Agree with Nackers. I thought he was top 2 in best performing defenders so far
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I get why heās saying it. Francis can have pretty ordinary body language at times.
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iāll back up what you saw to a degree. I wouldnāt call it disinterested per say.
But the last 2 seasons during the pre season matches he has looked reserved in his output, almost like the general consensus on blitz ( the mentality that itās only a preseason game so i donāt have to put in 100%).
All well and good when youāre an established player who can switch it on come rd 1, but francis has never been that type of player, and swims close to beinng a fringe player, so itās always surprising he doesnāt look to stamp his authority in the preseason games, instead merely coasts along like his spot is safe.
Iāll reserve judgement on where he is at this year after the pre season games. and despite it only being a small highlight package, i did see the same malaise in his approach as you did.
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The one thing Iād like to see less of from Francis is him sagging off his opponent and not respecting the hit up lead his man is making. He gets burnt by this and it makes him look lazy.
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It certainly is hard to have it both ways. Thanks for the further information on Francis.
Have really been waiting to see him cement a position in the side.
As you say from the limited vision the club feeds us it is hard to see what is really going on. This is why myself and so many others look forward to the training reports so much!
Cheers.
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I am really interested to see how Rutten uses Francis this year.
Do we need to play two tall defenders such as Hooker and Stewart with both Ridley and Francis.
Or should they look at Hooker, Stewart and one of Ridley and Francis.
Ridleyās improvement last year really had an impact on the way they played Francis.
I think at one stage of season, he was generally playing lockdown on the oppositions best Key forward, which he didnāt suit. Then he was matched on the fifth or six forward who he lost in traffic and was out of position to impact as a third man up. Then he lost his confidence and rarely looked like taking a contested mark, which late in 2019 was his major strength.
I would imagine they play all four with Hooker also rotating through the forward line.
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My guess is Francis will need to effectively match up with the second best tall forward in the opposition to be a best 22 player.
Think he has been really good. Unlucky as I thought he marked that one well inside too
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Is easily one of our best defenders. Lacks confidence.
Just play him, he will fark up every now and again, so whatā¦Hurls, Hook and Paddy same sameā¦leave him there !!!
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Thought he was pretty poor early but had a decent game after that. Doesnāt help him that Stewart and Lav were also really good.
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If by early you mean the mis timed spoil that caused the first goal (I think) then I agree. But didnāt drop his head - took a couple of good marks and covered off for Ridley in the first. I liked his game. A long way to go but certainly better and Iād be playing him every game we can. At the moment Francis, Ridley, Hind, Laverde would take 4 spots. Iām not as convinced on Stewart back as others but we need a big there. Cahill hasnāt really grabbed it for mine.
Missed one spoil but apart from that very solid game tonight. Hope the lad can keep building as I can see the gap between his worst and best definitely starting to get smaller.
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I think he also had one inside 50 that went right through his hands not long after. Definitely came onto a game though
After those early errors - remembering they were both overhead on a ground he has not played on before at night - I thought Francis was outstanding. Ditto Ridley. Stewart and Laverde both very good too.
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I really like Francis as a player and I hope he can find some confidence and continuity this season. Because his skillset, in combination with Ridley, will go a long way to making a seriously good backlineā¦
Iām not discounting the rest of his performance but if theyāre in the air why does it matter what ground it is? None were near the boundary so that should not matter. He played very well in the end but we canāt just make excuses for blatant mistakes.
I thought Francis had an issue with the lights and that was a reason for fresh airing the first spoil.
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Defensive coach needs to change how we spoil the ball, just need an accurate soft jab to clear it.
Started off poor but played pretty well after that for the rest of the game
If Franga can bring that every week heāll keep his spot in the side.