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cambridgeshire canary

He's Norwegian, a defensive midfielder

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Yeah the great man. Time will tell if we've really replaced him.

It feels we're very much in transition at the moment. I'm missing Emi. That creative spark just isn't there at the moment. We need a new favourite, a new talisman to drive us forward.

It might be Mathias, let's hope so.

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29 minutes ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

Actually all I have found on Normann online suggests he is a box to box midfielder…

Fantastic news - you can keep attacking the club for failing to sign a defensive midfielder. 

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Outrageous that he never got a testimonial or goodbye game. Probably the player who's put his body on the line for us more than any other in the past few years and he's greatly underappreciated as a footballer.

 

I'd love to see us organise a friendly against Paderborn or another link up club or something to say goodbye to Tettey, Stiepermann, Trybull etc. 

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1 hour ago, Dean Coneys boots said:

Actually all I have found on Normann online suggests he is a box to box midfielder…

He literally says himself in the promo video that he's a defensive midfielder 

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20 minutes ago, Christoph Stiepermann said:

Outrageous that he never got a testimonial or goodbye game. Probably the player who's put his body on the line for us more than any other in the past few years and he's greatly underappreciated as a footballer.

Didn't the club say they would organise something in the future as they couldn't at the time due to the pandemic? 

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Hopefully he’ll do a great job filling the role that we haven’t seemed to replace yet. As defensive midfield is the area where we’ve been weakest in the last few matches.

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On 30/08/2021 at 10:02, Dean Coneys boots said:

Actually all I have found on Normann online suggests he is a box to box midfielder…

Perhaps you've been reading the wrong sites. This scouting report details why Normann isn't a box to box midfielder. He's a progressive DM who covers the ground like Skipp but he can also pick out attacking players and provide telling through balls as well, something Skipp struggled to do.

https://totalfootballanalysis.com/article/mathias-normann-2020-21-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics

Edited by Yelloow Since 72
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Normann is a very attacking, defensive midfielder. Sounds a contradiction, but he makes lots of defensive actions in a game, but also takes loads of shots and gets into attacking areas. He isn't just going to sit deep and sweep up like Skipp did. Whether he takes Gilmour's role or not is far from clear, can actually see a system where he plays alongside Gilmour in a sort of double pivot. 

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18 minutes ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

Normann is a very attacking, defensive midfielder. Sounds a contradiction, but he makes lots of defensive actions in a game, but also takes loads of shots and gets into attacking areas. He isn't just going to sit deep and sweep up like Skipp did. Whether he takes Gilmour's role or not is far from clear, can actually see a system where he plays alongside Gilmour in a sort of double pivot. 

Which is why I think him with Gilmour and Lees Melou just above him will be a great midfield three

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2 minutes ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

Which is why I think him with Gilmour and Lees Melou just above him will be a great midfield three

Mclean is better than Lees Melou in my opinion. Mclean will be vital to our survival this year

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18 minutes ago, cambridgeshire canary said:

Which is why I think him with Gilmour and Lees Melou just above him will be a great midfield three

Gilmour's best position is deeper, with Normann there could be a return to a 4-2-3-1, but I think we will continue to see Gilmour in the middle with Normann to his right and McLean to the left (or PLM to the right and Normann to the left where he played quite a bit for Rostov). This is just starting positions though, in the Bournemouth game and Leicester game, PLM pushed further up the pitch and McLean sat deeper, almost alongside Gilmour/Sorenson - I think this is where Normann will go, in the box-to-box role, but set back further. 

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43 minutes ago, Uncle Fred said:

With all the left over money I would like to have spent some of it on a specialist DM 

Not a socialist PM? You sure?

Edited by GenerationA47

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You have got to hope the box where he operates is the City penalty box. 

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27 minutes ago, pete said:

You have got to hope the box where he operates is the City penalty box. 

The ball will never enter our penalty box once he gets going.

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2 hours ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

Normann is a very attacking, defensive midfielder. Sounds a contradiction, but he makes lots of defensive actions in a game, but also takes loads of shots and gets into attacking areas. He isn't just going to sit deep and sweep up like Skipp did. Whether he takes Gilmour's role or not is far from clear, can actually see a system where he plays alongside Gilmour in a sort of double pivot. 

No-one is asking the key question - can he hit a thunderb4stard like Alex?

Ideally a little bit more often though.

 

Edited by Nuff Said

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2 hours ago, Kenny Foggo said:

Mclean is better than Lees Melou in my opinion. Mclean will be vital to our survival this year

Kenny is one of the first names on my teamsheet. He has the precise qualities of combativeness and aerial strength that the squad is short of overall. Plus he's a natural left footer.

Kenny and Normann definite starters in that midfield three for me.

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3 hours ago, Nuff Said said:

No-one is asking the key question - can he hit a thunderb4stard like Alex?

Ideally a little bit more often though.

 

The Normann compilation on YouTube gives a good idea of his long passing and through ball skills and he does some shooting as well:
 



Like all compilations it concentrates on his attacking play. This was a year ago so doesn't include his latest season.

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From what I have seen he looks like he will be an all action midfielder who will become a fan favourite. He certainly seems to have a bit of bite about him as well as being able to play. Attitude is big on SW and DF wish list and this guy looks like he has it in bucketfuls

S

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23 minutes ago, Bethnal Yellow and Green said:

He’s unlike anything Norwich have had under Farke, and to be honest, I’m not sure I’ve seen many players like him at all before. 

Is your piece based around highlights and stats or genuine long-term viewing?

I ask because how/what a player does very much depends on the system around them and in what context you're pulling stats from.  Ball retention and turn over in play could differ very much between Russian, Championship and Prem leagues for all number of reasons.  i.e. would Rashica look like a world beater if his debut was in place of Tzolis vs Bournemouth.

Normann himself has been happy implying that he's a ball winner and likes to get stuck in, But is that because Farke is demanding this from him with the signing?  I mean, I haven't a clue, as not seen him play live.  But it does feel like he's making the point wherever possible. Which is why I'm wondering if you've based this on first hand viewing?

Personally (Based on highlights) I think for Normann, he's going to have to become far more regimented in holding a position for us and those passes which have served him well in Russia are not going to cut it here when he's distributing to players who have less space, and physically weaker in winning a higher/long balls.  You'd imagine he will be paired with Gilmour as the outlet, but I sense a high degree of (good?) arrogance in him, and think he's keen to deliver a more complete game to us (As per your article)... I Just hope it's not our downfall, really.

If you're a defensive mid and caught out of position, a lot of the blame usually defaults to the CB who's overloaded, hence why Skipp was always that very important 'invisible' man, that we still crave! 🙂

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On 30/08/2021 at 10:45, Christoph Stiepermann said:

Outrageous that he never got a testimonial or goodbye game. Probably the player who's put his body on the line for us more than any other in the past few years and he's greatly underappreciated as a footballer.

 

I'd love to see us organise a friendly against Paderborn or another link up club or something to say goodbye to Tettey, Stiepermann, Trybull etc. 

Think the club might get round to it.

Could call it a Tettsimonial though? Would be a neat touch.

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1 hour ago, Google Bot said:

Is your piece based around highlights and stats or genuine long-term viewing?

I ask because how/what a player does very much depends on the system around them and in what context you're pulling stats from.  Ball retention and turn over in play could differ very much between Russian, Championship and Prem leagues for all number of reasons.  i.e. would Rashica look like a world beater if his debut was in place of Tzolis vs Bournemouth.

Normann himself has been happy implying that he's a ball winner and likes to get stuck in, But is that because Farke is demanding this from him with the signing?  I mean, I haven't a clue, as not seen him play live.  But it does feel like he's making the point wherever possible. Which is why I'm wondering if you've based this on first hand viewing?

Personally (Based on highlights) I think for Normann, he's going to have to become far more regimented in holding a position for us and those passes which have served him well in Russia are not going to cut it here when he's distributing to players who have less space, and physically weaker in winning a higher/long balls.  You'd imagine he will be paired with Gilmour as the outlet, but I sense a high degree of (good?) arrogance in him, and think he's keen to deliver a more complete game to us (As per your article)... I Just hope it's not our downfall, really.

If you're a defensive mid and caught out of position, a lot of the blame usually defaults to the CB who's overloaded, hence why Skipp was always that very important 'invisible' man, that we still crave! 🙂

Watch around 60 mins of video clips of him (not YouTube supercuts, but video on WyScout) so successful and unsuccessful actions. This was across the last two seasons for Rostov and matches played for Norway.

All usage of stats consider the context in which they are used and are taken from a one year period, so a good sample size. 

Players will say a lot of things about themselves, especially in introduction videos (Stiepermann was 'born to score goals') doesn't mean that really reflects the player. PLM called himself an 'attacking midfielder' but had some of the best defensive statistics in Ligue 1. The level of the league he was playing in makes it hard to make big judgements on his quality - but he certainly has a distinct playing style which he has shown across two different managers at Rostov and while he plays with Norway.

He'll be a fun watch this season, but can see people being surprised and maybe disappointed that he isn't just holding his position in front of the defence.

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