Context
A year and a half ago, I wrote “Scouting Carlos Baleba.” A lot’s changed since then. Baleba’s gone from having one of the best seasons ever for an under-21 midfielder to being substituted 20 minutes into a match and benched for James Milner. Even still, I don’t think that reflects the player he actually is. Instead, I think it says more about the circumstances around him. So, I think it’s time to write “Scouting Carlos Baleba (Again)”. 10/10 for the creative title, I reckon.
I’m going to be quite careful not to revisit my previous piece, which I’ll link below, so that I’m not subconsciously influenced by what I thought at the time. I imagine my broad view remains the same, but anyhow, I’ll have a section comparing then and now towards the end. This should also help explain why his form dropped off last season.
For now, though, let’s get into it, because there are a few misconceptions about Baleba, particularly about his ability to receive between the CBs, that irk me.
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Principles
I’ll boil Baleba’s play down to two main principles, because they’re rarely found together and are what make him stand out.
The first is built around the efficiency of his touch. Baleba’s game boils down to: minimise touches when passing, using whichever foot best suits the individual pass, whilst maximising them when carrying, touching the ball with every stride [Fig. 1 in “The Data”].
Minimising the touches required for each pass means he’s good at playing one-twos and getting the ball out of his feet in general, whilst maximising them when carrying lets him use his agility while retaining greater control over the ball.
The same efficiency appears in how he controls the ball. Baleba is great at trapping passes played across him, which means he’s able to pounce on a loose pass and, in one motion, set it into his path for his next movement, which, naturally, is to drive with the ball.
This just smooths the entire process, and therefore increases the speed with which he’s able to recover the ball from deeper areas and bring it to the edge of the box, naturally fulfilling the hardest part of playing football:
In other words, he makes magic happen.
The second principle is his ability to navigate uncomfortable situations. I really cannot overemphasise just how good Baleba is at getting a pass off, no matter how awkwardly close the ball is to his body, whether he’s been thrown off balance or is being pressed by an army that wouldn’t look out of place in Troy. All of this bodes well for his press resistance: he can come up with unconventional solutions, execute them and avoid being caught flat-footed. Consequently, his ball retention is quite good.
These qualities are great to have in any midfielder, especially one who’s absurdly strong. They can also be explained, at least in part, by his development as a winger. Growing up, Baleba was told by his dad that he had to play like Ronaldinho, and was even likened to Maradona by his friends.
This Maradona comparison is especially interesting to me. Baleba played as a right winger growing up. He’s left-footed. Left-footed players are naturally more susceptible than right-footers to having their options biased by angles. I understand the whole wrong-footed winger thing, particularly as Fabian Hürzeler developed an unhealthy obsession with it during his first season at Brighton, but it was still a relatively big change for Baleba to play through at 13. Yet development isn’t linear, and Baleba’s right foot is pretty darn good now.
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Top work mate
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I really loved the reflection on the previous article at the end; after this past year, I've come to view him in a new light as well. When I saw that news about him celebrating with Fabian, I suddenly felt he was such a lovely person, but the football world seems far too crazy for him.
Who do you think the RCM helping him is? is it Wieffer or Gross? I don't reckon Yalcouye, Gomez or Ayari could pull it off.