Godfrey as cdm

[Samwam27 601]

Whilst tettey is doing brilliantly he clearly tires and Amadou still isnt getting a look in.

I always thought godfrey would be his natural replacement. With our defense looking more solid with zimm and hanley,  any thoughts about trying godfrey in cdm role when fit.

I doubt farke would ever go back to this but might be the balance we need

[Kenny Foggo 1,181]

With Hanley looking the best he has in ages you maybe right. Been disappointed with Amadou to be honest.. another summer signing failing to have any impact on our thin squad unfortunately

[All the Germans 1,228]

Instead of who? Tettey, who is playing well or Vrancic who Godfrey does not have the technique to replace? In a one-off game against Liverpool / Man City where we are expected to be dominated, I can see a situation where we do something like this, but in every other game. No way.

[Kenny Foggo 1,181]

We do seem to concede a lot of possession & seem to invite pressure onto us... we definitely need to get more "physical"

[jaberry2 768]

Cant see Farke moving him from his preferred position.

[lake district canary 4,813]

Most likely thing that might happen in a match sometime is a three centre back line up, with Godfrey as the middle man, but other than that, Godfrey is a centre back.  Something like -

                               Krul

          Zimmermann Godfey Hanley

Aarons      Mclean         Vrancic      Lewis

                       Buendia  Cantwell

                              Pukki

                                   

[Well b back 3,594]

That’s very sentimental towards the kids LDC, why would you not be playing Byram ?. Have you changed your mind on Hanley as well as a couple of weeks ago you though either Tettey or Amadou should be centre half rather than him. 

[BobLoz3 608]

Not this again...

Farke won't ever play him at DM. Can we get over this obsession now please?!

[wcorkcanary 4,746]

Louis Thompson is still to return at some point. That lad has potential in DM.

[jaberry2 768]

I doubt we'll see Louis Thompson in a Norwich shirt again IMO. Failed to make much of an impression at Shrewsbury.

[kirku 1,358]

Thompson has just had his loan cut short at Shrewsbury because of a lack of game time. Doubt we'll see him in a Norwich shirt any time soon. Unfortunately, seems the endless injuries have really taken their toll. A shame because he always looked like he might be able to kick on - when he was fit.

[Orly 289]

17 minutes ago, wcorkcanary said:

Louis Thompson is still to return at some point. That lad has potential in DM.

That is incredibly optimistic.  Hah!  Glass half full kind of chap I'm guessing?  Nowt wrong with that of course.

[Ward 3 476]

1 hour ago, lake district canary said:

Most likely thing that might happen in a match sometime is a three centre back line up, with Godfrey as the middle man, but other than that, Godfrey is a centre back.  Something like -

                               Krul

          Zimmermann Godfey Hanley

Aarons      Mclean         Vrancic      Lewis

                       Buendia  Cantwell

                              Pukki

                                   

I like this. Have big ben in there gives us the pace on the cover. Will be good attacking and could stabilise the defence a bit more. Worth a few games.

[Ward 3 476]

1 hour ago, wcorkcanary said:

Louis Thompson is still to return at some point. That lad has potential in DM.

He has been on loan to many clubs and never really made the cut

[keelansgrandad 6,680]

After yesterday's performance maybe Godfrey alongside Hanley as Zimbo had a shocker. Which is unusual I admit. But it will be interesting when Ben is fit again.

Personally, I never was a fan of Alex but credit to him, he is playing as well as ever.

[Ward 3 476]

11 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

After yesterday's performance maybe Godfrey alongside Hanley as Zimbo had a shocker. Which is unusual I admit. But it will be interesting when Ben is fit again.

Personally, I never was a fan of Alex but credit to him, he is playing as well as ever.

Had a shocker? That I'm not sure about. Denied a certain goal in the 1st half. Body on the line as usual. I didnt see zimbo do too much wrong personally. It was shocking that his foot kept the ex ipswich man on side, complete disgrace 😂🤔

[wcorkcanary 4,746]

2 hours ago, Ward 3 said:

He has been on loan to many clubs and never really made the cut

Hadn't realised his loan wasnt going well. Shame, as a few years back he looked brimming with potential. His disastrous first game back for us when he was injured within minutes was a tragedy for the lad. However , I felt that he must have been rated at that point to even make an appearance for us. Maybe his injury history has taken its toll.to the point that he'll never fulfil his potential. Thanks for update on him, even if not too positive.

[City 2nd 193]

4 hours ago, wcorkcanary said:

Louis Thompson is still to return at some point. That lad has potential in DM.

Returned (called back by city) early (announced today having only played 14 games) from loan at Shrewsbury. INJURED!

[Samwam27 601]

5 hours ago, lake district canary said:

Most likely thing that might happen in a match sometime is a three centre back line up, with Godfrey as the middle man, but other than that, Godfrey is a centre back.  Something like -

                               Krul

          Zimmermann Godfey Hanley

Aarons      Mclean         Vrancic      Lewis

                       Buendia  Cantwell

                              Pukki

                                   

Ldc im surprised this could work. Tetteys doing a fantastic job, but leaky norwich with a maclean and vrancic central midfield would never boss that area as neither are cdm's by trait. And three central defenders doesnt contribute to controlling the midfield area. Thats just my opinion.

My original post was aimed at whether tettey got injured. Amadou doesnt necessarily cut the mustard, and if farke is willing to try a midfielder in defence i was testing the water with a defender aka godfrey, being played in midfield. 

Other than tettey and a still relatively untried amadou, all other options have looked weak in that midfield area. Could never see farke eating his words and trying this though

[keelansgrandad 6,680]

Had a shocker? That I'm not sure about. Denied a certain goal in the 1st half. Body on the line as usual. I didnt see zimbo do too much wrong personally. It was shocking that his foot kept the ex ipswich man on side, complete disgrace 

I think if you get a chance to watch extended highlights, you will find he dropped us in the cart in the first place that led to his last ditch tackle. And earlier he passed one straight out of the box to them. And his all round game was, to me, and several others posting on the match thread, not up to scratch.

[Ward 3 476]

1 hour ago, wcorkcanary said:

Hadn't realised his loan wasnt going well. Shame, as a few years back he looked brimming with potential. His disastrous first game back for us when he was injured within minutes was a tragedy for the lad. However , I felt that he must have been rated at that point to even make an appearance for us. Maybe his injury history has taken its toll.to the point that he'll never fulfil his potential. Thanks for update on him, even if not too positive.

Yeah he had loads of potential but had a lot of injuries sadly. I think he would've been one hell of a player but as we said injuries 😔

[Ward 3 476]

18 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

Had a shocker? That I'm not sure about. Denied a certain goal in the 1st half. Body on the line as usual. I didnt see zimbo do too much wrong personally. It was shocking that his foot kept the ex ipswich man on side, complete disgrace 

I think if you get a chance to watch extended highlights, you will find he dropped us in the cart in the first place that led to his last ditch tackle. And earlier he passed one straight out of the box to them. And his all round game was, to me, and several others posting on the match thread, not up to scratch.

I'll have a look mate, cant really remember the whole game as I was too peed off with the late goal. I suppose we have seen him be brilliant so when he isnt up to scratch people really notice it. 

[Feedthewolf 5,885]

35 minutes ago, Samwam27 said:

Ldc im surprised this could work. Tetteys doing a fantastic job, but leaky norwich with a maclean and vrancic central midfield would never boss that area as neither are cdm's by trait. And three central defenders doesnt contribute to controlling the midfield area. Thats just my opinion.

My original post was aimed at whether tettey got injured. Amadou doesnt necessarily cut the mustard, and if farke is willing to try a midfielder in defence i was testing the water with a defender aka godfrey, being played in midfield. 

Other than tettey and a still relatively untried amadou, all other options have looked weak in that midfield area. Could never see farke eating his words and trying this though

Yeah, I don't think it'd work with McLean and Vrancic. But if we played Tettey (or another specialist CDM) alongside Vrancic that formation/system could work nicely. Godfrey would also be able to step out from defence with the ball, and his relative lack of brute strength and aerial ability would be less exposed with two big lads alongside him.

[ZLF 334]

I think BG is primed to remain at CB,  and probably rightly so given the lack of quality players in that position generally.   He is still learning that role and will improve with more games there

 

I find our current CB situation fascinating.   A now fit Hanley is playing as well as he ever has for us and is currently better than Zimbo.    Yet Zimbo appears more imperious when playing with Godfrey, & the better defender,  & godfrey looks like a better player with Zimbo too.  But the hanley/godfrey looks like the worst of the three.    

 

Its like rock paper scissors, they are all the best depending on who they play with,     Hanley > Zimbo > Godfrey >Hanley...      

 

My overall view remains that none of the partnerships look prem class though.   We should invest in Godfrey when fit given there is little between the pairs,  which means Zimbo is probably the current first partner.

 

Add in CDMs that are not quite up to the prem (lack of pace, strength, positional sense, pace, stamina, consistency,  passing ability depending on the player) and it is easy to see why we consistently concede soft goals.

 

 

 

 

[Nuff Said 5,930]

I can't see Farke ever effectively eating his words and moving Godfrey to CDM,  but I can see us playing with a back three. I thought we'd never done it, but apparently we tried it in some of the pre-season games. Of course, injuries meant we couldn't even come up with two at the back for months!

 

Whether Farke would risk it now is debatable, he's definitely one for sticking rather  than twisting.

Edited January 3, 2020 by Nuff Said

[ZLF 334]

I quite like the 3 at the back option but it simply wont work with a pairing of McLean and Vrancic.   Both have an eye for a pass that benefits they team but we lose far more than we gain with the lack of a shield. 

 

For me the Brighton game has to be the last time we see Kenny as a DCM -  he was again simply ineffective there, providing no protection, making too few interceptions or tackles and easily moved around.   His role is as an option in the 10 role behind Pukki. 

 

Likewise Mario is a little too lightweight and too slow to provide the protection we need - although does work better than Kenny with a true defensive player alongside him.

[vlad666 207]

The thing with godfrey at cb is that, in my opinion, he gets bullied a bit in the air a bit. With Aaron’s and Lewis also very lightweight we always seem to look vulnerable from set pieces and crosses. I think we’ve looked more solid since Hanley and zimmerman have played together. Hopefully as godfrey fills out as he gets older he can improve on this as I think he has all the other attributes of an excellent cb. I think he would be perfect for us in that defensive midfield position now though. Very athletic with decent passing. Can’t see farke playing him there though. 

[Nuff Said 5,930]

1 hour ago, ZLF said:

I quite like the 3 at the back option but it simply wont work with a pairing of McLean and Vrancic.   Both have an eye for a pass that benefits they team but we lose far more than we gain with the lack of a shield. 

 

For me the Brighton game has to be the last time we see Kenny as a DCM -  he was again simply ineffective there, providing no protection, making too few interceptions or tackles and easily moved around.   His role is as an option in the 10 role behind Pukki. 

 

Likewise Mario is a little too lightweight and too slow to provide the protection we need - although does work better than Kenny with a true defensive player alongside him.

Isn't the point of three at the back, effectively five, that the midfield in front of them can be a bit more creative and less defensive?

[ZLF 334]

depends on the three at the back.   Just having more doesnt cover the lack of prem quality.

[BarcelonaCanary 3]

On 03/01/2020 at 00:03, lake district canary said:

Most likely thing that might happen in a match sometime is a three centre back line up, with Godfrey as the middle man, but other than that, Godfrey is a centre back.  Something like -

                               Krul

          Zimmermann Godfey Hanley

Aarons      Mclean         Vrancic      Lewis

                       Buendia  Cantwell

                              Pukki

                                   

I couldn’t agree more. If we’d played this formation from the start of the season we’d be mid table by now. It’s mad that Farke didn’t change to a 541 in recent games after we went ahead, to hold onto the lead. Instead he brought on players like Hernandez as an outlet, who don’t support the defence or worry the opposition too much. 

Although I love the attacking play, Farke clearly lacks the defensive tactics to grind out key points, while I’m tired of reliance on a predictably weak 4231. 

541 in defence and 353 in attack suits us so well, as the only width we need is from the wing backs. Our quality comes down the middle of the pitch through Cantwell, Buendia and Pukki (perhaps also Vrancic in some games). IMO Farke should be focusing on not conceding and supporting the exceptional 3 to do their thing.