Lol, better I start training to beat Kipchoge in a marathon.
Everyone has different ceilings in their fitness levels. From all reports he’s been training hard with the 1-4 year players.
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Kipchoge Keino is now 80; probably would still beat all Blitzers players in a marathon.
I said fittest. That doesn’t mean fastest or strongest or able to jump highest. It means being fit enough to go flat out for the entire game, which is what the truly fit players can do. It means competing and battling with his opponent for as long as or longer than the opponent can keep battling. It means second and third efforts again and again, for the whole game.
If he’s properly fit and he’s truly got talent, then he’ll lock a place in the side. He won’t necessarily win every race to the loose ball, but if he’s beaten it won’t be because he’s run out of puff.
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Fair call.
At any point in time there will be a players at different levels of drift.
In any given season a club will lock in on a few or the very nature of their own maturity will bring them back in to have their best year.
Fingers crossed but I feel that Francis is ripe for this.
Pull your finger out son
That’s not how fitness or athletic profiles work. I have written many posts on this. Franga is and always will be a fast twitch power athlete. If you run him to the ground so his endurance is elite he will lose the attributes that make him such an exciting prospect. Franga will never lead the 2km time trial.
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I don’t think anything you’ve said is actually inconsistent with what I wrote.
But you tell me. First, do you think Francis has ever been as fit as he possibly can be? Second, how would you describe what a fully fit fast-twitch athlete looks like?
Honestly, wish all the haters would just stop. The amount of disdain for Francis would put him at Aaron Henneman levels of ability and out put.
Give the kid a chance, to play at least one season with many consecutive games in a settled position and without injury. I’m very bullish on him he is a naturally gifted footballer, yes with some limitations but who’s perfect?
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I was more replying to this sentiment.
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However, I agree that he does need to get fitter. And like you say able to perform repeat efforts.
Being able to match Ambrose, Langford, Cahill etc in endurance efforts is never going to be his thing, and should not be.
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I do think we have also underestimated the toll the hub would have placed on Francis. I had a mate in the hub and it impacted him significantly and he is a mentally healthy person. So a guy who had his brother come over to support him, then lost that support and was likely very lonely. It’s particularly lonely for introverts. I really feel this would have been incredibly hard for Aaron and am not judging him on 2020 at all.
Having said that, 2021 is huge for the fella. We have drafted talent in his position and he needs to have a good season.
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Drafted in 2015
Weather he’s fully fit or not it doesn’t matter has been on the list for 6 years and still hasn’t cemented a spot in the best side.
It’s make or break for Francis next year would have been delisted/traded already if he wasn’t a top 10 pick
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Agree, has to show something this year
Francis has only recently turned 23.
Those who can only see merit in instant gratification and don’t enjoy the ride, however bumpy, of development, I feel sorry for.
I for one look forward to the next seven years of dominance from the big, red beast.
I have 100% support for Francis.
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He turned 23 in August. I’m not sure that qualifies as recent.
But nevertheless, he is a man. He needs to step up and has lost any excuses of being a kid by now.
Im pleased to hear that before Xmas he had returned to the club, so indications are that he is trying to make every post a winner so fair play to him. To me, this season will make or break him.
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If he carries his career form to date, he won’t be on the list for seven more years.
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Yep.He won’t be on the list in 2022, let alone five years from now, without a much better 2021. The talent is there, no question.
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Hopefully it clicks for him this year. He’s not a noob anymore, he isn’t a skinny shy kid, he should be calling for the ball and taking risks, intercept marking and using his superb delivery by foot. I think he’s got it in him to be quite a creative player, I hope we get to see it in 2021.
The talls we just drafted are all huge(tall), I don’t think he is competing against them yet, but he needs to either show he’s a solid best 22 player or resign to being a depth player.
I hope he and the coaches/ fitness staff sort out his fitness and decision making and bring the best out of his talent.
Sponsoring him again this year. All what we can do and should do is to support him from a far. Only People close him can help him.
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Any updates on Francis form training watchers @nackers @CJohns ? Vision i saw from recent scratch match showed a pretty disinterested looking lad. Would love to see him have a breakout year but have no idea where they would play him. Key position back seems to be to much pressure
I would say that the reports from the training watchers are at odds with your take from the vision.
And according to the coaches he’s one of the young leaders, so “disinterested” would seem unlikely.
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I think Francis has looked good throughout the pre season with the exception of some of his running towards the end of long sessions.
As distinct from looking disinterested I think he’s looked fairly happy and more engaged with the group, particularly compared to a few years ago.
He’s a competitive person and doesn’t like to get beaten and maybe that’s what you saw, but it’s pretty hard to make any meaningful conclusions from a 5 minute highlights package from a training session.
And don’t forget if none of our defenders got beaten at training it would mean we’re also not kicking any goals. You can’t have it both ways.
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