Norwich's survival would be good for English football

[Daniel Brigham 0]

Neil Adams is a rarity: an English manager who puts attack ahead of

defence. Daniel Brigham says a Premier League dominated by the likes of

Mourinho, Allardyce and Pulis needs him.

Steven Whittaker''s quotes couldn''t have been more pointed if he''d run

them through a pencil sharpener and jabbed them at Chris Hughton.

“There has been a big change with the positive approach we are now

playing games,” he said. “And his [Neil Adams] own positive approach as a

person and that is rubbing off on the boys.”

It''s also rubbing off on the fans. The despair of facing almost certain

relegation has been pierced a little by a shift in attitude and style of

Norwich''s play on the pitch. If we''re going to go down, Adams is going

to take us down on the front foot with our chests stuck out rather than

anxiously cowering in a corner, muttering to ourselves and chewing away

at our fingers.

As Norwich spiralled away from Hughton he increasingly acted like a

put-upon supply teacher, nervously issuing instructions as the kids

lobbed paper grenades at him. While Adams isn''t quite Robin Williams in

Dead Poets Society – no wants him climbing on desks – he has full

control of his class. His pupils want to listen. The contrast is vivid.

Norwich suddenly have two attacking full backs. They have a Plan B. They

have a midfield that can roam, shift and swap. They have attacking

players allowed to play in front of the ball. They have a striker who,

despite being utterly woeful against Liverpool, scored an actual goal

because the supply kept on coming.

In short, Norwich have been released from the grip of caution and

negativity. This, more than mere Premier League survival, is why we –

and English football – should want Adams to succeed.

It can only be a good thing that we have a British manager who puts

attack ahead of defence. Where Sam Allardyce and Tony Pulis are tying

English football to the 1980s, Adams – and Garry Monk – shows it doesn''t

have to be like that.

Pulis has done a mindboggling job at Crystal Palace – and the football

they play is less turgid than his Stoke side. He deserves all of the

plaudits he is receiving but he shouldn''t be allowed to get his hands on

the Manager of the Year award. Not if we want the right message to be

sent to young British coaches. Whether Liverpool win the league or not,

the award should go to Brendan Rodgers. He has reinvigorated a dead

giant, got them playing exhilarating football, improved Steven Gerrard

and guided Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling into the sort of gifted,

quick-thinking players who could slot snugly into any of Europe''s top

leagues. It is a template that young English managers should aspire to.

At a time when Jose Mourinho is sucking the life out of world-class

players and inexcusably playing a horrid form of Neander-ball – all

grunting and large eyebrows – Rodgers has rubbed two sticks together

and, in front of Mourinho, invented fire. Even if Rodgers often speaks

like he''s reading from fortune cookies, he should be embraced,

celebrated, patted on the back and hugged manfully. We should also

applaud Manchester United for removing David Moyes (despite the

unhelpful timing) – a manager who has put grunt ahead of flair for his

entire career and was somehow rewarded with one of the biggest jobs in

world football. His sacking can only be good for the game.

While we can''t compare Adams – a manager of two Premier League game''s

experience – to Rodgers, we can admire his trust in playing football the

way fans want to see it being played and the way footballers want to be

told to play it.

That is why it would be a good thing for the development of English football for Norwich to

survive. The pragmatism of Allardyce and Pulis needs to be swamped and

stamped out by British managers who like to play on the front foot,

with a bit of guile. We have that in Rodgers and, to an increasingly

lesser extent, Paul Lambert. Steve Bruce has shown himself to be

adaptable and flexible in a way Allardyce and Moyes never have been.

Next year we’ll also see Sean Dyche’s Burnley try and pass their way to

survival.

Wouldn’t it be great if Neil Adams was to join them? Daniel Brigham is features editor of The Cricketer. He tweets at @cricketer_dan

[Monty13 2,796]

I just wrote this in another thread Daniel but I think it pretty much ties in with your post:

If Adams sees out his 5 games playing the kind of football we have already seen, showing adaptability and tactical awareness in games and generally instilling belief and an attacking intent...is this not what we have all wanted to see?

At the start of the season I personally thought we''d be lucky to get a point from these 5 games, did anyone think massively differently? If not, then even if Adams loses every single game if he shows all the right attributes I''d like to see him installed if we go down.

If we stay up....little more tricky, if there is a manager who''s proven all those characteristics but has experience then perhaps we should put Adams back in the box for later.

I don''t want to see any manager "given a go though". All this 10 game trial nonsense, if he gets installed as manager it needs to be as a long term plan with a long term vision and footballing philosophy for the club, with players in mind to fulfil that.

[Gingerpele 0]

I liked your post until you said Jose was sucking the life out of world class players... Wow. Wow. I don''t even know where to start....

[splutcho 196]

Oh come on. He''s had two games, he''s lost both.

[Daniel Brigham 0]

Ginger - start at the beginning.

I''m not saying he makes them bad players, he turns all players - including forwards - into defenders first, attackers second. He''s very, very effective at it. But it''s sucking the life out of him.

[Daniel Brigham 0]

Out of ''them'', not ''him''. Sorry.

[Lord Horn Returns 0]

[quote user="Daniel Brigham"]Ginger - start at the beginning. I''m not saying he makes them bad players, he turns all players - including forwards - into defenders first, attackers second. He''s very, very effective at it. But it''s sucking the life out of him.[/quote]

Couldn''t agree more.  watching Chelsea this year has been like watching treacle solidify!

[Gingerpele 0]

Not all players at all Daniel.

He didn''t make Ronaldo defensive, hasn''t made Hazard or Oscar defensive, didn''t make Drogba defensive, or Robben. Or Lampard.

He is very tactically astute. And his approach leads in the main to his teams being a safer bet to win 1-0 rather than go for it and win 5-1. It''s why he was never at home at Madrid, they count out up with that. And the naturally attacking players playing a tighter game upset them.

But that happened at Madrid, not at Porto, Chelsea or Inter, and it''s not happening at Chelsea this time. Other than he''s upset Demba Ba a bit.

I just don''t get why people either dislike teams like his, or Barca/Spain for that matter and feel the need to have a dog at them. When they play fantastic tactical football and/or beautiful skilful play. But so many people don''t seem to care unless a team is going gun ho and has two dozen chances a game and score loads..

I enjoy watching Chelsea a lot, Liverpool too. But criticising Jose''s approach is just bizzare in my opinion. And when he has Hazard a player who is starting to be mentioned in the same breath as Messi and Ronaldo.....

[Gingerpele 0]

P.S Chelsea are the third highest scorers in the league.... Their solid base allows them to dominate teams and still provide decent attacking play.

[Daniel Brigham 0]

Oh I agree he''s very tactically astute. He''s an outstanding manager, but with the resources he has I''ve always wondered why he doesn''t attempt to play a more expansive game. He''s always had the players to.

Hazard is a wonderful player. One of my favourites to watch. I''d have to take issue with Robben, Oscar and Drogba though. Robben was far more defensive when he was under Mourinho than under anyone else - he''s grumbled about it a number of times. Drobga is the ultimate defensive attacker - harrying and closing down defenders on the ball; he was brilliant at it and perfect for Mourinho. Oscar had more freedom last season under Benitez. What''s more important though is he gets his tactics all wrong against us next week ...

[im spartacus canary 0]

watching chelsea v athletico was what watching a behind closed doors chris hughton training match must be like... apart from the fact that no goals were conceded... poor old hoots never got the hang of that bit [:(]

[Dubai Mark 0]

Sure you can write a decent piece, I particularly enjoyed last weeks, but I gave in after a couple of paragraphs on this one as it started to go way over the top......as someone has mentioned its two games and two defeats....all is still not that rosey now is it..........yet..  

[Mr Jenkins 0]

You can''t see it Mark, but Daniel has called it right.

[im spartacus canary 0]

[quote user="Dubai Mark"]Sure you can write a decent piece, I particularly enjoyed last weeks, but I gave in after a couple of paragraphs on this one as it started to go way over the top......as someone has mentioned its two games and two defeats....all is still not that rosey now is it..........yet..  [/quote]you have been so demoralized by hughton and you don''t even realize it mark, you have forgotten what football is all about [:D]

[Holtcantshoot 0]

[quote user="Dubai Mark"]Sure you can write a decent piece, I particularly enjoyed last weeks, but I gave in after a couple of paragraphs on this one as it started to go way over the top......as someone has mentioned its two games and two defeats....all is still not that rosey now is it..........yet..  [/quote]I can see where your coming from. Certainly there''s been a general lift around the club from the exit of Mr. Hughton, kind of like that lift everyone gets when that grumpy old relative finally goes back home after staying from Christmas all the way through to the New Year. Everyone''s more upbeat, they can laugh and have fun again without their scowling, but how much of this is down to Adams?True, he went toe to toe in an all out attacking line-up against Liverpool and went 2-0 down in ten minutes and finished the game having been behind for all but 3:48 of the match. This of course could (and probably would) have happened even if he''d played two ball winners rather than the shadow-marker prince (Johnny boy) but one needs to question if a straight shoot out against a team who''s top goalscorer has outscored your whole side that season is a good tactical decision.He allowed the side to go out and express themselves when they were 2-0 down and Liverpool had dropped down a few gears but you''d have to be a very poor manager to keep trying to defend a 2-0 deficit for no gain (though some managers who would try just that spring to mind.)We shall have to see how he fares against a resurgent Manchester United with an equally inexperienced man at the helm. Should be an interesting test.