Amid Everton's current battle to stave off relegation, one concern for manager Sean Dyche will be the lack of a reliable, experienced option at left-back, with Ben Godfrey having been deployed as something of a makeshift option in recent games.
While the recent draw with Tottenham Hotspur did see the Englishman impress due to his 'athleticism and physicality' – according to the Echo's Chris Beesley – the 25-year-old does need to show 'more composure at times', with that perhaps stemming from the fact that the former Norwich City man is typically suited to a centre-back berth.
The fact that the York native is starting ahead of usual full-back Vitaliy Mykolenko is a marker of the latter man's struggles during his time in England to date, with the former Dynamo Kyiv ace – who arrived at Goodison on a £17.9m deal in January 2022 – having been described as the "defensive weak link" in the side by journalist Richard Buxton.
Those woes are laid bare by the fact that the Ukrainian has won just 49% of his total duels this season and been dribbled past on average 0.6 times per game from his 28 Premier League appearances, having notably looked 'slightly out of his depth' in the Merseyside derby defeat earlier this year, according to 90min's Jude Summerfield.
The 23-year-old has also been unable to make his mark in an attacking sense after failing to provide a single goal involvement in the league this season, with it hard to see just what the 5 foot 11 man is offering to Dyche and co.
As such, the former Burnley boss no doubt wishes he was able to call upon a beloved figure of the club's past in the form of Leighton Baines, with the now-retired ace likely to have made a real impact on this struggling side when in his prime.
How good was Leighton Baines?
While the Merseysiders have also had Lucas Digne on their books in recent years, even the current Aston Villa man was unable to get anywhere close to emulating the brilliant consistency of Baines at left-back, with the former England international having enjoyed a stellar 13-year stint at the club as a player.
Now working with the club's youth stars following his retirement in 2020, the 38-year-old was initially snapped up from Wigan Athletic by David Moyes back in 2007, with the Scotsman able to strike a deal for what proved to be a bargain price of just £6m.
Despite attracting attention throughout his time at Goodison – having notably been the subject of an offer from Manchester United in 2013 following Moyes' move to Old Trafford – the Kirkby-born ace remained loyal to the club for over a decade, repeatedly churning out impressive displays down the left flank.
Hailed as "unbelievable" by ex-teammate Steve Pienaar in 2019, Baines was something of an attacking weapon from his full-back berth, having ended his Premier League career with 32 goals and 53 assists to his name – the latter tally currently the second-most of any defender in the competition's history.
With a "wand of a left foot" – in the words of pundit Kevin Phillips – the 30-cap menace was able to cause carnage both from open play and from set pieces, with Dyche likely to love having such a creative asset in his ranks.
As Phillips also noted, the 5 foot 7 machine is a true club "legend" and was always a "nine out of ten every week", with such consistency a rare commodity – particularly over such a lengthy period of time.
While Everton do need to look to the future and try and sort out the mess that they have found themselves in, it is rather frustrating that they can't call upon legendary figures of the past, like Baines, to revive their fortunes.
