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Franca’s Opportunity??
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 Palacesince64  Edinburgh 14 Feb 24 4.50pm |
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Originally posted by Ginger Pubic Wig
The talent is there with França, no doubt whatsoever. Skill on the ball, sharp short range passing, determination to win the ball. What's not there much now is fitness, composure and, of course, experience. But doesn't he just have something about him? A spark? Isn't that obvious? Sit him down, tell him he's great, and make him watch a video of his performance. He needs to improve his athleticism by multiples. He needs to see why being lazy is not possible. (I don't mean wilfully lazy, I mean mentally lazy due to his unfamiliarity with the league, and his lack of fitness). Spot on Ginger. The next few weeks will do wonders for his development and dare I say it having Roy and Ray coaching him on his defensive responsibilities will be no bad thing. If Roy can keep us in this league I’m optimistic about the future under a more tactically aware coach with Franca and the 2 new signings and less worried about the likely departure of Olise during the summer.
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est1905  14 Feb 24 5.04pm |
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Originally posted by NEILLO
Given your thoughts on Hodgson I think the question should be why did we buy Franca in the first place ? Also worth factoring in is that Franca came to us already carrying an injury which delayed his availability until October - so not the start of the season. He's not had the opportunity to be six months into playing at this level. Hodgson's job is to win football matches. That's his first priority, not player development. His methodology is well known. If he perceives there to be a risk in starting Franca then he's obviously not going to take it. Hodgson's almost been forced into selecting him now, and I really hope Franca comes to be as good as we all hope he will be. Let's also hope that Palace stay up and that with the benefit of a proper pre season under his belt, Franca makes real progress next season. Agree on all counts. I just dont understand how some people cant see that if the staff dont think he is ready that he should be playing regardless because 'he'll never improve unless he plays'. Surely thats what the U21s are for and he has hardly caught fire playing for them!
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| est1905 14 Feb 24 5.11pm |
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Originally posted by Hrolf The Ganger
I think the issue here is about our league position. Were we to be comfortable and with a full squad available, I'm sure Franca would have been introduced slowly in what would be a confident environment. Right now, he is starting because other options are unavailable or not doing the business. He will either bloom or flounder under this sort of pressure, and will either be a new superstar or a decent squad player.
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| EverybodyDannsNow SE19 14 Feb 24 5.23pm |
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Originally posted by est1905
It’s chicken and egg though right - you can argue Brighton are in top 8 territory exactly because they have been willing to take risks, particularly on young players and indeed managers. That’s not something they’ve just started this season, and their league position has been comparable to ours for most of the last few years. If Hinshelwood was in our academy for example, I’d be fairly confident he wouldn’t have played a minute under Roy. Even circumstances considered, this was absolutely the perfect season for a club like ours to take risks and try to develop young players - there’s 3 really weak promoted sides and now points deductions to others… you’re never going to get more of a free hit at staying up, and we’re still having a good go at ballsing that up. I’d also point out that before this weekend, we were the ONLY team in the division not to give a start to a young player, so it’s not just those sitting in comfort who are doing it more than us… it’s quite literally everyone in the league.
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| Eaglecoops CR3 14 Feb 24 6.18pm |
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Originally posted by EverybodyDannsNow
It’s chicken and egg though right - you can argue Brighton are in top 8 territory exactly because they have been willing to take risks, particularly on young players and indeed managers. That’s not something they’ve just started this season, and their league position has been comparable to ours for most of the last few years. If Hinshelwood was in our academy for example, I’d be fairly confident he wouldn’t have played a minute under Roy. Even circumstances considered, this was absolutely the perfect season for a club like ours to take risks and try to develop young players - there’s 3 really weak promoted sides and now points deductions to others… you’re never going to get more of a free hit at staying up, and we’re still having a good go at ballsing that up. I’d also point out that before this weekend, we were the ONLY team in the division not to give a start to a young player, so it’s not just those sitting in comfort who are doing it more than us… it’s quite literally everyone in the league. There are decent arguments in both directions, but it’s a bit Hobdgson’s choice at the moment, so this is likely to be their opportunity to at least justify being given 60-70 minutes.
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| Rachid Rachid Rachid 14 Feb 24 7.28pm |
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Originally posted by palace99
for accuracy Olise arrived injured so was slowly introduced to the team from the bench from Sept onwards. He scored quite early into his Palace career as a sub v Leicester and also had a hand in a couple of goals. In October he was given his 1st start v Newcastle, before he went back onto the bench. He was a regular starter from Jan onwards, after his impressive performance v Millwall. Comparing Olise and Franca is a little unfair however if you do, Olise's impact was clearly greater. I was at the Spurs game when Olise made his debut in the last five mins and at Anfield the following week when he got a little longer and was struck at that game at how polished and unfazed he looked the first few times he received the ball. I agree there's no comparison IMO. Franca must have shown something on the training ground to be entrusted with free kicks and corners when he was subbed on against Spurs earlier this season and had a bit of a nightmare. This is a season too far for Schlupp and Ayew IMO and I would definitely put him in ahead of the former but I don't think Roy has missed some big trick by not playing him or any of the other younger players. Ahamada didn't look good enough again the other night IMO.
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| palace99 New Mills 15 Feb 24 6.03pm |
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Originally posted by A1969Eagle
Reading these posts, observations. You can tell who was that match. You can who sat at home or in the pub. You can read who has an understanding of team playing and who is clueless, like wise for individual players. It seems those who used to pick on Ayew, need another target. At the match, you see the bigger picture. I was at 1st Matches (starting) for raw Zaha, Wright, Collymore, AWB, Bright to name a few. They all had starts like Franco, raw, giving there all. If you were at the match you see so much more and you aint for one listening to strange commentary! Franco wasn't frightened of trying to make a difference, and he did stretch Chelsea at times... they didnt know how to handle him. good points - Franca looks a bit like Zaha at 17. A good prospect but not quite ready. Incidentally Bright's debut v Ipswich (3-3) was fantastic, and he scored, albeit with a bit of luck. Not sure he should be in this list as he was already a bit older and had played quite a few games for Leicester and Port Vale.
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ASCPFC  Pro-Cathedral/caravan park 24 Feb 24 10.10am |
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Originally posted by Canterbury Palace
Remember how Vieira couldn't work out what to do with Eze and then Roy returned and he immediately became a key player again? I'm wondering if a similar thing might happen with Franca and Glasner. Not saying that he'll become as important as Eze but, for me, Franca is not a winger, where Roy generally played him, but is a central attacking forward. If we're relying more on full backs for width now, I think he'll be absolutely tailor made for one of these narrower attacking roles behind the striker. Picking up the ball and running at the defender. Could be totally wrong but would expect to see him today at least as a sub, if not starting. Players like him and Ahamada have a massive opportunity now to prove Roy wrong. I didn't think Roy had any option as to play him as an inside forward as we had no one else left for various reasons. The main obvious reason was never replacing Wilf.
Red and Blue Army! |
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| Canterbury Palace Whitstable 24 Feb 24 10.39am |
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Originally posted by ASCPFC
I didn't think Roy had any option as to play him as an inside forward as we had no one else left for various reasons. The main obvious reason was never replacing Wilf.
Anyway, didn't mean to make this about Roy, my point is just that I do think Franca could be a different player for the rest of the season.
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold... |
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| EddieMac 24 Feb 24 11.14am |
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Originally posted by Canterbury Palace
Remember how Vieira couldn't work out what to do with Eze and then Roy returned and he immediately became a key player again? I'm wondering if a similar thing might happen with Franca and Glasner. Not saying that he'll become as important as Eze but, for me, Franca is not a winger, where Roy generally played him, but is a central attacking forward. If we're relying more on full backs for width now, I think he'll be absolutely tailor made for one of these narrower attacking roles behind the striker. Picking up the ball and running at the defender. Could be totally wrong but would expect to see him today at least as a sub, if not starting. Players like him and Ahamada have a massive opportunity now to prove Roy wrong. I agree with this. Franca has a much better chance of playing as part of a front 3 with less defensive duties. In my opinion it would be no negative to play MF instead of OE. As OE has been a major let down.
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| Canterbury Palace Whitstable 24 Feb 24 5.21pm |
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Originally posted by Canterbury Palace
Remember how Vieira couldn't work out what to do with Eze and then Roy returned and he immediately became a key player again? I'm wondering if a similar thing might happen with Franca and Glasner. Not saying that he'll become as important as Eze but, for me, Franca is not a winger, where Roy generally played him, but is a central attacking forward. If we're relying more on full backs for width now, I think he'll be absolutely tailor made for one of these narrower attacking roles behind the striker. Picking up the ball and running at the defender. Could be totally wrong but would expect to see him today at least as a sub, if not starting. Players like him and Ahamada have a massive opportunity now to prove Roy wrong.
We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold... |
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| Sansbup Norfolk 24 Feb 24 6.48pm |
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Let's be perfectly honest, Roy has form in multiple cases for playing players out of position over many years. França in his natural position is potentially dynamite!
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