Baldock - Fitness problems?

[BushBlade]

Which full backs aren’t expected to get forward and contribute to the attack? I don’t get this ‘Baldock is a full back’ thing. That’s no excuse for not being able to put a decent ball in from wide positions.

 

[snootyfenooty]

Others have pointed out that Freeman's shortcomings this season are displayed by his apparent lack of fitness, excuses as he is coming back from injury and general lack of confidence. I can't see any of these, the knackered look is probably a hands-on-hip cheek puffing show of frustration because he's playing crap. That fucking beard doesn't help either. For me there's one thing above everything else - he can't cross the ball anymore, how many land in the crowd or go for a throw-in? Solve this and problem solved, a bit of overtime on the training ground should do the trick.

As for Baldock, there's nothing wrong with him, he just possesses a different set of attributes to Freeman. Whoever of the two is selected should depend on the opposition and the tactics to be employed. For example I'd rather see Baldock in Matt Phillips' face in a couple of weeks time rather than Freeman but if we're going gung-ho against a shitty team like Brentford then the other way around applies. Horses for courses and all that.

 

[Isaw Joeshaw]

I think maybe you expect too much. We are, after all, a relatively newly promoted side with one of the lower end budgets in this division. The quality of players we have considering those two things is excellent - I believe both Freeman and Baldock are very good players at this level and I would struggle to find another team in the championship who would be disappointed to have these two as their RWB/RB options.

One is better as a RB, the other as a RWB and fortunately for Freeman we play with the latter.

Both great players and not an area we need to strengthen.

Both GREAT players ? I think not . When Freeman was at his best I was one of his biggest fans but , sadly , I think most agree that this has not been the case for at least the last half dozen games or so and it worries me and has resulted in poor service to the strikers from that side of the pitch .

As for Baldock , I think of him as a good , honest player who is no better than ok defensively but lacking in a number of ways when going forward which , as others have pointed out , is a big drawback given the system we play .

As for naming better alternatives I must admit I can't since I don't have enough knowledge about players at other clubs and , of course , most of them don't play with wing backs . Having said that , I would be very surprised if there isn't someone out there who could quickly convert to this role and if that player were to have natural attacking instincts then so much the better .

 

[bromtom]

I love Freeman and Baldock equally, but as said one is weighted toward defence and one toward attack. Freeman was a breath of fresh air when he came in again this season and immediately started cutting in and setting goals up, however at the moment, despite his contributions to the goals on Tuesday his defensive form is almost shocking.

I'd give Baldock a chance to see if his attacking form has improved but even if it hasn't, at the moment I think we need to give him a go and see if the number of stupid goals conceded drops.

 

[Demon Blade]

I seriously could not disagree with you more.

The singular area of the pitch where additional cover is not required.

UTB

Agreed. What happened to all the talk of needing an upgrade on Stevens. I know his form has returned but it's the left we need to look at re cover / competition.

 

[1066blade]

You are deffo watching a different player to me then! Freeman is very good value in my mind. If he plays badly when the team play badly as a whole, it’s a poor team performance and not one of an individual as such. Yes, I only go to home games but to say he has disappointed is, in my mind, totally, totally wrong.

So, just to re-cap. When he had an absolute mare against Rovrum, it was the teams fault not his? One of the main reasons it was a crap team performance is that certain key players, of which he was a prime example, played very badly. How he a) wasn't subbed, or b) dropped next game baffles me. Other than Baldock having fitness issues obvs.
We need a new quality fullback in Jan - deffo.

 

[Houston_Blade]

I’d put money on Baldock being faster than Freeman.

However, Freeman edges it for me as he puts better balls into the more dangerous areas.

Baldock is faster, he doesn’t go forward as much or as effectively, that’s what I meant by “bombing on”.

 

[Scooter_mcgavin]

This wing back role is the most physically demanding role in the squad and we have the players that are fit enough to implement in the most part.

To replace/improve, you would be spending the best part of 6/7m and for me, there's other areas that are better cases for spend.

 

[Houston_Blade]

A lot as far as I recall. He was highly rated when he first joined us and his performances reflected that. Then he started drinking heavily and doing other stuff (which he’s subsequently admitted to) and turned to shit.

He was highly rated but I don’t think many thought he’d end up where he did.

 

[BushBlade]

He was highly rated but I don’t think many thought he’d end up where he did.

We were in the championship at the time. It’s not unusual for good young Championship players to end up in the PL.

I remember going with my mate, who’d not seen us for a while, and telling him how good he was. It was the Wimbledon game when they brought about ten supporters and a fat bloke.

At half time my mate said ‘he’s fucking shit’. He was too.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

I wonder if we expect too much of our wing-backs, especially as the right and left centre-backs are also expected to overlap. When it works, it is really effective and great to watch, but when it breaks down, the wing-back, who has bust a gut to get high up the pitch, is suddenly 'out of position', and nobody is covering for them; and if they focus on their defending, they are not doing their attacking job properly. They are expected to attack at speed, and playing a good ball in quickly is much more difficult than taking time. It is also easy to be impressed with the eye-catching moments of opposition wing-backs, without noticing similar flaws in their play. None of our wing-backs is perfect, but they have made an enormous contribution to the last two and a half seasons.

 

[Sharrow Snuff Mill]

It's a really difficult one to resolve, as we are seeing with this thread.

Freeman has always been a dozy defender but considering his part in two of the goals v Brentford as to whether CW puts Baldock back in. It wouldn't be a surprise either way.

UTB

Attack-wise Freeman is better than Baldock. However, he is too slow in getting back when we lose the ball, and he allows the winger too much space to put crosses in.

 

[Dellas Cowboys]

Freemans ace, he was on the verge of the boot and it turned him around, and he's far better than Baldock, but everyone has off days and everyone needs a rest at some point, he didn't get one over international break remember.

Bet he's not had the Spa break his Mrs booked for him before he was called up in the previous international break. Our wing backs cover more ground than Mo Salah. Let Freeman have his Spa break the poor sod.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

Attack-wise Freeman is better than Baldock. However, he is too slow in getting back when we lose the ball, and he allows the winger too much space to put crosses in.

true, but then it all depends how you see a 3-5-2 formation.

As we play 3 centre backs, there should be little reason to get back quickly - that for me is the whole reason of the wingback formation.

A full back needs to be quick and cover back in a 4-4-2 formation, but not in a 3-5-2. That's why you have an EXTRA centre half who is supposed to be the cover.

As a team CW wants his RCB (Bash) and LCB (joc) to get forward as well as the wing backs, and as CW has said a few times, risk creates reward. We can't have reward if we don't risk, which is why Freeman gets criticised about getting back.

It's just how we play.

We'd be rubbish (like last year) when Baldock tried to play wing back and failed most of the time in the last third of the pitch - some of our fans want good wing backs to create and then to defend - I doubt there are many if any who can do both, and if they existed they would be in the Premier league.

This whole freeman/Baldock thing is getting daft now.

Without Freeman our fans would be complaining that we create fuck all in the final third down the right, in a similar way to how they complained about Stevens last season.

UTB

 

[guancheblade]

I’d put money on Baldock being faster than Freeman.

However, Freeman edges it for me as he puts better balls into the more dangerous areas.

Freeman also makes far better off the ball runs as well. How many times does he end up in dangerous areas in the opposition box? Baldock most of the time seems only capable of running in a straight line towards the corner flag

 

[Sharrow Snuff Mill]

true, but then it all depends how you see a 3-5-2 formation.

As we play 3 centre backs, there should be little reason to get back quickly - that for me is the whole reason of the wingback formation.

A full back needs to be quick and cover back in a 4-4-2 formation, but not in a 3-5-2. That's why you have an EXTRA centre half who is supposed to be the cover.

As a team CW wants his RCB (Bash) and LCB (joc) to get forward as well as the wing backs, and as CW has said a few times, risk creates reward. We can't have reward if we don't risk, which is why Freeman gets criticised about getting back.

It's just how we play.

We'd be rubbish (like last year) when Baldock tried to play wing back and failed most of the time in the last third of the pitch - some of our fans want good wing backs to create and then to defend - I doubt there are many if any who can do both, and if they existed they would be in the Premier league.

This whole freeman/Baldock thing is getting daft now.

Without Freeman our fans would be complaining that we create fuck all in the final third down the right, in a similar way to how they complained about Stevens last season.

UTB

Fair comment. I know that 3 CBs should enable adequate full back cover much of the time, but what tends to happen is that teams try to break on us quickly in numbers, the CBs funnel towards the penalty area to be more compact, and the full back position is exposed with plenty of space for the opposition to exploit until the wingback regains his position.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

Fair comment. I know that 3 CBs should enable adequate full back cover much of the time, but what tends to happen is that teams try to break on us quickly in numbers, the CBs funnel towards the penalty area to be more compact, and the full back position is exposed with plenty of space for the opposition to exploit until the wingback regains his position.

yep, accepted.

It's the sort of problem that the coaches should look at and try and resolve - as is Freeman looking knackered mid way through the 2nd half. I've thought before that our wing backs already get through a lot of work and perhaps Baldock should be used as a 2nd half substitute for Freeman sometimes.

CW doesn't really like doing that - he prefers changing the business end most of the time or a change that takes us to 4 at the back.

It's a strange one to solve really - makes you glad to sit in the stands!

UTB

 

[BushBlade]

yep, accepted.

It's the sort of problem that the coaches should look at and try and resolve - as is Freeman looking knackered mid way through the 2nd half. I've thought before that our wing backs already get through a lot of work and perhaps Baldock should be used as a 2nd half substitute for Freeman sometimes.

CW doesn't really like doing that - he prefers changing the business end most of the time or a change that takes us to 4 at the back.

It's a strange one to solve really - makes you glad to sit in the stands!

UTB

They need to study quantum physics then to work out how to have the same player in two positions simultaneously

Benitez has the best analogy, it’s like a blanket that’s a little too short. You pull it up around your head and your feet are cold. You pull it down over your feet and your head is cold. That’s football; you keep men back to keep your defence strong at the detriment to your attack or you push men forward to compliment your attack at the detriment to your defence.

The only way to get round this is for your 1-11 to be better individually than their opponents. Whatever level you play at, you’re probably going to come across teams that contain equally as good players so at some point you have to make a conscious decision to be good in attack or good in defence.

The only way we can significantly improve how our system works is to get better players, and that’s going to take some doing.

 

[Fulwood Blade]

The only way we can significantly improve how our system works is to get better players, and that’s going to take some doing.

yes and having just got back from the Leeds game is was so evident yet again..

Getting cross now ant TRYING to win a game of football, being positive and the opposition just be cautious and playing a waiting game.

We tried to win, Leeds tried not to lose and just waited.

We still need a centre forward - getting more apparent as every week goes on.

UTB

 

[BladeTillIDie]

Didn't think Baldock pulled up any trees. Just a usual booking.