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Thirsty Lizard

Leon Barnett

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A bit surprised to see him start today, but thought he had a very good game. Was a forgotten man for most of least season, so a bonus to see him back and playing well.

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Thought he had a great game, didn''t put a foot wrong. He and Bassong seemed to have a decent understanding straight off the bat and give us plenty of pace, strength and aerial ability. The makings of a very decent partnership there.

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Interesting that Turner was left out and not due to injury. Am pleased for Leon, he deserves a chance as often plays well and seems to be cast as the scapegoat more than is deserved.

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hes better than elliot ward, but hes the most frustrating player ive seen at norwich in years, guaranteed to win headers from every single damn attacking corner and put it over the bar every single damn time. he does it over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and overjust sit on the half way line ffs

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[quote user="technika"]hes better than elliot ward, but hes the most frustrating player ive seen at norwich in years, guaranteed to win headers from every single damn attacking corner and put it over the bar every single damn time. he does it over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and overjust sit on the half way line ffs[/quote]
LMAO so true. Looked very good today, an assured performance, hopefully Hughton can coach the mistakes out his game (in general, he didn''t make any today), with a bit of confidence he could be one hell of a player for us.

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Leon did very well tday but considering it was his first game for us I thought Bassong also looked very good. Bassong has the potential to be a very good defender for us from what I''ve seen today, big strong and quick which are attributes we lacked last year. Also thought Garrido looked quality especially going forward.

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My main worry for Barnett (apart from his distribution) is that he seems to get very easily drawn into challenges and often causes problems for the defensive line with the amount of space he leaves open behind him.
I don''t think Barnett will start against Spurs, I think he was brought in because of the pace of QPR''s front line. Hoilett and Cisse are both paceyand Mackie and Zamora are no slouches.

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[quote user="Gareth"]My main worry for Barnett (apart from his distribution) is that he seems to get very easily drawn into challenges and often causes problems for the defensive line with the amount of space he leaves open behind him.
I don''t think Barnett will start against Spurs, I think he was brought in because of the pace of QPR''s front line. Hoilett and Cisse are both paceyand Mackie and Zamora are no slouches.
[/quote]Agree about the space he creates behind himself, but that''s because he storms in for every header coming within 20 yards of him lol. It worked extremely well today and I really thought he was great. Bassong seemed to read Leon''s eagerness to storm forward to cut out long balls and covered him well. Hopefully the center mids will also pick up the headers he wins and stop it coming straight back over his head. The whole team looked very good today. I think Garrido will get better with more match fitness and sharpness too. Just GUTTED about the result..last time I felt this robbed was against Reading in the Championship went Holt got sent off at 3-1 up and we drew 3-3. I know we should have taken our chances, but my god the referee was awful and we should have been playing against 10 men in the 2nd half

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"I don''t think Barnett will start against Spurs, I think he was brought in because of the pace of QPR''s front line. Hoilett and Cisse are both paceyand Mackie and Zamora are no slouches"

 

Good point, and something that we will see far more through the season as it won''t be a case of playing our best 11, but fielding the most suitable 11.  QPR didn''t seem to want to offer much more than the through ball, so put a defence than can best deal with that.

 

 

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He was brilliant today, maybe playing with a quality partner like Bassong will help bring the best out in him.

 

Why not start him against Spurs?  He has earnt his place whereas Turner and Bennett have not.

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[quote user="York Canary"][quote user="Gareth"]My main worry for Barnett (apart from his distribution) is that he seems to get very easily drawn into challenges and often causes problems for the defensive line with the amount of space he leaves open behind him.
I don''t think Barnett will start against Spurs, I think he was brought in because of the pace of QPR''s front line. Hoilett and Cisse are both paceyand Mackie and Zamora are no slouches.
[/quote]Agree about the space he creates behind himself, but that''s because he storms in for every header coming within 20 yards of him lol. It worked extremely well today and I really thought he was great. Bassong seemed to read Leon''s eagerness to storm forward to cut out long balls and covered him well. Hopefully the center mids will also pick up the headers he wins and stop it coming straight back over his head. The whole team looked very good today. I think Garrido will get better with more match fitness and sharpness too. Just GUTTED about the result..last time I felt this robbed was against Reading in the Championship went Holt got sent off at 3-1 up and we drew 3-3. I know we should have taken our chances, but my god the referee was awful and we should have been playing against 10 men in the 2nd half[/quote]
Barnett played well today, no doubt about it, but I can''t see him fitting into Hughton''s long term plans.
Watching Norwich defend today was like watching a really good Hodgson side, the two banks of four, the zonal system that put pressure on the right players at the right time, as well as the all important management of space both behind and in front of the defence.
Barnett is a very combative defender, he likes to win headers, tackle, clear etc. But positional discipline and the ability to read when it is his turn to advance are not his strong points. Bassong, whilst not so combative, seems to already have this knowledge and is probably one of the first choice centre-backs at the club. Turner (who Hughton brought and seems to fit this style of play on his good days) or Bennett (who is young and can be moulded into the ''right'' kind of centre-back) are probably closer to the first team. Barnett played today (IMO) so he could:
a) Nullify the pace of QPR
b) Both Bennett and Turner (especially Turner) deserved dropping after their performances at Fulham and Barnett was the only fit centre-back left.
He may start against Tottenham (who, like QPR are very pacey) but he won''t be first choice for long unless he really changes his style of play. 

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Spurs are likely to start with Adebayor who is powerful and a real handful. I think on what I have seen so far Barnett and Bassong are probably the best equipped to handle him. Barnett was given an opportunity to perform today and I thought he did that. It was a very solid and assured performance. If he continues to show that kind of form in training and matches he deserves a decent run in the side.

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On todays showing he is far better than Turner and R Bennett, and there is no reason why you should change the CB pairing for the next game. He done all the basics right and done very well.

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Played well today!

 

While hes no world beater and has had his poor games, I''ve always thought the critiscism he gets from some quarters of Canary fans has been over the top!

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I''ve always like Barnett, he has pace, wins majority of balls played in the air, and has great commitment. I would like to see him given a decent run of games, and alongside Bassong, who has similar qualities. 

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I''m not his biggest fan but the lad did well today, he seems in the past to lose concentration which has cost us dearly! But there wasn''t anything wrong with his performance today, in fact he played well. More of the same please.

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Reminds me a bit of Titus Bramble - actually a better defender than most give him credit, but has crazy lapses in concentration that undo all of his hard work and create his negative reputation.

Last season he was a regular at the beginning of the season, but made a couple of errors and I think was left out pretty much straight after the woeful back-pass that cost us points at Villa Park. If he can cut those out, he''ll be a good player.

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Pleased to see him back yesterday and have always thought he was unlucky to have been cut out the way he had been.

 

Never seen anything from Ryan Bennett to suggest he''s better than Barnett (or Ward) and Turner still has to prove himself in a City shirt so it''s all to play for.

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[quote user="GJP"]

Pleased to see him back yesterday and have always thought he was unlucky to have been cut out the way he had been.

 

Never seen anything from Ryan Bennett to suggest he''s better than Barnett (or Ward) and Turner still has to prove himself in a City shirt so it''s all to play for.

[/quote]

 

I agree with this.

 

Last season Barnett was our leading player on the EA Sports index after about the first 10 or so matches. He then got scapegoated after a couple of errors.

 

OTBC

 

 

 

 

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Big fan of the lad. With the experienced Bassong next to him, i am hoping he stays and can get some first team action. Bennett looks good usually, Turner had a bad start and Ward just isn''t of the required quality despite him being our most consistent performer at the back last season.

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