General Thoughts - How Do We Feel Right Now

[Bovril 219]

We’ve got to rid the notion that this was a side that finished 5th last year. Yes, Liverpool and Man City we received the expected beating, no real issues there. Liverpool we had moments of belief and Man City, especially at home, have beaten better sides than us at 5-0 on numerous occasions. No real realistic issues there.

However, that Leicester side today, on current form and with an injury crisis at the back, are a mid table side at best. Look at their own forum to see how bad they rate themselves right now. A point was the least we needed today. No excuses, we failed.

 

[RugbyCanary 94]

Honestly disappointed. I know hindsight is great etc but......1) - why ditch the way we've played last few years (well) to go to 4-3-3, which honestly makes our guys look awful. 2) - spent a lot in the transfer window (for us) and a few still warming the bench, when some others aren't playing well (only at the moment). 3) - so much promise but just feel like the club is playing with the handbrake on! 

[Mullet 293]

1 hour ago, JB said:

As per the title. Are we positive, negative, hopeful, or perhaps like me, a little disappointed? I thought we'd lose tonight but losing the way we did just felt a little hopeless. Very little created ultimately against what was supposed to be a weakened Leicester team. I don't feel we deserved anything but because of that, I feel we should have worked harder to have actually deserved something. Discuss.....

Feeling disappointed that we are shipping soft goals. We still can't defend which is criminal in the best league in the world so we don't have a base to work from. Watching Chelsea under fire from Liverpool they got bodies in the way and were organised and looked to relish their defensive duties and celebrated their draw as though they'd won the title, we could get Norwich cathedral in the gaps of our defence and we look resigned to our fate in games, so unfortunately we are pretty fcukd.

We need to win 1 in 3 games which sounds do-able but we are too nice and honest and respect the opposition too much and of course we will concede a shed full so need to score a garage full. Even at this early stage I think play Tzolis ,Sargent and Pukki and try to spunc some wins 5-4.

I love our lads and our club but unfortunately I'm trying to think of one weaker team than us and can't think of one

 

Edited August 28, 2021 by Mullet

[Cantiaci Canary 557]

How do I feel ...

Concerned that we haven't REALLY adapted into the bigger, stronger and more athletic team that we all knew we had to become after the last relegation.

Whilst a new DM will help heal that I still think that we'll be sliced through by top sides and out muscled by the bottom half. 

Then again ... Tzolis might just be good enough to save us from the drop!

[Iwans Big Toe 312]

I feel that every defender we have in our squad has at least 2 mistakes in them a game, which is 7 too many mistakes per game in the premier league. I feel that Pukki, Sargent and Rashica will not score enough goals to negate the defensive errors. I feel that we will not get a decent defensive midfielder before the end on the window, which should have been our number one transfer priority. I feel that with our current owners we will never survive in the top flight for an extended period and a majority of our 'fans' are ok with that.

 

 

[CDMullins 436]

Par for the course,

We've learnt nothing.

Not improved.

Have a gaping hole at CB, Gibson/Hanley just don't cut it at this level.

For some reason we seem happy to have a 24 game season and have the mentality that a game against any side in the Top6 is a free hit.

Excited about the potential Rasicha/Tzolis/Sargent linkup 

If we keep them 3 we might just have the best Championship side we've ever had next season.

Oh and I fully expect Arsenal to get 5 in a couple of weeks time.

[GodlyOtsemobor 2,310]

Center half partnership isn't working at this level, either need to try 3 at the back or get someone in NOW, Hanley is a beast in the champ but here he gets caught out so easily, Gibson still has a lot to prove. 

Aarons I'm getting less convinced that he wants to put the shift in or just isn't a good enough defender, would excel in a team who attacks more then defends (top 6 team maybe) 

Crying out for a CDM as everyone has said over and over. 

Think tzolis really is going to be the key to unlocking the forward play at this moment in time when fit he's getting in over cantwell for me.

[gazinOZ 4]

Leicester were really poor today with a weakened side and were ripe for the picking but we looked lightweight, out of our depth and lacking in any semblance of confidence.

The insistence on playing out from the back the way we do is a nightmare to watch, it just invites the opposition on, knowing full well that we will make stupid decisions/errors...it's ridiculous to continue in this vein, opposition can read us like a book.

Struggling to find anything positive from today , it is all so predictable!

[robertociNCFC 98]

I feel the major thing so far (with only 3 games played mind you) is that we still commit far too many mistakes from defensive positions which is strikingly similar to last time around in the Prem and that we just look very disjointed and inefficient in attack when playing teams similar or better than us, we seem to struggle to know what to do when we get into the opposing third after some good build up play.

I won't be that worried though until around the 10 game mark which is when I feel the table really starts to take a bit more a shape in my opinion, if we are still sitting in the bottom three with very little to be optimistic about I really feel we will need to shake things up a bit or face a similar embarrassment to what happened last time around. 

Edited August 29, 2021 by robertociNCFC

[Jim Smith 2,319]

6 hours ago, TheGoogler said:

Quelle surprise. 

We've played 3rd, 1st and 5th (and FA Cup winners) in the last three weeks. I expected us to get 0 points. I am not surprised to be sitting here with 0 points. My view is that we were unlucky today not to get a point. I remain of the view that with pre-season as it was, with new players still getting settled and with (according to all signs) still business to be done, we can remain open minded. 

Each to their own. We should have got something today. We didn’t due to the sane failings that cost us week in, week out last time. That’s what makes me downbeat. We just can’t get through 90 minutes without gift wrapping the opposition easy goals abd when we do play well we are unlucky or get shafted by the officials. 

[non-scoring strikers 113]

Why does he not play Sorensen? 

[Steve White 24]

8 hours ago, canarydan23 said:

I feel that the EPL is no longer a sport, but a battle of corporate entities that belongs more in the Financial Times than it does the back pages of tabloids.

As a sports fan, I would rather we stayed in the Championship to defend our title than play in an arena that is more akin to WWE than a genuine sports competition. And I mean it.

You aren’t the only one who feels this way. Going up to the PL meant that we were forced to but expensive players and loan out out own young players, another negative aspect 

[Dr Greenthumb 749]

I don’t like this new formation. 

We need more attacking impetus on the pitch. Three midfielders always deep and when we do counter, it’s only two or three who are forward. 
Pukki needs support.

Like the recruitment so far, but key positions are being left very late in the day. Skipp really should have been a priority replacement straight away. Hopefully pull it out of the bag on deadline day.

One small detail that confused me yesterday, Williams had been in the building 5minutes and he’s starting a league game. Other signings have to wait 2/3 games usually. Why was that? 

 

 

[Upo 91]

Reasonably optimistic, because we haven't collapsed during games. Even against ManC we were consistently awful. We got ourselves back into the game against Leicester after conceding a ridiculously soft goal very early on. My primary worry about Covid's impact on player fitness has been allayed. Teemu and Kenny are back in business.

Now some problems:

Tim Krul looks weirdly shaky at times. It's like he's doing the big saves, but can't get a handle on the simple stuff like where to pass the ball to. If he kicks the ball more than 15 meters, it is conceded to opposition. Has been lucky to not lose the ball from his own feet and end up in YT gag reel.

Generally it's the same incredibly stupid stuff like playing it out from the back when standing inside our pen box. Consider Hanley dribbling the ball cross end line to concede a corner against Leicester.

Farke needs to concede a bit of ground here. We should play ugly going down and pretty going up. Just hoof the damn ball. Break the game. Get those cynical yellows. If we have a highway through our middle, then we need to kick the ball off field occasionally to regroup.

[non-scoring strikers 113]

Krul has always looked shaky, long before he joined us and since he's been here. 

Its easy to point out the good saves he makes but his overall game is incredibly inconsistent and we should've been looking for an upgrade on him the previous time we were promoted. 

Settling for him as our number 1 because he makes a few good saves now and again is negligent. His mistakes aren't noticed too much in the championship simply because he faces less action. 

In the Premier league his frailties are all too often exposed. 

[Helsinki canary 242]

Disappointed about the result yesterday, we were good for a point from that game against a clearly below par Leicester. As has been stated so many times , without an effective Skipp or Tettey style CDM we are stuffed in this league. The next  days will determine if Webber has managed to draft in the needed CDM, if not the spot has to be filled by Sorrenson. We clearly haven’t learnt from the previous round in this league that continuously playing out from the back will attract the high press and our defence get caught making silly mistakes. Farke and the coaching team have to take a chunk of  responsibility for our inability to mix the style of play up more. It might be pretty to the eye when it works but at this level unless you have World class CDM and defenders you are going to get forced into mistakes, as has been the case with nearly all the goals conceded so far. As for young Billy, without a strong CDM who takes the pressure off him and allows him time to do what he is good at he will not make enough impact in this team.  A forward prong of Sargent, Tzolis and Raschica looks very tempting.

[Upo 91]

3 minutes ago, non-scoring strikers said:

Krul has always looked shaky, long before he joined us and since he's been here. 

...

In the Premier league his frailties are all too often exposed. 

He was quite solid in 19/20. Our defence was horribly leaky... I'm confident he'll get himself together mentally, but I doubt his footwork will improve much. Thankfully our 2nd choice is top class. We'll see.

[Yellowhammer 86]

I feel like it’s going to be exact like last time we were here , we will struggle to win a match and finish adrift at the bottom , I do think this team is not as good as when we were here before 

I hope I am wrong but unless we start scoring more goals and creating more chances we have had it . I always feel like when Idah comes on he makes a difference 

[Petriix 2,835]

10 hours ago, Bovril said:

The same as prior to the season started, if we don’t get in a decent DM (and preferably a half-decent CB as well) then we will be relegated, it’s that simple.

Today’s game had all the hallmarks of our previous campaign. We huffed and puffed, failed to score from open play and never inspire confidence in keeping a clean sheet, especially if we persist in playing out from the back when the opposition are pressing high up.

Hanley as good as he was/is at championship level and fine in the air, is simply too slow (both literally and reading the game) at this level against Premier League strikers. Gibson has also yet to cover himself in glory.

They badly need a screener in front of them to help them out a bit. If we don’t manage to bring that player in, then it will be a long hard season.

Leicester were there for the taking today and we simply weren’t good enough at either end.

Hanley is probably the quickest player in our squad after Placheta and Rashica. And I don't see how he's at fault for Leicester's goals.

Playing it out from the back is baked into our philosophy. It would be crazy to change it now. The problem is that the new players are not up to speed with how they're supposed to do it.

[FenwayFrank 2,459]

Little ironic that people are saying nothing has changed and then ask why we are playing a different formation 

[Capt. Pants 4,234]

Whilst on paper our squad looks far stronger than our last visit to the Prem for me we're playing nowhere near as well yet.

Sure, the quality of Liverpool and Man City distort things but yesterday's defeat was a real downer as it seems the same old errors are still there.

We've changed to a 4-3-3 to fit in Gilmour but he's sitting too deep.

We must move heaven and earth to get a DM in the next 2 days even if that means we have to sell.

But still I'm confident we can give the weaker teams a game (Leicester were weak) providing we gel better as a team.

Watford is the real acid test, lose that it will be a very long season.

[Hank shoots Skyler 2,094]

9 hours ago, Bovril said:

We’ve got to rid the notion that this was a side that finished 5th last year. Yes, Liverpool and Man City we received the expected beating, no real issues there. Liverpool we had moments of belief and Man City, especially at home, have beaten better sides than us at 5-0 on numerous occasions. No real realistic issues there.

However, that Leicester side today, on current form and with an injury crisis at the back, are a mid table side at best. Look at their own forum to see how bad they rate themselves right now. A point was the least we needed today. No excuses, we failed.

 

This is the post. So many posters cursed how lucky Brentford were to be playing Arsenal at such so good time. Well we really couldn’t have played Leicester at a better time either, who were absolutely awful on the day too. It was a winnable game and not the write-off others are making out (we also can’t simply write off the Arsenal game either).

Were we much the better team? In decent periods yes - but I felt like we were only on top for the spells where we were chasing the game. 

So how much of it was our good play, and how much of it was Leicester just soaking us up? Probably a bit of both.

What is worrying is that Leicester are one of the ‘footballing’ sides we played very well against both times 2 seasons ago (winning 1-0 and drawing 1-1), however we looked toothless at creating from open play and pretty calamitous at the back - particularly in the first half. At the moment it feels like we have to thread so many perfect passes together to create a half chance, yet any wrong step and we get horrifically exposed…

What happens when we get the **** physical teams we seriously struggled against last time?

Thankfully the signings should improve as should we. 

Rashica was probably the biggest positive though it was a mixed display, some very poor deliveries amongst his good work. Lees-Melou and McLean were also decent I thought. Don’t think anyone else played particularly well though. 

I’m more than happy to give it some more time of course, but I don’t think there are too many positives from our first 3 games.

IMO we are further away at this stage than others are making out, if we play like yesterday every week we will still go down sadly, there simply won’t be many poorer sides coming to Carrow Road this season.

Edited August 29, 2021 by Hank shoots Skyler

[Crabbycanary3 994]

1 hour ago, Upo said:

Reasonably optimistic, because we haven't collapsed during games. Even against ManC we were consistently awful. We got ourselves back into the game against Leicester after conceding a ridiculously soft goal very early on. My primary worry about Covid's impact on player fitness has been allayed. Teemu and Kenny are back in business.

Now some problems:

Tim Krul looks weirdly shaky at times. It's like he's doing the big saves, but can't get a handle on the simple stuff like where to pass the ball to. If he kicks the ball more than 15 meters, it is conceded to opposition. Has been lucky to not lose the ball from his own feet and end up in YT gag reel.

Generally it's the same incredibly stupid stuff like playing it out from the back when standing inside our pen box. Consider Hanley dribbling the ball cross end line to concede a corner against Leicester.

Farke needs to concede a bit of ground here. We should play ugly going down and pretty going up. Just hoof the damn ball. Break the game. Get those cynical yellows. If we have a highway through our middle, then we need to kick the ball off field occasionally to regroup.

I'm generally with you on this Upo. 

It's no shame to go long sometimes from defence (Liverpool and Leicester did it). The key is to pick up the 2nd balls from this. Presume that the defender will win 8 out of 10 balls pumped up, and it's then up to the midfield to swarm, looking for that ball back in to their area. I get frustrated with us (Leicester were guilty of it, as Schmeichel kicked it straight out for a throw) giving away cheap possession and territory like this. The Hanley dribble for their corner was as bad as it gets , without conceding a goal. 

We have to be intelligent and not stubborn sometimes.

[Jim Smith 2,319]

The trouble is by effectively writing off certain games, games against the likes of Watford and Burnley become huge pressure games and they certainly will not be easy. Yesterday was a huge opportunity for us to get some points on the board and we messed it up (with help from the officials). That’s one of the reasons the defeat has hit me hard. 

[The Real Buh 3,432]

10 hours ago, JB said:

As per the title. Are we positive, negative, hopeful, or perhaps like me, a little disappointed? I thought we'd lose tonight but losing the way we did just felt a little hopeless. Very little created ultimately against what was supposed to be a weakened Leicester team. I don't feel we deserved anything but because of that, I feel we should have worked harder to have actually deserved something. Discuss.....

Love the team, hate the league.

Our club is a metaphor that a superleague is inevitable and necessary 

[Fuzzar 1,702]

Well, I'm taking Farke at his word. Given the disrupted preseason, this was effectively our first game. 

A game in which we competed well for the most part against a side that won the FA Cup last year and finished 5th. A club very well funded with some excellent players. 

I'll wait to see how the window finishes and how competitive we are after the next 6 games after the break. 

[ricardo 7,395]

1 minute ago, Jim Smith said:

The trouble is by effectively writing off certain games, games against the likes of Watford and Burnley become huge pressure games and they certainly will not be easy. Yesterday was a huge opportunity for us to get some points on the board and we messed it up (with help from the officials). That’s one of the reasons the defeat has hit me hard. 

Perhaps you were expecting too much Jim. I started the season with no illusions and fully expected a long hard relegation scrap and that means yesterday was just about par for the course. Until we take a more pragmatic approach to defending this will always be our fate in this league. 

We will be applauded  by neutrals for playing some nice stuff but it won't keep us up. I desperately  hope to be wrong but so far the signs all point in one direction.

[komakino 272]

You would have to say that there is nothing so far that suggests we will stay up. Recruitment has been more geared to The Championship that will always be the case under the current majority shareholders. 

Given these 'restraints', I would sell Max to partially fund a new CB and CDM. Those must be found if we have any chance. How many years have we all complained that the defence isn't good enough? 

If we end up being so far off the rest of the league by the end of the season, I can see a scenario where the EPL either reduces or ends parachute payments for clubs where a certain standard (points) have not been reached in the near future. In other words, the EPL wants clubs that are serious about the league. Last time around we certainly weren't, this time we've spent some money but my gut feeling is we have too much to do, without the funding or the will to do it. 

[Kenny Foggo 1,116]

Look on the bright side we are hitting our top 26 target... 

[fredherring 136]

That's how I feel. 

 

I love farke, but wtf is wrong with him?