Athletic article on Sara

[Badger 2,413]

Sorry it's behind a paywall, but it is an interesting article.

• Norwich feel that they may have uncovered something special but...
• Brazilian football is far slower than the Championship - so he will need time to adjust to the pace of the game here.
• Personal adjustment may also be a challenge - apparently Sao Paulo is a 24 hour city twice the size of London.
• We were obviously pretty desperate to get him. We wanted a loan to buy deal for him, but Sao Paulo needed money at once, so we backed down to get him

https://theathletic.com/3410084/2022/07/15/gabriel-sara-norwich-transfer/?source=weeklyemail&campaign=602288&redirected=1

[Branston Pickle 3,707]

Doesn’t sound like that is a particularly upbeat review?!  Having said that, it’s nothing new - buying players from overseas can often require a bedding-in period to both the culture and ‘needs’ of the game over here…that was one of the main issues for last season.  Hopefully he can hit the ground running (if/when he is running?!).

Edited July 17, 2022 by Branston Pickle

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,867]

I read this a couple of days ago, and it's a well-balanced article rather than one that's just positive spin. 

The quotes from one particular South American expert aren't exactly flattering though. Reading between the lines, he seems surprised Norwich have made the move and doesn't expect him to be a success:

“This is one of the big things when moving to the Championship and onto the Premier League; the league football here is slow,” Jon Cotterill tells The Athletic.

Cotterill is a South American football expert based in Sao Paulo and the author of Anatomy Of A Football Scout, a 2021 book which includes a contribution from Norwich’s head of emerging talent Mariela Nisotaki.

“He looks strong but there has been a lack of durability. I just wonder how he might cope with the rigours of the Championship and having less time on the ball. If you watch some of the cup football here, it is a lot faster, but still not as fast as the Championship.

“I looked at him as a scout when he came on the scene in 2019. It’s not like he is a major star here, even in Sao Paulo, but he had a good season last year and they’ve always liked him. Consistency is the missing thing but he has played some decent games.

“I would never consider him a box-to-box player but Norwich will have done their homework and see how he can fit into their side. He’s 23, so he has got time to develop and I’m sure Norwich are planning to take his basic tools and improve them.”

[Monty13 2,256]

19 minutes ago, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man said:

I read this a couple of days ago, and it's a well-balanced article rather than one that's just positive spin. 

The quotes from one particular South American expert aren't exactly flattering though. Reading between the lines, he seems surprised Norwich have made the move and doesn't expect him to be a success:

“This is one of the big things when moving to the Championship and onto the Premier League; the league football here is slow,” Jon Cotterill tells The Athletic.

Cotterill is a South American football expert based in Sao Paulo and the author of Anatomy Of A Football Scout, a 2021 book which includes a contribution from Norwich’s head of emerging talent Mariela Nisotaki.

“He looks strong but there has been a lack of durability. I just wonder how he might cope with the rigours of the Championship and having less time on the ball. If you watch some of the cup football here, it is a lot faster, but still not as fast as the Championship.

“I looked at him as a scout when he came on the scene in 2019. It’s not like he is a major star here, even in Sao Paulo, but he had a good season last year and they’ve always liked him. Consistency is the missing thing but he has played some decent games.

“I would never consider him a box-to-box player but Norwich will have done their homework and see how he can fit into their side. He’s 23, so he has got time to develop and I’m sure Norwich are planning to take his basic tools and improve them.”

Sounds a massive gamble but presumably we see something in him to have paid a club record sum. Ultimately if he was a more polished player a bigger club than us would likely have taken him. We might be fishing in new waters but it’s still with a relatively small boat.

[cambridgeshire canary 6,835]

Interesting that they say he's not the best player at the club. Saw the same a while back on social media from a fan of the club he played at in which they said he was not amazing or anything but was a 'hard worker' and said they were surprised we bought him for so much

[Danke bitte 967]

So bottom line is… temper expectations. Fair enough. After last summer’s transfers my expectations were pretty low to begin with. 

[Canary dwarf 221]

Yeah it doesn't sound that impressive , but maybe that South American scout that we have has seen something special.😃

[daly 513]

Bed him in at Hemsby for 24 hour action 

[Green Canary 21]

I'm keeping everything crossed that this is a great buy for us. But I worry that taking big gambles has become the Norwich way under Webber. It was clear last summer and seems like nothing has changed. I just hope it's not a self-destructive culture of risk taking we've fallen into. For now though, excited to see what he's like! Sounds like a new McLean 😆

[Inch High aka Inchy.. 412]

1 hour ago, Branston Pickle said:

Doesn’t sound like that is a particularly upbeat review?!  Having said that, it’s nothing new - buying players from overseas can often require a bedding-in period to both the culture and ‘needs’ of the game over here…that was one of the main issues for last season.  Hopefully he can hit the ground running (if/when he is running?!).

So last years crop should be great by now? I doubt it very much.

[cornish sam 966]

21 minutes ago, Green Canary said:

I'm keeping everything crossed that this is a great buy for us. But I worry that taking big gambles has become the Norwich way under Webber. It was clear last summer and seems like nothing has changed. I just hope it's not a self-destructive culture of risk taking we've fallen into. For now though, excited to see what he's like! Sounds like a new McLean 😆

It's funny that only a year ago people were bemoaning the fact that we weren't taking big gambles and taking enough risk, now we're being lambasted for it...

[Branston Pickle 3,707]

10 minutes ago, Inch High aka Inchy.. said:

So last years crop should be great by now? I doubt it very much.

Not necessarily- but learning from it might make sense rather than bedding in 6 from o/s as we did last year (eg Kabak, Normann, Tzolis, Rashica, PLM, Sargent).

 

[Green Canary 21]

59 minutes ago, cornish sam said:

It's funny that only a year ago people were bemoaning the fact that we weren't taking big gambles and taking enough risk, now we're being lambasted for it...

I think folk here were mainly a bit more nuanced than wanting more risk. Wasn't it more about wanting to be prepared to spend more in order to buy in some 'safer' options. Ajer was an example of that. 

[Mason 47 1,403]

Possibility that we're controlling the narrative to a degree (as far as that might be possible) after the expectations of super-duper-ubermensch Tzolis rather flattened him.

Thing is, it isn't really necessary that he needs to be an amazing player in his own right. It's more important how effectively he performs whatever role we give him. For example, Ben Gibson- probably not a better defender than what we already had, but being left-footed and good at line-breaking passes added a key ingredient that made the whole team better. 

 

 

[baldy09 162]

What I have read is that he is a quick quick -slow slow player quick in the treatment room -quick on a loan to another club 🤣 and slow slow has he hobbles off the pitch HEHE 😂 

[WD40 720]

Must say his highlight reel wasn’t that impressive. “Can’t read much into that” you say? Well that’s what people were saying about Josh Sargent. That went well.

[Christoph Stiepermann 1,155]

I'm not worried. His defensive and ball carrying stats look good and that's what we're badly missing in midfield right now. Players like that are often under rated, especially so in countries like Brazil. Yes he'll need time to adapt, but we might end up discovering his strengths are much better suited to British football

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,867]

5 hours ago, Monty13 said:

Sounds a massive gamble but presumably we see something in him to have paid a club record sum. Ultimately if he was a more polished player a bigger club than us would likely have taken him. We might be fishing in new waters but it’s still with a relatively small boat.

Not necessarily. We may not be an elite club who can take the best players from Brazil, but apparently about 1,000 Brazilians leave the country each year to play pro football abroad, and the vast majority will be free agents going to random footballing outposts all over the world earning relative peanuts, so we're still a relatively big boat in overall terms. Obviously the massive trawlers have overlooked Sara, but he's still a decent-sized catch.

 

5 hours ago, Canary dwarf said:

Yeah it doesn't sound that impressive , but maybe that South American scout that we have has seen something special.😃

Apparently Nisotaki was the one who found Buendia, so if that is indeed true, she must have a decent eye.

[Canary dwarf 221]

1 hour ago, Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man said:

Not necessarily. We may not be an elite club who can take the best players from Brazil, but apparently about 1,000 Brazilians leave the country each year to play pro football abroad, and the vast majority will be free agents going to random footballing outposts all over the world earning relative peanuts, so we're still a relatively big boat in overall terms. Obviously the massive trawlers have overlooked Sara, but he's still a decent-sized catch.

 

Apparently Nisotaki was the one who found Buendia, so if that is indeed true, she must have a decent eye.

Yeah hopefully, it sounds more promising now ,thank for the insight.

[cornish sam 966]

7 hours ago, Green Canary said:

I think folk here were mainly a bit more nuanced than wanting more risk. Wasn't it more about wanting to be prepared to spend more in order to buy in some 'safer' options. Ajer was an example of that. 

You've not been around here long have you? Nuance is not something in great supply in these parts....

[KeiranShikari 1,470]

“He looks strong but there has been a lack of durability. I just wonder how he might cope with the rigours of the Championship and having less time on the ball. If you watch some of the cup football here, it is a lot faster, but still not as fast as the Championship.''

Not quite sure how 100+ games in 2 seasons says lack of durability really. 

[Inch High aka Inchy.. 412]

Another duffer to join last summers duffers.