Saturday 5.00 pm: “Jesus, that defending… and still no defensive midfielder in sight… it’s eerily reminiscent of the last ten games of 19/20… I’m getting nervous”.
Monday 12:00 pm: “Brandon Williams has been confirmed. He might be more needed than we thought after Saturday. Good signing that”.
Monday 10:00 pm: “Leicester took a pasting and Perez got sent off so won’t be available for Saturday! We’ll probably still get beaten but their defence was horrendous tonight, so we might actually manage a goal!”
Tuesday 9.00 pm: “6-0, Tzolis is a God, Sargent is awesome, we’re destined for Europe”
It’s been a typical few days in the chaotic world of Norwich City really. From the depths of disappointment at the Etihad, to the ecstasy of watching Ben Pearson being caught in the middle of a yellow and green cyclone at a rejuvenated Carrow Road.
Tuesday was everything we needed and more to set up an increasingly more palatable challenge on Saturday.
Leicester City are a fantastic football club and team. Any club that can break the monied monopoly of the top six on a regular basis deserves respect. And in Brendan Rodgers, they have a bright manager who knows how to build successful football teams. But they may be vulnerable right now.
So far this season they’ve won at home on the opening weekend 1-0 to Wolves and then lost 4-1 at West Ham on Monday night after Ayoze Perez picked up a red card at the end of the first half. They’ve also lost the impressive Wesley Fofana to long-term injury in pre-season.
Rodgers has started with the same team for the first two games utilising his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation.
The world-class Kasper Schmeichel sits behind a back four of exciting Portuguese wing-back Ricardo Pereira on the right, the physical, no-nonsense combination of Amartey and Soyuncu at centre-back, and promising youngster Luke Thomas on the left.
Jannik Vestergaard, a big-money replacement for Fofana from Southampton may be fit enough to challenge for his first start. Timothy Castagne and Ryan Bertrand provide other options, fitness permitting.
In defensive midfield, Ndidi and Tielemans have quietly been two of the best performers in the Premier League over the past couple of seasons and form a formidable barrier in front of the defence, as well as being more than capable of helping move the ball through the thirds and add to the attack on occasion. Hamza Choudhury and Dennis Praet are options from the bench.
In attacking midfield, Harvey Barnes has been the chosen starter on the left side, with the now-banned Perez on the right and our Madderz in his favoured number ten role.
It’s of great concern to the Leicester faithful at the moment that they don’t have an out-and-out right winger in their squad and the options they’ve been linked with signing don’t appear to be panning out, so it will be interesting to see how they replace Perez on Saturday.
Options will likely come from former Luton loanee Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall who normally operates in central midfield, old favourite Marc Albrighton, or strikers Patson Daka and Kelechi Iheanacho who could be moved out wide.
Up front, Jamie Vardy remains one of the best strikers in the league and will test Ben Gibson and Grant Hanley’s ability against his pace and movement.
For Norwich, Farke’s decision to play 4-3-2-1 against Bournemouth gives strength to the growing feeling that he will persist with this formation. The squad certainly seems to have been brought together with this in mind, particularly when you look at the wide positions which are now populated by attacking midfielders like Kieran Dowell and Todd Cantwell or pacy players that cut in and support the striker like Christos Tzolis and Milot Rashica, while more traditional chalk-on-their-boots wingers like Onel Hernandez and Przemysław Placheta look increasingly on the periphery.
The players that featured on Tuesday night have put genuine pressure on those that started the first two games to take their places within that 4-3-2-1.
While I would expect Tim Krul, Max Aarons, Hanley and Gibson to be back, Brandon Williams impressive attacking display will force him into Farke’s thoughts after Dimitris Giannoulis and Bali Mumba both got ripped apart by the movement of Gabriel Jesus in Manchester.
In midfield, the absence of a ball-winner remains palpable. Jacob Sorensen remains the most natural fit but may lack the physicality to protect the back four, and thanks to Bournemouth offering less threat than a slightly miffed toddler, Tuesday left us none-the-wiser on that score.
Pierre Lees-Melou is our most physical midfielder, and for that reason alone should retain his place. Billy Gilmour’s quality will be given another chance to shine through despite two slightly lukewarm outings.
The third spot is the one where I think we may see a change as Lukas Rupp struggled to live with the admittedly frenetic pace of the first two games. Kenny McLean was absolutely imperious on Tuesday.
While the headlines went to Tzolis and Josh Sargent, The Mayor was the orchestrator of the entire game, taking the ball from deep, pinging passes into those wide-open spaces that Bournemouth’s youngsters naively left open for us, and linking play in every third.
McLean looks bang in form and we’d be silly not to start him. The fact that Farke withdrew him so early in a game he was running surely indicates a wish to keep him out of harm’s way with Saturday in mind.
In the attacking positions, Dowell was another who looked incredibly sharp, both physically and mentally, and while he didn’t get the plaudits others did, he provided a tidy reminder of just how good he can be.
Tzolis obviously impressed and it will be a question of whether Farke wants him to maintain his momentum with another start, or hold him back to progress at a slightly less-steep learning curve.
Rashica has done enough in two incredibly difficult opening games to suggest that he has the tenacity and ability to hold his own in this league and I’d be surprised if he made way, while Cantwell has been lacklustre thus far but it would take a seriously brave decision to drop him two days before the end of the transfer window.
Personally, I’d like to see Rashica and Dowell start but I suspect Farke will give Cantwell one more chance before seriously considering shuffling his pack.
Up front, Pukki has looked isolated and ineffectual, but to be fair, Virgil Van Dijk and Ruben Dias will do that to most lone strikers.
While Sargent cannot have done any more to stake a claim, and Adam Idah was running through defenders for fun in his late cameo on Tuesday to ensure he’s not forgotten, Pukki’s movement is probably the most likely ingredient to unsettle the backline that looked so fragile and error-strewn against West Ham. I’d expect Farke to keep faith with his main man.
Here’s to a 3.00 pm Saturday kick-off, and our season getting properly started against a team that we can genuinely compete with.
Pre-season is over, let’s start getting some points.
***
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Leicester fans seem to think they are nailed on for three points. Let us hope their team are equally complacent.
Leicester and Burnley are premier leagues most boring teams to watch so expectations are never high when they play. I guess Ihenacho to start and Williams start for Norwich. I dont believe Farke making much changes based on 1 league cup game. League cup can be compared as friendlies, lineups are what they are and it gives clubs chances to give playing time to players who have not played much or any at all. Premier leagues followers are waiting for 5.30 pm game Liverpool-Chelsea which starts after 3 pm games. Before that there is Manchester City-Arsenal, so yes 3 pm games are for club fans in Britain and that kind of huge interest contrast between those games maybe its not best for premier league markets outside Britain.
First things first I am sad to see Trybull leave but wish him all the best wherever his career takes him too next.
Secondly all things transfers coming in stops for the weekend at City while all other teams are all over the media signing or being linked to players even ones they can’t afford, are City working only Monday to Friday on deals ???
Now some football pundit ex Loserpool and predicts results has said city will continue their losing run at some place in London to WHA so are we playing home and away this weekend??? See link
https://c.newsnow.co.uk/A/1093361715?-11057:808
I would like to see DF throw caution to the wind and try Sargent behind Pukki as a 2 pronged attack or even Sargent and Idah it will surprise BR and upset his well laid plans
Norwich to win 2-1
Giving the previous two league results, starting the same XI again is inexcusable. Farke needs to pick the team to do the job and not sticking to systems for the sake of it. Life doesn’t work that way and neither does football.
Leicester’s midweek Hammering (see what I did there?) means that like Man City they will be determined to bounce back. No doubt somebody will also have reminded them that they were last team to give up a point to us in the PL.
Our midweek performance was encouraging, of course. I agree with most commentators that Kenny will be back in the starting line-up. If he could find a way to be as effective against the likes of Tielemans as he undoubtedly is in the Championship it would not be before time.
As far as protecting the back four is concerned, physicality is useful, but what’s between the ears matters more. Skipp wasn’t an especially powerful, imposing figure, crunching opposition number 10s into submission. He didn’t need to be because he sniffed danger early, got into good positions to deal with it, made speedy recovery runs when he needed to and above all could tackle cleanly. Sorensen seems to have a good football brain – good enough to cover an unfamiliar position at short notice. Whether he has the other assets to go with it and fill Skipp’s role I’m not sure.
I don’t see us scoring tomorrow so unfortunately I’m expecting a Madison/Vardy smash and grab.
I think if there was ever a team to play 3-4-3 against, it is Leicester. We really should be taking the game to them with, particularly really overloading their defensive issues given their injury crisis. And Andy O really ought to add a bit of pace with Hanley, as I’m sure Vardy will look to isolate Gibson. It’s a formation that will significantly mitigate Barnes, and I’d throw a curveball idea to really pacify Leicesters attacking left flank. Having the 3rd CB being able to step forward and/or with cover coming from wider players, City can easily pack out a midfield to combat Madisson & Tielemans. I wouldn’t go 3-5-2- with the extra midfielder, I think Leicester would easily outplay that group and we’d forfeit pace too.
And after the Bournemouth game, I would 100% start Tzolis and Williams on the left. They had an incredible understanding on tuesday night, for those that were not there. And further, Tzolis also had this telepathic understanding with Sarjent too. I initially thought Tzolis looked a little unfit, but he seemed to get a second wind in the second half.
And McLean starts 100000000000000% With who, that’s anyone’s guess because Tielemans and Madisson will leave our players for dead movement wise. I really don’t know how best to handle the midfield, but I’m staggered it’s not been resolved yet. Gilmour is energetic but nowhere near the athlete to match Tielemans, PLM looks to dominate a zone rather than move with his man, Sorensen (to me and I’m a big fan) looked both rusty and quite average against Bournemouth. Rupp might actually be a better option purely for continuity and an understanding alongside McLean. But that really is a massive hole to fill.
As for the attack…. again given the rightside will be defending against Barnes…. personally I’d ask Pukki to do a job on the right of the 3. I’m excited about Rashica developing, and I think Cantwell is a very good player…. but if Sarjent and Tzolis start, I really think we need to add as much experience as possible. And nobody except Buendia ever tracks back and tries as hard off the ball defensively as Teemu. Todd does it, but he gets brushed aside against someone as strong on the run as Barnes.
Todd will likely come on for Tzolis but I’d rather we start with the Greek and really put Leicester on the back foot rather than bring Tzolis on for Todd… which is probably a substitution geared at recovering a point rather than protecting 3.
But 4-3-3 against Leicester? I think we will lose the tactical game as I’ve mentioned above. Take the game to them!