Ryan Bennett not in U21s

[crabbycanary 2]

Not been picked for the Euro Champs? Can''t believe that at all.

Someone who has kept Benteke and Lukaku quiet does not get in. Pearce must have some world beaters to hand

[Indy_Bones 444]

Is he even eligible for the U21''s anymore due to his age having turned 23 in March???

[Gingerpele 0]

If he played in qualifiers then he''d still be eligible.

[KeiranShikari_2 0]

If a player is under 21 at the beginning of the year the campaign starts then they can play. So yeah, 23 year olds are fine.

[crabbycanary 2]

That''s how I understood it

[Chunky Norwich 0]

Stuart Pearce is a joke of a manager; that''s why.

[BOO 0]

Pearce doesn''t like us too much, he was making comments at I think it was the Youth team FA cup game against Forest, considering how good a team we have there with some outstanding individuals he was none too complimentary.

On his current form Ryan must surely be the best in his position for his age group in the country?

[Aggy 944]

Fairly sure Pearce was very complimentary after the last game hosted at Carrow Road.

And Rudd does make the squad.

I suppose the argument against Bennett is that, until the last few weeks, he hasn''t really played all that much.

[TCCANARY 263]

Is it anything to do with his Twitter antics?

 

[GJP 79]

He hasn''t played a lot of games and he hasn''t been as good as is generally being made out. He''s done well but he hasn''t really had too many questions asked of him by the teams we played. His performances have been really quite overrated.

[Gingerpele 0]

GJP could you not say that the reason he hasn''t had too many questions asked is because he (and the rest of the defence) have dealt with most things before any serious problems could occur to deal with? Defending isn''t all last ditch tackling and on the line blocks. And a big reason for teams not asking any questions, is because they can''t break down the defence to ask questions.

And no ones said he''s been a world beater. As far as I can see most have just said he''s been very solid and dealt with what he''s been faced with. Can''t do any more than that. Quite odd you''re trying it put down his more than adequate performances really. Seem common with Norwich fans, has to be someone to put down.

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

He has had a couple of decent games in recent weeks, but on previous form I wouldn''t pick him for the squad.

[Gingerpele 0]

What previous form?

He''s hardly played this season? And on previous form when Bassong hasn''t played, none of our defence would be fit to play in League Two, let alone PL.

[Citizen Journalist Foghorn 0]

Gingerpele: What previous form?

9 starts + 5 subs in the premiership this season. Aside from the last couple of performances, where he has shown what he could be capable of, he has been rubbish. Why would Pearce pick him.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="Gingerpele"]GJP could you not say that the reason he hasn''t had too many questions asked is because he (and the rest of the defence) have dealt with most things before any serious problems could occur to deal with? Defending isn''t all last ditch tackling and on the line blocks. And a big reason for teams not asking any questions, is because they can''t break down the defence to ask questions. And no ones said he''s been a world beater. As far as I can see most have just said he''s been very solid and dealt with what he''s been faced with. Can''t do any more than that. Quite odd you''re trying it put down his more than adequate performances really. Seem common with Norwich fans, has to be someone to put down.[/quote]

Like I''ve been saying, Bennett has done alright.

 

But, for example, you see people say "oh look what a great job he did keeping Lukaku quiet". And has had praised heaped him on him for that.

 

However, WBA mainly deployed Lukaku (and long) on the wings for the majority of that game. It was only really Rosenberg who was really playing through the middle for them and he carries much less threat. It wasn''t like Bennett was constantly having to deal with Lukaku steaming at him with the ball at his feet.

 

Most of the defending he had to was comfortable stuff that any decent defender you should be able to do - and that''s generally been the case for the games he has played recently. You then get someone like Rob Butler on Canary Call saying that Bennett was by "miles and miles" Norwich MOTM and it just fuels people getting a bit carried away.

 

Considering I''ve spent the last few months trying to tell people Howson is a good player I find it ridiculous that you suggest I''m trying to put someone down for the sake of it. Clearly that isn''t my style.

 

Bennett has done well but he has only had things to deal with that he should be able to deal with. That''s the point I''m making. He hasn''t had to go above and beyond.

 

 

 

 

[crabbycanary 2]

He had Benteke in his pocket, and for 90% of the time, had Lukaku also. Not many CDs can say that this season. He must only like playing against the Belgians I suppose

[GJP 79]

[quote user="crabbycanary"]He had Benteke in his pocket, and for 90% of the time, had Lukaku also. Not many CDs can say that this season. He must only like playing against the Belgians I suppose[/quote]

As mentioned in my previous post, Lukaku was mainly deployed on the wings and so wasn''t a direct threat through the middle.

 

And really it was Bassong who kept Benteke in check in the trickier areas but Bennett did win some headers so credit to him for that.

[Gingerpele 0]

[quote user="Citizen Journalist Foghorn"]Gingerpele: What previous form?

9 starts + 5 subs in the premiership this season. Aside from the last couple of performances, where he has shown what he could be capable of, he has been rubbish. Why would Pearce pick him.[/quote]

Well I don''t think he was, said many times now the criticism was well over the top. Rubbish is a huge overstatement.

[crabbycanary 2]

Long spent as much time out wide as Lukaku. Neither were effective (thank Christ) Yes Bassong certainly played his part . I am not Rob Butler, and sit no where near him, but I, and many around me on Sunday, had Bennett MoM (again). If I don''t agree with you, it seems that Stuart Pearce does!

[Gingerpele 0]

And fair enough GJP.

From my point of view, I wouldn''t say he''s gone above and beyond, and perhaps part of the reason he hasn''t is because him and the rest of the defence have been fairly good and not been in much danger. Bassong actually seems to be the one inviting mistakes in recent weeks, or at least appearing to not deal with certain things very well. (Although he quite clearly has looked like he''s carrying an injury, which i''m sure doesn''t help when one of the fastest players in the league is running at you)

I just don''t like the over the top criticism of Bennett, don''t think he''s ever been that bad. He''s made a few mistakes, who hasn''t? I don''t listen to Canary Call, and don''t really know what Rob Butler is trying to achieve, perhaps he also thinks some of the criticism is over the top, and to oppose that wants some over the top praise?

Overal I think our defensive solidarity has been built on not having to go above and beyond. Mostly we just deal with everything as it comes and make it looks fairly standard. When watching the U18s, the second leg of semi-final in particular, the amount of last ditch tackles/blocks must have been in the 20s by the time the game ended. Both defences seemed to prefer diving in last second rather than dealing with stuff early on, just different styles really.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="crabbycanary"]Long spent as much time out wide as Lukaku. Neither were effective (thank Christ) Yes Bassong certainly played his part . I am not Rob Butler, and sit no where near him, but I, and many around me on Sunday, had Bennett MoM (again). If I don''t agree with you, it seems that Stuart Pearce does![/quote]

Yes, I did mention earlier that Long played out wide a lot.

 

That''s part of the reason we had such a comfortable afternoon. Had Lukaku and Long been playing through the middle the whole time and had WBA actually turned up to give us a proper game then it might not have been quite so straightforward for us.

 

That''s why I find it hard to agree with the massive amounts of praise heaped on Bennett when he did not have much to deal with. He was not notably any better than any other defender or any other player in yellow.

 

He did his job. No more, no less.