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Wtf Hanley, did he block that with his arm on purpose? Really strange body movement there.

Am I first to say that I wish McLean would be in our midfield today? 😉

Dont think so, we have just midfield three who look like they dont have any common understanding and each are extremely slow defensively in closing their man. It is extremely easy to find spaces between them and due to that we had to switch pressing midway first half and drop Sargent and Todd deep as well. That leads that we never win balls in places where we dont provide any offensive threat in transitions.

Really? I think Sara has been worst player on field. Constantly out of position defensively, leaving huge gaps in midfield, and just jogging when should close his player. Funny how differently we can see the game 🙂

Sara and Hayden are totally lost defensively. Constantly out of position, leaving easy gaps in middle. Seems like they have total disagreement how they should mark the men. Easy to see why Sara has not played more.

Last season in EPL it felt that we just don't have individual quality to compete. Now it feels that we can only compete due to individual performances as we don't seem like a team at all, neither defensively or offensively. Their first goal was prime example of that defensively, Dowell followed player next to Hanley even though Hanley was trying to wave and command him to take the man behind. Really simple mistake, like not all players even knowing where they should be. In addition our pressing is flawed for most of the time, while we spent lots of passes to get through opponents pressing they'll seem to be able to break our pressing with just two passes most of the time. Offensively we mainly get our chances on set pieces or someone making a dribble to get a shot. We really cannot seem to break into final third by passing as we mainly stuck on single flank or drop bit lower to switch the side with slow passes. Just few players trying to get into tight spots, only to keep on playing short sideways passes. Really predictable and easy to force us into spaces where we cannot create anything. Not happy at all how we are playing as a team. I was actually early on positive about Smith's era, but it feels like we are just moving backwards all the time.

For some reason I feel that our game is as slow, bad and boring as it was in EPL and we only get points due to occasions where some individual player steps up and shows glimpse of quality. Been watching most matches for last four seasons either through TV or streaming services and was really waiting this season to see us be able to perform and play good football. While watching Reading game it just crawled in my mind that maybe it would actually be time to cancel my Canaries TV subscription as watching recent matches is nearly as painful as the last season.

I think Sinani has been showing some quality, so would include him in addition to Pukki and Cantwell. Maybe Dowell as well, as he is still young enough to take next step.

Really starting to like Nunez. Starting to feel some hope that maybe he could be the "next Buendia" for us

Never really realized Sargent is so good with headers. Really dangerous in a box atm and such a danger even in between multiple defenders

What a freekick. Nunez seems like a really good player in so many ways

I think he is really good. Excellent technique and good in duels.

Really well taken goals them both. Very promising and shows he clearly has the talent. However, some of the teams in that phase of the tournament still vary somewhere between top league two to bottom of championship. The game is quite different to what it was in EPL and also to what it is mostly in Championship as well as you can see there, with much more space and time. It is promising however, and I truly wish that he can keep on his development and take the step needed to be able to do those things against higher level opponents as well.

I think he brought lots of energy and is something we need against low packed opponents to cause some variation to our attacks. I actually think he did well today

Unlucky to not get goal today. I agree that not maybe on his sharpest form at the moment, but had draining season followed by crunch of national team games. So, might take couple of matches to have full steam and for third season in a row to prove the doubters that he is not too old and slow

Better than I expected. Seemed to fit nicely in so soon after his arrival

Bit conflicted feeling about this. In a way I'm very excited and hopeful to see them to jump in. On the other hand watching their "best of"- clips and looking their career stats on leagues they've played, does tell me that I should tone down all such expectations and a good success for them would be if either of them would be able to claim their position in starting eleven during the season. In a way, it feels like a lottery where you bought pile of lottery tickets. You know that you've invested so much that you should get something, but you have no idea if it is a trip around the world or some cheap plastic flower. In our case it is lottery with prize being anywhere between new Buendia to League 2 bench warmer.

I have to agree with this. When we talk about other teams like Watford and keep saying that they have same players than last season and therefore have advantage of having already common understanding, we often ignore that we are currently in the same situation. At this point, the current squad really should be able to work together as a team and have capabilities to perform in this level. Yes, we did lack creativity last season as well and it doesn't miraculously appear from thin air. Maybe we get it with new signings and maybe not. None of them have yet proven to be creative outlets in this level (most of them not in other levels either), so it is also possibility that they are not that for us either. But when you have squad full of players that are proven on this level, you should manage to create chances even without one magical player that Buendia was for us. You really should be able to do it through team performance.

Really entertaining final! I don't care if it's men or women, its football! And today it was such a joy to watch.

Hugill did score lot in pre-season. However, at least against Marseille it was equally due to their awful marking (likely due being rusty in pre-season). We can pump the ball in box, but none of our wingers really stands out for me as excellent and consistent crosser. Having Hugill alone in the bix, wrestling championship defenders used to defend crossing sounds like bad solution. We could use him as target, if we switch our playstyle for more direct, but then he would need someone to drop those balls for. Either Pukki or some attack oriented midfielder.

Was only able to watch 10 mins today (game overlapping my brother in law's wedding party), so cannot really comment much. On that period though we looked like two separate teams, other being defensive guys and other being attacking players, but not connecting to each others. Wingers just stayed wide, not making moves to be available more centrally to help build-up. CMs very static, not moving into half spaces or offering themselves between the lines to stitch the formation together while in possession. All this seemed to make us very slow on the ball. It was more like waiting someone else to do the job and being available only after that. But that was just 10 min period, so I wonder if there was more positives in full game?

Burnley is sure playing some good football! They also have lots of variation in building the chances, so hard team to defend against

My prediction hat says that I should go with 2 goals and 5 assists.

Pretty exciting signing, based on that one video only! Few thoughts from it. Seems good dribbler, but tempo and physicality of game was lots lower than in average Championship game. I'd expect that he will need some time to adjust his own game to work in such. However, quick feet and if his thinking is fast enough, he could adapt in a month or two. His shooting and passing technique seemed to be excellent. Really smooth touch in those free kicks. In a way, did never seem to try to force them with excessive power, but instead made them look smooth and easy. That gives a lot of promise of him having skills to feed Pukki. Of course, now its all about finding space to do it in higher tempo. So, expecting some adjustment period to be required, but has some qualities that could make him a top signing. But then again, its only one highlight clip!

Bit more worried than on start of pre-season. I feel we should've been able to create more chances in addition to those crosses to Hugill against the opponents we played. Sara and Hayden might help with that, but I dont have impression of either as very creative players.