Daniel Brigham 0 Posted August 7, 2014 Norwich fans can''t wait for a season that promises attack, attack, attack but Neil Adams must get the defence right. By Daniel BrighamIt''s strange, some of the things you can remember. Nine years on, I still recall the one irrefutable conclusion I made after a first scan of the 2005-06 Championship fixtures: Norwich wouldn''t have trouble beating any of the sides in the division. Forget about those reservations over Nigel Worthington, never mind the Great Craven Cottage Crash, it was going to be easy. Norwich would be like Richard Ashcroft swiping and swatting everyone aside in the video to Bittersweet Symphony. An immediate return to the Premier League was a certainty. Well, that went well. Three successive 1-1 draws (''It''s ok, we''re playing well – the wins will soon come'') followed by a hat-trick of defeats (''We''re screwed'') and the Premier League was a pinprick on the horizon, a dream that dissolves as soon as you wake up. Reality had bitten: the Championship might feel like a beach holiday, a short break from the Premier League, but all too suddenly you look up and realise you''ve swum too far from the shore. Perhaps memories of that sudden flatlining of hope back in 2005 are why Norwich fans appear to be approaching this season cautiously. The fixture list is full of quicksand and snipers in the night. We are exposed targets and there are 17 former Premier League teams out there waiting to ambush us. Seventeen! So far, though, caution appears to be mingling with optimism. Perhaps we needn''t be quite so fearful of what lies in store. Attacking football was promised and, in pre-season, delivered. The acquisitions of Lewis Grabban and Kyle Lafferty give the team a new dynamic and provide varied attacking options (after two years under Chris Hughton it might be worth reminding yourself that ''options'' doesn''t just mean substituting one striker for another similar striker when losing). Plenty of our attackers have much to prove, which can only be a good thing. Wes Hoolahan and Andrew Surman will be eager to show that they should have been central to Hughton''s plans. Elliott Bennett will be itching to make up for lost time, while Nathan Redmond will want to prove he belongs in the Premier League (don''t try too hard though, eh Nathan?). Gary Hooper, as well, has shown in pre-season that he has retained his hunger – most notably, it seems, for large amounts of food. Hooper’s stature may have raised a few eyebrows, and Ricky van Wolfswinkel''s say-it-ain’t-so departure looks like an error, but there is more than enough quality in our attacking players to suggest scoring won''t be a problem. And that''s how Neil Adams wants it. He has spoken of having to score goals to get out of the league, and cited the promotions of Leicester City and Burnley last season as justification – they were, after all, two of the division''s top four scorers. Like stumbling across a king’s banquet after months of eating only muesli and spam, it is refreshing to hear a manager put the emphasis on attack, attack, attack after two seasons that brought a forlorn 0.91 goals per game. But, without wanting to poop the party before the party has even started, we need to talk about the defence. While Burnley and Leicester scored plenty last season, they also had two of the top three tightest defences. In fact, of the six best defences in the Championship, five finished in the promotion and play-off places. It doesn''t all have to be about goals: the season before, 13 teams outscored promoted Hull City, including Peterborough, who were highly entertaining but also highly relegated. Of more importance, perhaps, is that the top three in the Championship last season had the three healthiest goal differences. Leicester, Burnley and Derby County showed that, above all, the key to a successful season is balance. All-out attack has to be wrapped with caution; it can’t be care-free. If Norwich are going to throw off their clothes and go dancing in the rain, then that’s brilliant; we’re aching for a bit of adventure at Carrow Road. But someone has to ensure no one’s going to steal their clothes and run off with them when they''re not looking. For that to happen, Norwich have to get their defence right. Michael Turner and Martin Olsson are Premier League quality; the lack of bids for the latter is surprising but welcome. Steven Whittaker plays like a winger clumsily converted into a full back. Javier Garrido is stable. Nothing more, nothing less. Russell Martin didn’t look like a Premier League right back last season and barely looks to be a Championship centre back. Seb Bassong, rightly or wrongly, appears to have as much chance of playing again for Norwich as Patrick Kielty. Ryan Bennett, popular with a large section of fans, has never really convinced – his long, aimless punts can be a thing of slapstick beauty – but he is still young and we need to find out once and for all whether he is good enough. Turner and Bennett certainly sounds more reassuring than Turner and Martin; signing a new centre back would be even more so.In front of that defence will be Bradley Johnson, whose covering is often as effective as putting a towel over your head in a game of hide and seek. In a long season Johnson will be very useful – and he is capable of dominating some games – but he should be back up to the more mobile Alex Tettey. Get the balance right – and that must mean keeping hold of Olsson – and Norwich can storm into the top two on the back of goals galore and judicious defending. Get it wrong and, however many goals we score, it might not be enough. Daniel Brigham tweets at @cricketer_dan Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Molly Windley 76 Posted August 7, 2014 Good piece ..................................... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paul101 93 Posted August 7, 2014 You cant compare it to nigels team when we got relegated we could field a 1st 11 and that was it we had not depth and the subs bench was a joke now we have relative strength in depth and a squad rather than just a starting lineup Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bill 1,788 Posted August 7, 2014 excellent on style but woefully lacking in contentto compare this squad with the players we had in 05/06 only has validity in that the club was in the PL the season before"and there are 17 former Premier League teams out there waiting to ambush us. Seventeen! "yes, and if they were any good they would not still be in the Championship - no mention either of how many clubs in the 2nd tier had been in the top tier when we were relegated in 74, 82, 95 and 05whilst the defence is torn to pieces there is no mention of the chap behind them - one of our greatest assets and surely the best keeper in the Championshipsadly if mr bingham was a tightrope walker his balancing act would not have got further than a foot or so along the tight rope - as the clue to balancing is to have roghly an equal weight on either sidethis hasn''t Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Molly Windley 76 Posted August 7, 2014 [quote user="Molly Windley"]Good piece .....................................[/quote]Still a good piece if read properly......................................... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BroadstairsR 2,138 Posted August 7, 2014 Pretty uncontroversial Mr. DB and nothing really there that hasn''t been thrashed out on this Board over the past two months. Our attacking options do seem to be exciting, although if we lose Becchio, as is to be expected, then I would want one more in as replacement. It''s a long hard season in the Championship and any club that can afford strength in depth, as we are led to believe we can, is best served by having adequate numbers in the striking department. We were awash with strikers last week and this felt good. Now we have lost RVW and Hooper is apparently injured. With no clear indication that Becchio is in Adams''s plans either, we are suddenly exposed on this front IMO. Ditto the central defence and you are, of course, correct in advocating a decent signing in the centre-back department now that the Bassong situation seems impossible to redeem. We are a strong squad, my doubts are more with the capabilities of the manager than with those of the players. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daniel Brigham 0 Posted August 8, 2014 Ah, it''s great to hear from you again City1st. Not sure how I got through the summer without you. Agree Ruddy will be one of the finest keepers in the PL, but keepers can only be so good behind a dodgy defence - with your logic he should''ve kept us up last season... Also, I wasn''t comparing squads from 05-06. I was comparing moods. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites