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Milan Baros stuck in neutral
Comments (1)
Sunday, January 28, 2007 | 08:34 PM ET
Going nowhere in England, Milan Baros hopes a move to France can resuscitate his career.
Last Monday, the Czech Republic forward was dealt by Premiership side Aston Villa to five-time French league champions Olympique Lyon, with Norwegian forward John Carew heading in the other direction.
After five years of futility in England – first with Liverpool and then with Aston Villa – Baros heads to France where he will be reunited with the man who was responsible for bringing him to England in the first place: Lyon manager Gerard Houllier.
It was Houllier who signed Baros from Czech team Banik Ostrava in 2002 during his reign as Liverpool manager. A fine tactician, Houllier was renowned for his peculiar moves in the transfer market during his time at Liverpool: the list of players that he bought who turned out to be major busts was long.
The signing of Baros was one of the few shrewd moves Houllier made, or so it seemed at first.
The Czech forward showed great promise in his first season at Anfield, scoring nine goals in 27 appearances. Not a bad scoring record, but not great, either.
He suffered through serious injury problems during the 2003-04 campaign, but he rebounded at Euro 2004, distinguishing himself with his scoring touch and deadly finishing by scoring five goals for the Czech Republic and winning the Golden Boot as the tournament's top scorer.
His outstanding showing in Portugal in helping his country reached the semifinals made him the subject of interest from some of the top clubs across Europe. Real Madrid and Juventus were just two of the more high-profile suitors.
Baros seemed to be back on top and bagged another respectable nine goals 26 appearances for Liverpool in the 2004-05 season. It would be his last season at Liverpool, however; in the summer of 2005, manager Rafael Benitez bought Peter Crouch and Baros became surplus to needs and was sold to Aston Villa.
Baros scored eight goals (again, a good tally, but not great) in his first season at Villa Park, but he stumbled through the first half of the current Premiership campaign with only one goal in 17 games.
Having scored just 28 goals over the course of five years, Baros leaves England with something to prove. He is a forward of great virtue (speed and exquisite ball control among them), but he lacks that killer instinct in front of the net.
He's been touted as one of the game's top forwards, but his inconsistent form over the years says otherwise, his exceptional play at Euro 2004 notwithstanding.
Now, at 25 years of age, Lyon could be his last shot at redemption because if he can't make a go of it France, no other major club will want to take a chance on him.
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About the Author
John F. Molinaro is a reporter for CBC Sport Online whose chief love is international soccer. John served as senior editor of Sports Online's Euro 2004 website, which helped him win a CBC.ca Award of Excellence, and was the driving force behind our coverage of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He holds an honours BA in sociology from York University and a print journalism diploma from Sheridan College, and is also the author of The Top 100 Pro Wrestlers of All Time (Stewart House, 2002).
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Comments (1)
whc534
toronto
Milan Baros is indeed a good player. He has potential, but he has been in the "players with potential who are busts" group for far too long.
He did have that injury as mentioned in the article here, but he needs to make a go of it desparately in France. He has the talent but he needs to find the rhythm to be consistent over a period of time. Not just short bursts.
Posted January 31, 2007 05:20 PM