Baldock Interview

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Henry Winter in the Times:

Once it’s safe we’re ready to play, says Sheffield United defender George Baldock

With his brother James a doctor in the NHS, George Baldock can easily keep his sport in perspective during this lengthening pandemic. Yet because Baldock trusts medical advice, he will willingly abide by the guidance of Sheffield United’s medical staff, and the government, and voices his desire to return to the fray when the experts decree it safe.

“Psychologically, I’m 100 per cent ready,” Baldock said via a zoom call this afternoon. “As a footballer I can’t wait. I’m chomping at the bit to get back but we understand we have to listen to the government and the Premier League. It has to be safe for everyone. I am sure they are working hard together to accomplish that. Once they do, I’m sure we have 25 lads here, 100 per cent ready to play.”

When full contact is eventually allowed in training, Baldock knows what the first tackle will be like. “It will be like a Saturday game, that’s the honest truth. If we’re allowed to tackle each other there will be no holds barred, definitely. If you are on the wrong end of one from Jack O’Connell, you’ll feel it.”

Baldock, who attained ten GCSEs at Royal Latin School, Buckingham, and might have followed his mother into teaching but for his passion for football, is a devourer of news, whether the daily 5pm briefings, or listening to all the views on Project Restart, including reservations about resuming voiced by some of his peers.

“I can understand different people’s concerns,” the 27-year-old wing back continued. “I can only tell you what the lads at Sheffield United are saying. We’ve had discussions in group chats. I’ve not seen one person say they don’t want to play. Everyone can’t wait. It’s football, it’s what we love to do. It’s devastating what’s been going on but if the government and the Premier League say it’s safe, and our amazing club doctors are happy with it, then so am I.”

He treads carefully, respectfully, knowing the enormity of what has befallen the country, the world. “I’m almost reluctant to say to people that I’m missing football because I don’t want them to have the attitude that ‘you don’t care about anyone else’. Of course I do. This is awful what’s going on. So many people have lost loved ones. We’ve got people fighting on the frontline for us who’ve lost their lives.

“People are dying. The NHS hasn’t been overwhelmed and thank God they haven’t. They’ve done an amazing job. My older brother is a doctor. He went off and specialised in sports medicine but six weeks ago he got an email and they told him he was being redeployed back into the NHS which was difficult for us.

“Touch wood, he’s been fine. Because he specialises in injuries they put him in A and E but he’s — finger on the button — ready to go. They told him that he needs to be ready for the respiratory systems. For me, my dad, my mum, my other brother, it was scary. One day my dad phoned me saying he was a bit down because of how worried he was.

“What’s happened has definitely put things in perspective and made me more appreciative of playing in front of great crowds week in week out. It’s going to be different going back and playing without fans [with the remaining games behind closed doors]. Our fans are like an extra man. At Bramall Lane, we’ve always thought of it as our fortress and when the going gets tough our fans always seem to raise the noise levels and make it easier for us.

“We’ve just got to get on with it and I’m sure they’ll be in their houses watching it and cheering us on from there. Ideally we’d love them to be there but we understand that that’s not going to happen in the near future.”

As he absorbs all the news, Baldock recalls the health secretary Matt Hancock responding to a question in an early No 10 briefing and saying that footballers should contribute more. “I was actually watching it; it was a little bit of a leading question, and he gave an answer that maybe he regrets. I was a little annoyed. But people in the know realise how much footballers do care. If politicians did come to local communities and see what we do, with charities, he would be a little surprised.”

Baldock was fully supportive of the #PlayersTogether initiative of Premier League dressing-rooms donating to the NHS and key workers. “The lads at Sheffield United were massively into that, it’s a great idea.”

Baldock has had nothing handed to him. He’s worked long and hard to reach the top. He grew up at MK Dons with so much limelight on his precocious brother Sam. “It’s taken me almost until this year to step out of his shadow. Every day I’m striving to be the best.” He’s played in non-League in front of 838 for Tamworth at The Lamb against Ebbsfleet. He’s played in all four divisions.

When Gary Johnson didn’t renew Baldock’s loan spell at Northampton Town, he never gave up. “I’m not one to lay down. I always want to prove people wrong. I’ve always had that in me. That fear of failure spurred me on.” Now, he’s scoring at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. “I always had an inner belief that I could make it to the top, the Premier League, despite at some points people saying they weren’t too sure.”

A loan at Oxford United, and switch to right back, was the making of him. It was these experiences down the pyramid that gave Baldock a respect for clubs outside the elite, and concern for their future during the pandemic. “I do fear for them but I’m also hoping that the powers that be can help. It’s massively important that football in this whole nation has to be saved. I have a lot of friends who are out of contract and in limbo.”

He’s always had this hunger, dating back to Royal Latin. “They were brilliant at rugby and I used to absolutely love rugby. I played full back. I had to sacrifice playing, too many dead legs, too many impact injuries! I didn’t want to miss any football! I remember playing full back, jinking in and out and the agility is what my game is based on now. I was never the biggest growing up so coming up against these big lads I had that competitiveness of not letting them run over you. As a kid it’s important to do other sports. I used to play county cricket for Buckinghamshire and I loved athletics, 1500m was my go-to race.”

That stamina has proved vital in his demanding role as a right wing-back under Chris Wilder. “When I first came to Sheffield United, the sports science team told me I just have to get stronger. I was picking up little niggles and I knew I needed to push my fitness on to another level. They were brilliant. They gave me a programme. I’ve managed to play every minute this season. I feel so fit.

“At the start of this season, I went to the room where the analysts are sat, knocked on the door and said, ‘listen can you show me some clips of certain players, Trent Alexander-Arnold was one, Kyle Walker was one. I got other aspects about Kevin De Bruyne. It’s about an 11-minute video, with clips in there of me from the previous season. I watch it before every game. It helped massively.

“I look at those players with admiration. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s delivery is brilliant, probably the best in the Premier League, him and De Bruyne. Kyle Walker, similar, the positions he takes up, the runs he makes, the overlapping runs, the way he comes narrow to get the ball, makes it unpredictable for the opposition. Me and [Wilder’s assistant] Alan Knill talked about how to move me to the next level. He’s brilliant, great tactician and he also takes his time out to make me better.”


Wilder himself, in Baldock’s phrase, is a mix of the “old school and the new school”.

“He has this ability to always keep you on your toes but at the same time treating you with respect. Everyone knows where they stand with him. If you play well he’s not over the top ‘you’re absolutely brilliant’. After the game against Leicester City, he pulled me up in his office and he said, ‘listen I think you’ve been magnificent this year keep going whatever target you set at the start the season, smash them away and set new ones.’ Because of the respect I have for him, I walked out feeling $1m. But he doesn’t overdo it. He’s a breath of fresh air.”

Wilder criticised his keeper, Dean Henderson, following an error against Liverpool. “He didn’t come in and berate Hendo. He just said, ‘if you’re as good as you say you are you can’t be making those mistakes.’ The next game Hendo was man of the match and the rest is history. He’s been brilliant. The manager’s got this ability to bring you up when you’re down and almost not let you get above yourself.”

Baldock keeps pushing himself, wanting to meet Wilder’s high standards. During lockdown, he’s been watching the Michael Jordan documentary, The Last Dance. “It’s incredible, his relentless desire to win, the way he pushes other players. It inspires me. I always find myself doing an extra training session after watching him. It’s had that real effect on me. I’ve watched every YouTube video on him.

“I had this conscious mindset as soon as the first day of lockdown that I wanted to do things that other people aren’t going to be doing. I wanted to push myself to levels that would give me an advantage, so when we are given the green light to go back, I would be ready and better than I was. I believe I’ve done everything I can. My diet’s been good.”

He’s been on the watt-bike every day and even turned to yoga. “Five days a week I’ve had an individual zoom session with an instructor from Sheffield. I can already see the benefits even today in training, the sports science team said your posture looks so different, you almost look taller, which I could do with. I live in an apartment. I haven’t got the luxury of having a home gym like some Premier League players but I bought a ‘kBox’, an “Exxentric” weight lifting tool [with a flywheel]. I can do my leg weights.”

The club records their weight daily. “We have to take picture of the scales. A few lads have been getting battered for their feet. They put fines in place for everything. There is no hiding place.”

So Baldock was ready for his return to training at Shirecliffe. “It was good. It was obviously a lot different, all the protocols are in place and they’ve been very strict with it. They’ve coned off spaces in the car park, three spaces between each other so there’s no way you getting in close contact with people, even opening the door. You are only in groups of four. You do your pre-activation work at different ends of the area, 10m or 15m away from each other.

“There is also a one-way system they have created around the place. You are always very far away from each other. You do a bit of ball work, then walk all the way round to the Astroturf, where we do a running session, again everyone at different parts of the pitch and then we go into the gym.

“They have cleverly set up some exercises in the indoor dome, so you have all the space, with four people you can be so far away. One person is in the gym with a mask on, it’s just rotated round, then as soon as you are done, you go home in your car, in your own kit. I’m still wearing it!” He’s ready.
 

Fantastic interview, cheers Flawed.

Slightly off subject, wonder if the club has thought about setting up a website link for home games if played at the Lane, where they could play the audio feedback from fans at home, for our home games over the loudspeaker system during the game, to give the players a bit of atmosphere and support esp with the GCB before ko.
You just log in and scream and shout as normal using your phone/laptop/PC.......
Just a thought.

Pretty sure there are plenty of geniuses on here who could help the club set it up

Could be an issue with ya neighbours I suppose

Stuff em though esp if they are porkies
 
If they do manage to get project restart off the ground, i'd back us to be one of the best prepared and ready to go for it. Compare and contrast this attitude with Brighton for example. And it's not like we're ignoring the risks, as George said his brother is a doctor, but as always under Wilder, it's played straight down the middle.
 
Henry Winter in the Times:

Once it’s safe we’re ready to play, says Sheffield United defender George Baldock

With his brother James a doctor in the NHS, George Baldock can easily keep his sport in perspective during this lengthening pandemic. Yet because Baldock trusts medical advice, he will willingly abide by the guidance of Sheffield United’s medical staff, and the government, and voices his desire to return to the fray when the experts decree it safe.

“Psychologically, I’m 100 per cent ready,” Baldock said via a zoom call this afternoon. “As a footballer I can’t wait. I’m chomping at the bit to get back but we understand we have to listen to the government and the Premier League. It has to be safe for everyone. I am sure they are working hard together to accomplish that. Once they do, I’m sure we have 25 lads here, 100 per cent ready to play.”

When full contact is eventually allowed in training, Baldock knows what the first tackle will be like. “It will be like a Saturday game, that’s the honest truth. If we’re allowed to tackle each other there will be no holds barred, definitely. If you are on the wrong end of one from Jack O’Connell, you’ll feel it.”

Baldock, who attained ten GCSEs at Royal Latin School, Buckingham, and might have followed his mother into teaching but for his passion for football, is a devourer of news, whether the daily 5pm briefings, or listening to all the views on Project Restart, including reservations about resuming voiced by some of his peers.

“I can understand different people’s concerns,” the 27-year-old wing back continued. “I can only tell you what the lads at Sheffield United are saying. We’ve had discussions in group chats. I’ve not seen one person say they don’t want to play. Everyone can’t wait. It’s football, it’s what we love to do. It’s devastating what’s been going on but if the government and the Premier League say it’s safe, and our amazing club doctors are happy with it, then so am I.”

He treads carefully, respectfully, knowing the enormity of what has befallen the country, the world. “I’m almost reluctant to say to people that I’m missing football because I don’t want them to have the attitude that ‘you don’t care about anyone else’. Of course I do. This is awful what’s going on. So many people have lost loved ones. We’ve got people fighting on the frontline for us who’ve lost their lives.

“People are dying. The NHS hasn’t been overwhelmed and thank God they haven’t. They’ve done an amazing job. My older brother is a doctor. He went off and specialised in sports medicine but six weeks ago he got an email and they told him he was being redeployed back into the NHS which was difficult for us.

“Touch wood, he’s been fine. Because he specialises in injuries they put him in A and E but he’s — finger on the button — ready to go. They told him that he needs to be ready for the respiratory systems. For me, my dad, my mum, my other brother, it was scary. One day my dad phoned me saying he was a bit down because of how worried he was.

“What’s happened has definitely put things in perspective and made me more appreciative of playing in front of great crowds week in week out. It’s going to be different going back and playing without fans [with the remaining games behind closed doors]. Our fans are like an extra man. At Bramall Lane, we’ve always thought of it as our fortress and when the going gets tough our fans always seem to raise the noise levels and make it easier for us.

“We’ve just got to get on with it and I’m sure they’ll be in their houses watching it and cheering us on from there. Ideally we’d love them to be there but we understand that that’s not going to happen in the near future.”

As he absorbs all the news, Baldock recalls the health secretary Matt Hancock responding to a question in an early No 10 briefing and saying that footballers should contribute more. “I was actually watching it; it was a little bit of a leading question, and he gave an answer that maybe he regrets. I was a little annoyed. But people in the know realise how much footballers do care. If politicians did come to local communities and see what we do, with charities, he would be a little surprised.”

Baldock was fully supportive of the #PlayersTogether initiative of Premier League dressing-rooms donating to the NHS and key workers. “The lads at Sheffield United were massively into that, it’s a great idea.”

Baldock has had nothing handed to him. He’s worked long and hard to reach the top. He grew up at MK Dons with so much limelight on his precocious brother Sam. “It’s taken me almost until this year to step out of his shadow. Every day I’m striving to be the best.” He’s played in non-League in front of 838 for Tamworth at The Lamb against Ebbsfleet. He’s played in all four divisions.

When Gary Johnson didn’t renew Baldock’s loan spell at Northampton Town, he never gave up. “I’m not one to lay down. I always want to prove people wrong. I’ve always had that in me. That fear of failure spurred me on.” Now, he’s scoring at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. “I always had an inner belief that I could make it to the top, the Premier League, despite at some points people saying they weren’t too sure.”

A loan at Oxford United, and switch to right back, was the making of him. It was these experiences down the pyramid that gave Baldock a respect for clubs outside the elite, and concern for their future during the pandemic. “I do fear for them but I’m also hoping that the powers that be can help. It’s massively important that football in this whole nation has to be saved. I have a lot of friends who are out of contract and in limbo.”

He’s always had this hunger, dating back to Royal Latin. “They were brilliant at rugby and I used to absolutely love rugby. I played full back. I had to sacrifice playing, too many dead legs, too many impact injuries! I didn’t want to miss any football! I remember playing full back, jinking in and out and the agility is what my game is based on now. I was never the biggest growing up so coming up against these big lads I had that competitiveness of not letting them run over you. As a kid it’s important to do other sports. I used to play county cricket for Buckinghamshire and I loved athletics, 1500m was my go-to race.”

That stamina has proved vital in his demanding role as a right wing-back under Chris Wilder. “When I first came to Sheffield United, the sports science team told me I just have to get stronger. I was picking up little niggles and I knew I needed to push my fitness on to another level. They were brilliant. They gave me a programme. I’ve managed to play every minute this season. I feel so fit.

“At the start of this season, I went to the room where the analysts are sat, knocked on the door and said, ‘listen can you show me some clips of certain players, Trent Alexander-Arnold was one, Kyle Walker was one. I got other aspects about Kevin De Bruyne. It’s about an 11-minute video, with clips in there of me from the previous season. I watch it before every game. It helped massively.

“I look at those players with admiration. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s delivery is brilliant, probably the best in the Premier League, him and De Bruyne. Kyle Walker, similar, the positions he takes up, the runs he makes, the overlapping runs, the way he comes narrow to get the ball, makes it unpredictable for the opposition. Me and [Wilder’s assistant] Alan Knill talked about how to move me to the next level. He’s brilliant, great tactician and he also takes his time out to make me better.”


Wilder himself, in Baldock’s phrase, is a mix of the “old school and the new school”.

“He has this ability to always keep you on your toes but at the same time treating you with respect. Everyone knows where they stand with him. If you play well he’s not over the top ‘you’re absolutely brilliant’. After the game against Leicester City, he pulled me up in his office and he said, ‘listen I think you’ve been magnificent this year keep going whatever target you set at the start the season, smash them away and set new ones.’ Because of the respect I have for him, I walked out feeling $1m. But he doesn’t overdo it. He’s a breath of fresh air.”

Wilder criticised his keeper, Dean Henderson, following an error against Liverpool. “He didn’t come in and berate Hendo. He just said, ‘if you’re as good as you say you are you can’t be making those mistakes.’ The next game Hendo was man of the match and the rest is history. He’s been brilliant. The manager’s got this ability to bring you up when you’re down and almost not let you get above yourself.”

Baldock keeps pushing himself, wanting to meet Wilder’s high standards. During lockdown, he’s been watching the Michael Jordan documentary, The Last Dance. “It’s incredible, his relentless desire to win, the way he pushes other players. It inspires me. I always find myself doing an extra training session after watching him. It’s had that real effect on me. I’ve watched every YouTube video on him.

“I had this conscious mindset as soon as the first day of lockdown that I wanted to do things that other people aren’t going to be doing. I wanted to push myself to levels that would give me an advantage, so when we are given the green light to go back, I would be ready and better than I was. I believe I’ve done everything I can. My diet’s been good.”

He’s been on the watt-bike every day and even turned to yoga. “Five days a week I’ve had an individual zoom session with an instructor from Sheffield. I can already see the benefits even today in training, the sports science team said your posture looks so different, you almost look taller, which I could do with. I live in an apartment. I haven’t got the luxury of having a home gym like some Premier League players but I bought a ‘kBox’, an “Exxentric” weight lifting tool [with a flywheel]. I can do my leg weights.”

The club records their weight daily. “We have to take picture of the scales. A few lads have been getting battered for their feet. They put fines in place for everything. There is no hiding place.”

So Baldock was ready for his return to training at Shirecliffe. “It was good. It was obviously a lot different, all the protocols are in place and they’ve been very strict with it. They’ve coned off spaces in the car park, three spaces between each other so there’s no way you getting in close contact with people, even opening the door. You are only in groups of four. You do your pre-activation work at different ends of the area, 10m or 15m away from each other.

“There is also a one-way system they have created around the place. You are always very far away from each other. You do a bit of ball work, then walk all the way round to the Astroturf, where we do a running session, again everyone at different parts of the pitch and then we go into the gym.

“They have cleverly set up some exercises in the indoor dome, so you have all the space, with four people you can be so far away. One person is in the gym with a mask on, it’s just rotated round, then as soon as you are done, you go home in your car, in your own kit. I’m still wearing it!” He’s ready.



What a great read and what cracking little player George has turned out to be .

Far exceeded my expectations - love him to bits .
 
Fantastic interview, cheers Flawed.

Slightly off subject, wonder if the club has thought about setting up a website link for home games if played at the Lane, where they could play the audio feedback from fans at home, for our home games over the loudspeaker system during the game, to give the players a bit of atmosphere and support esp with the GCB before ko.
You just log in and scream and shout as normal using your phone/laptop/PC.......
Just a thought.

Pretty sure there are plenty of geniuses on here who could help the club set it up

Could be an issue with ya neighbours I suppose

Stuff em though esp if they are porkies
Love that idea - Im sure that hearing the GCB song before kick of would inspire the players and if they could hear everyone who dialled in over the loudspeaker it might work
 
To be fair for a few years I have always rated Baldymoor (sos George) as a player over the years, quiet unassuming, just one of those on the pitch doing his job to the best of his ability, I was very delighted when CWAK signed him.
 
Love that idea - Im sure that hearing the GCB song before kick of would inspire the players and if they could hear everyone who dialled in over the loudspeaker it might work
Anybody in contact with club could put the idea to them...please
 
Slightly torn between him and Lundstram for most improved player this season – I would have ordinarily said Baldock, but he’d at least already established himself as first choice ahead of this season. I was very critical of Baldock’s game in advanced positions the last couple of seasons, as he seemed to waste opportunities with either his delivery or indecision – it’s something he appears to have acknowledged and worked extremely hard to improve this season, and it’s shown in his performances, which have been excellent. Hopefully he’ll continue to improve the longer we stay at this level.
 
“I can only tell you what the lads at Sheffield United are saying. We’ve had discussions in group chats. I’ve not seen one person say they don’t want to play. Everyone can’t wait. It’s football, it’s what we love to do."

The difference between the Blades and the Prima Donna social media loving darlings who are "scared" of playing.
 
A great player and seems a great human being. A bit premature i know but I hope CWAK can recreate this team spirit for generations to come.

UTB
 

Of course we’re ready. Chris Basham would tackle anything corona virus an all
 
I want our 'back five' to be around for years to come.

I want younger generations of Blades to have fond memories of them all just as us old 'uns remember Coldwell, Graham Shaw, Richardson, Joe Shaw & Summers.

Just hope they can win a few trophies.
 
There's more words in that interview than I've written in my life.
 
It feels like every other team has had someone come out and say football shouldn’t resume....there only seems to be one team where everyone is raring to go and I’m damn proud that’s our team

To be fair I think some of our lads are finally a bit sick of the intense workout regime they have been given to do at home. :D
 
Like many of our current squad, Baldock's progress has surprised and delighted all Blades.

I love his fierce determination, his win at all costs attitude, often visible even with his own team mates. Much of our first team selects itself, with, of course, the manager's slow evolution ensuring that our progress continues. George reflects the attributes of Wilder, he's a winner, no compromises acceptable, and that's why we've done so well these last four seasons. I love the fact that even now there are fans who struggle to identify our players. For me this is a positive, and although it won't last forever, right now it suits us fine. Although this applies to every team in this division, if we show the same qualities next season as this one we'll be doing just fine. Given the time I've followed the Blades, a little over 50 years, this period under Wilder's management is, at least for me, the most enjoyable I can recall. For the first time ever we have a club where the manager's drive is what's pushing us forward. George Baldock typifies these qualities in abundance and I hope he decides to stay here for many years to come.
 

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