Mackrel829

Sainz was absolutely outrageous in the first half on Saturday. Everything he did was magic and you could tell he was having fun. The goal was obviously incredible but he also had a cheeky little nutmeg by the sideline around the half hour mark that just let Rotherham know he could do whatever he wanted with the ball at his feet. He is definitely reminiscent of Emi.

There's no way Aarons is 5'10" and this is a good point re: 5 at the back. That's what I'd try first if I was just taking over this squad.

Depends entirely on whether Wagner brings the wingers back in. The midfield is just so imbalanced at the moment. Countless centre midfield options but very few creative or wide options. With the personnel currently available, I think 5-3-2 makes most sense, but I don't think that's what we'll play. Gunn Aarons, Oma, Hanley, Gibson, Dimi Nunez, McClean, Sara Pukki, Sargent

Even Todd's most ardent supporters have to recognise that something significant has happened/is happening with him. Farke dropped him completely fairly suddenly. Smith immediately brought him back in but just as quickly dropped him again. Bournemouth took him on loan and he wasn't exactly a consistent fixture in their side. Now even the interim manager(s) won't put him on the pitch in spite of his obvious talent. That's too many people with independent views, motivations and goals for it to be a coincidence or a conspiracy. As you said, big clubs were sniffing around him and now he can't get on the pitch in a 1-0 loss against Watford. He either has a terrible attitude, is terribly unfit, or is going through something terrible off the pitch that we're not aware of. I have no idea what's going on but we can't say 'Todd is our most talented player, why isn't he on the pitch?' any more. It's beyond the stage where you can put it down to managerial negligence.

I'd take Wilder for sure. I think his Sheffield United system suits our players and he could do something similar here. It wouldn't exactly be an exciting, home-run kind of appointment, but I think it could be a pretty safe and sensible improvement with a reasonable expectation of success.

I actually really like the 11, and although it's a 5 at the back, it doesn't have to be defensive. In theory, Aarons and Dimi could have license to get forward at will and two up top offers more threat than Pukki just being isolated as usual. Sara and Nunez (when he's back) offer plenty of creativity in midfield, and someone like McClean or Hayden can provide cover for the marauding wing backs. Of course, all of that would rely on Dean Smith actually putting that theory into practise and getting the team to utilise the system effectively, which he doesn't seem to be capable of doing. I think we could see this system and a very similar 11 if we end up with Chris Wilder at some point. We don't really have great wide players so I think we suit the system personnel wise. All of our good midfielders and forwards play through the middle.

The NCFC app has Sargent at LWB and Dimi at CM. I assume this is wrong and Sargent will be up top alongside Pukki? Also, why us Nunez on the bench again? He's our best midfielder.

I just have no idea what the identity of the team is. What are we trying to achieve each time we step out onto the pitch? Whilst you'd expect tactics to change to suit each opposition, there has to be some consistency in terms of style of play and overall philosophy. There's none. When Dean Smith was first appointed, I was very pleased and more than willing to give him some time to put his stamp on the team. He doesn't seem to have done that at all though, and he's had plenty of time now. Look at Burnley. Kompany has come in and completely changed the way they play. It's a complete turnaround based on how they played in the prem and he's had far less time. I think I've watched two Burnley games this year and I know exactly how they're trying to play. I have no idea what our style of play is.

Just posted in the match thread that I don't understand these kind of comments. I thought Springett looked good. He didn't do too much wrong defensively, especially considering that's not his position, and he presented a decent threat going forward. He worked hard and competed well physically despite looking a bit undersized. I'm not saying that he was man of the match but I think to say that he had a torrid time or that he was the weak link is incredibly harsh.

I'm surprised by people being somewhat down on Springett's performance. I thought he was excellent! Showed some threat going forward and didn't look put of place defensively either. Fairly robust in tackles and strong enough to compete physically for a small guy. I thought Sara looked decent too. He and Nunez coupe be an incredible pairing behind Cantwell at No. 10. Rashica was disappointing for large portions of the game but he did come alive for a period in the second half, primarily when Aarons and Pukki came on. We looked dangerous down the right hand side with those three combining. I thought Ramsey was bad too. He did almost nothing but give the ball away and fall over. Is he a wide player though? I thought he was more of a CM but I don't know a great deal about him tbf. Gunn was magnificent. Excellent positioning allowed him to make a number of the saves he made last night. I left after 91 minutes so missed the equaliser and the penalties 😞 Thought we had it in the bag.

He's my favourite player already. I thought he was incredible last night. Premier League level vision and creativity without a doubt.

Sargent has to be MotM but Nunez was superb as well. He's obviously not as dynamic with the ball at his feet as Buendia but he might be just as creative. I thought he was fantastic tonight.

Don't taint the whole club with the actions of few. Those Chelsea fans are scum. That doesn't mean the rest are.

Is this not just a joke? I.e. the more he plays, the worse he looks, the more his fee goes down. I assume the clipped sentence is from the linked article?

Who would you pick instead?

I hadn't really considered that but I think it's a possibility. It's not like there are others that are demanding to be in the squad though. If we had other better options then maybe he wouldn't play but I suppose if Smith has several poor options to choose from, there's little point not choosing the one who is loan and risking not getting loanees in the future.

I'm not sure that I'd put it that way exactly but the point is a salient one. Buendia provided several moments of magic that would have led to wins but he also made some silly decisions that either prevented us from winning or at least made winning more difficult. Buendia is one of the best players to have worn a Norwich shirt but his absence is not the only reason we're bottom.

Probably Hanley and Gibson at the moment. Omobamidele has huge potential though and he's my favourite of the three.

That's certainly something worth debating and a conversation that should probably take place over the summer. Until then, we can't be surprised when free kicks aren't awarded. Even the guys on Canary Call (Chris Goreham or Rob Butler - I can never remember which one hosts and which one commentates) were asking why VAR didn't give a free kick and a yellow card. Has the league just done an awful job of explaining what VAR can and cannot be used for?

If VAR deems that it isn't a red card then no action is taken. The only way VAR could be used to award a free kick is if a penalty is awarded by the referee but the video evidence shows the foul occured outside the box. I don't believe there is any scenario in which VAR can be used to issue a yellow card.

Yeah this is what I was going to say. Unsportsmanlike conduct or something. That being said, someone saying 'meow' to him is far less than he deserves.

That's not how it works. VAR only has the power to overturn it to either a penalty or a red card. In that situation, it obviously wouldn't be a penalty because he's allowed to handle it inside the box so they're literally only checking for a red card. Even if VAR looked at it and agreed that he handled it outside the box, a free kick and a yellow card is literally not within the range of outcomes.

Either Aarons is tucking in when he isn't supposed to be or Sargent isn't getting back deep enough. Perhaps he's been told to stay forward to be an outlet option but Pukki and Rashica have that covered and City are getting a lot of joy down their left, as you say. He's just been so unreliable defensively all season.

Really promising performance so far despite the goal. Aarons continues to be one of our worst players this season.

It's not the number, it's the morality. Murdering one person is wrong. Murdering fifty people is wrong. You can argue that one is more wrong than the other if you'd like but you can't really argue that we should be able to murder a person 'for a treat'. Just as a note - I'm not equating eating meat to murder but I'm not sure what else someone could mean if they said that eating meat is wrong. I eat quite a lot of meat.