Freeman’s downturn

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Eric Cartman

Eric Cartman

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Or should I say nosedive?

It warrants its own thread - what the hell has happened to him?
He’s fallen off a cliff since the Stoke game.

Today he was led a merry dance as part of a woeful back 5 when earlier this season he was a good championship wing back who was influencing results big time. He came into the side at QPR and we instantly looked better, he was claiming assists left right and centre and he was fantastic.

He seems to have clapped weight on, lost his confidence, he’s knackered after 70 minutes whenever he starts, and he just cannot defend.

What the hell is going on? If he was half as committed to being an athelete as Baldock he’d be a great player. He doesn’t look like he can be arsed, got a right gut on him. Time for him to move on?
 



Eric Cartman said:
Or should I say nosedive?

It warrants its own thread - what the hell has happened to him?
He’s fallen off a cliff since the Stoke game.

Today he was led a merry dance as part of a woeful back 5 when earlier this season he was a good championship wing back who was influencing results big time. He came into the side at QPR and we instantly looked better, he was claiming assists left right and centre and he was fantastic.

He seems to have clapped weight on, lost his confidence, he’s knackered after 70 minutes whenever he starts, and he just cannot defend.

What the hell is going on? If he was half as committed to being an athelete as Baldock he’d be a great player. He doesn’t look like he can be arsed, got a right gut on him. Time for him to move on?
Click to expand...

Said on another thread, he needs a blood test. Summat wrong.
 
Eric Cartman said:
Or should I say nosedive?

It warrants its own thread - what the hell has happened to him?
He’s fallen off a cliff since the Stoke game.

Today he was led a merry dance as part of a woeful back 5 when earlier this season he was a good championship wing back who was influencing results big time. He came into the side at QPR and we instantly looked better, he was claiming assists left right and centre and he was fantastic.

He seems to have clapped weight on, lost his confidence, he’s knackered after 70 minutes whenever he starts, and he just cannot defend.

What the hell is going on? If he was half as committed to being an athelete as Baldock he’d be a great player. He doesn’t look like he can be arsed, got a right gut on him. Time for him to move on?
Click to expand...
I don’t think this is an overreaction, it’s a good point. I’d be genuinely interested to hear people’s thoughts on this, particularly if anyone actually knows any clues as to what’s going on with him?
 
Eric Cartman said:
I’m actually thinking that myself. He’s never been lean but he looks bloated now.
Click to expand...
He does look ill. He lost the ball today and when he was tracking back he was absolutely blowing out of his arse. Was never going to get back in time. Always used to have a smile on his face too, not any more.
 
Same old story with him. I'm really not sure about his attitude and fitness. He's a bizarre, unpredictable player. He'll have a few good games, pick up one of his trademark 'knocks' in almost all of them, then one of them eventually keeps him out for a while... which then turns into a longer while. He comes back, and is poor. Then he suddenly improves. Takes his next knock... and so on.

You can't rely on him for more than 10-15 good games a season, and it's similar with Baldock. Can barely even expect them to be fit half the time.

It's an area we'll be looking at in the summer.
 
Eric Cartman said:
Or should I say nosedive?

It warrants its own thread - what the hell has happened to him?
He’s fallen off a cliff since the Stoke game.

Today he was led a merry dance as part of a woeful back 5 when earlier this season he was a good championship wing back who was influencing results big time. He came into the side at QPR and we instantly looked better, he was claiming assists left right and centre and he was fantastic.

He seems to have clapped weight on, lost his confidence, he’s knackered after 70 minutes whenever he starts, and he just cannot defend.

What the hell is going on? If he was half as committed to being an athelete as Baldock he’d be a great player. He doesn’t look like he can be arsed, got a right gut on him. Time for him to move on?
Click to expand...

He was never a good defender, but he made up for that by getting into good positions in the box. We don’t have a good right back at the club imo. It a traditional hard tackling nippy full back.
 
Eric Cartman said:
Or should I say nosedive?

It warrants its own thread - what the hell has happened to him?
He’s fallen off a cliff since the Stoke game.

Today he was led a merry dance as part of a woeful back 5 when earlier this season he was a good championship wing back who was influencing results big time. He came into the side at QPR and we instantly looked better, he was claiming assists left right and centre and he was fantastic.

He seems to have clapped weight on, lost his confidence, he’s knackered after 70 minutes whenever he starts, and he just cannot defend.

What the hell is going on? If he was half as committed to being an athelete as Baldock he’d be a great player. He doesn’t look like he can be arsed, got a right gut on him. Time for him to move on?
Click to expand...
He’s not played in a back 5 all season, that’s probably something to do with it. Unusual formation
 



His form has taken an odd nosedive. As others have said he ‘looks’ overweight, but of course that could be muscle.

Not sure what the issue is, but Baldock definitely keeps his place for now.
 
He would have eaten Barnet alive last season, he's got issues. Not sure what they are but he's not anywhere near the first team right now.
 
Plenty saying the same things around us in the South Stand.

On song, Freeman is one of our most effective players; he influences the game. This is not the Freeman we know, however.

He hasn't been right since he came back from his Wales call-up. It's clear as day that this is not a form thing; it's a health and/or fitness issue. It's quite extraordinary that the staff who see him every day at training seemingly can't see anything, which seems to be the case given that they are picking him to play football matches.

Barnet had a break down their left shortly into the second half today - so not even an hour gone - and Freeman who was a couple of yards behind the play literally gave up on it. No attempt to sprint back at all. He all but walked back as if he couldn't even raise a jog. By th time he got back to the 18 yard line, the ball was out of play and the attack over. Freeman bent over on his haunches and all he'd done was walk back from the half-way line.

As I say, this I s not the Freeman we know; the one who bombs from box to box and is almost as likely to pop up in the opposition's six-yard box as our strikers are. It's perplexing.
 
SwissBlade said:
I’ve not seen it under wilder.

We play wingbacks normally and they sit in front of the back three, it’s never a back 5.

Norwood and Fleck sit deeper most of the time
Click to expand...
You could call it a back 5 or a back 3. The role he was playing today is absolutely no different to usual?
 
Even back in League One I thought that some teams targeted him as a weak link defensively, and in my opinion his goals and assists glossed over that side of his game. But even after saying that, the form that he’s in now is far worse than I’ve seen from him before, his first Wales call up seemed to coincide with the downturn when you’d expect it to give him a lift.
 
He’s bang out of form but I think it’s highly unlikely that he’s playing if he’s unfit, let alone overweight. These guys will have their diets monitored and we have a highly regarded sports scientist on our bench. Professional athletes are not allowed to get fat, and unfit guys do not accidentally make their way onto the pitch.
 



How good it is to read this thread as being genuinely concerned about Keiron's health and wellbeing rather than a rant about his decline in form. Says a lot for the fans contributing to this site. Fingers crossed he can get back to full strength as he's proven himself to be a top player when there!
 
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