(16 of19)
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Republic of Ireland's Shane Long (left) and England's Leighton Baines (right) battle for the ball in the air (credit:PA)
Brazil v England - International Friendly(17 of19)
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RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - JUNE 02: Leighton Baines of England runs with the ball during the International Friendly match between Brazil and England at Maracana on June 2, 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Friedemann Vogel/Getty Images) (credit:Getty Images)
Soccer - Vauxhall International Friendly - England v Scotland - Wembley Stadium(18 of19)
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England's Leighton Baines in action (credit:PA)
Soccer - 2014 FIFA World Cup - Qualifier - Group H - England v Moldova - Wembley Stadium(19 of19)
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England's Leighton Baines (right) and Moldova's Alexandr Antoniuc battle for the ball (credit:PA)

Coupled with that display, Baines gave an interview before the trip to South Africa outlining how "homesick" he would get at the tournament, which convinced Capello to cut him from the 23-man squad.

His club form has improved year-by-year, though, and he is unfortunate to have competed with Cole, one of the best full-backs of his generation.

While Cole is still probably Roy Hodgson's first choice, he shouldn't be. He has performed brilliantly at two World Cups and was the best of an abysmal bunch in 2010 but no longer offers a genuine attacking threat like other outstanding left-backs.

Baines is now in the class of David Alaba, Jordi Alba and Philipp Lahm (when he plays there).

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