During our recent question and answer session on the Stacey West Podcast, Chris and I were asked who we’d put into the first team, if both were both fully fit: Ivan Varfolomeev or Tom Bayliss.
It’s a great question, and assumes we’d put Player of the Season candidate Conor McGrandles in automatically (which is the correct assumption). Both Tom and Ivan are good players, and both are first team quality with zero doubt.
I even delved into the numbers on air, and while Ivan’s sample size is smaller, they were remarkably similar. In League One, Tom Bayliss averages 3.85 interceptions per 90 in League One, contests 11.49 duels of which he’s won 52.1% and plays 29.45 passes per 90 at 78.2% accuracy, of which 5.11 are to the final third with a 61% accuracy.
Ivan, from fewer League One minutes, averages 3.84 interceptions per 90 in League One, contests 12.19 duels of which he’s won 54.8% and plays 29.22 passes per 90 at 73.1% accuracy, of which 4.68 are to the final third with a 64.3% accuracy.
I’ve bolded the numbers so you can see there’s barely a cigarette paper between them. When pushed, who did Gary and Chris say they’d rather have in the first team?
Gary Argues Tom Bayliss
I’m a Tom Bayliss fan, I like his technique and the fact that he does a lot of work that few appreciate. There is a misconception that he’s more lightweight than our other midfielders, but it’s not right.
That is why I picked Tom, live on air, as my gut answer to the question.
“That’s a great question,” I answered. “It is a good question, and I don’t think people will expect this answer.
“I would still rather start with a fit Tom Bayliss, because I think the way that we play, having that little bit of a spark and that little bit of creativity, really matters. He can carry the ball really well.
“I mean, it is literally six of one and half a dozen of the other, swings and roundabouts, do you know what I mean? There just isn’t a huge amount to choose between them.
“But I think long term, even as a replacement for Conor McGrandles, Bayliss is just a slightly different profile. So I am going to pick Tom Bayliss.”
Chris Argues Ivan Varfolomeev
Eventually, after trying to sit on the fence, Chris backed Ivan for the spot. Again, it’s so close that it really doesn’t matter which of them plays, and I’m not sure if that reflects better on Tom, matching our club record signing, or Ivan, settling into a division others have played in for many seasons.
“It’s weird, because I think you can see Bayliss and McGrandles as two quite different players, whereas Ivan is almost like an in-between of both of them, isn’t he?
“He’s got the set piece delivery that Bayliss has, or certainly elements of that. We’ve seen that. So the dead balls, which we often praise Tom for quite a bit, I think Ivan can fill in there.
“What Ivan probably isn’t quite so adept at is driving forward. So if we’re playing those two deeper midfielders and there’s space to run into with the ball, Tom Bayliss is brilliant at doing that. I haven’t really seen that from Ivan. It’s probably not so much his game.
“But I would say Ivan is probably better at winning the ball back than Tom Bayliss. I think that side of Bayliss’ game is underrated and the numbers have backed that up, but Ivan has shown himself to be exemplary in that area.
“Oh, I haven’t answered the question, have I? I’m going to say Ivan, but it’s really close.”
Who would you pick for the Imps starting XI, were both fit? it’s a great debate, and we had fun chatting about it on the podcast, so if you need to catch up, listen back here.