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PurpleCanary

Norwich City vs Brentford match thread

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Reckon Brentford have blown themselves out a bit after their great (probably ticket price inspired) start. They''ve got a brilliant midfield, much better than ours but they''re nothing special anywhere else, this is going to be a tight game, hope we win!

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Redmond is also lightyears ahead of everyone else on the picth. He''s developed so well over the course of this season, Olsson having a very good game also. Lafferty and Whittaker need to pick it up, Jerome needs to get more involved

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Whittaker consistently moving out of position and leaving Johnson covering 2 men in the centre of midfield. Has he even be told how to defend as a central midfielder?
 

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Hooper and Jerome can''t be dropped atm and rightly so but I feel we need Hoolahan to make the ball stick in their half a bit more. We''ve got two defensive midfielder playing but they''re not stopping us getting cut open through the middle...Hmm not sure what I''d do, we need to get a grip in midfield but we can''t sacrifice one of our form strikers

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[quote user="Darth Catbeard"]Hooper and Jerome can''t be dropped atm and rightly so but I feel we need Hoolahan to make the ball stick in their half a bit more. We''ve got two defensive midfielder playing but they''re not stopping us getting cut open through the middle...Hmm not sure what I''d do, we need to get a grip in midfield but we can''t sacrifice one of our form strikers[/quote]I don''t know if his point has been made, but with our lack of strength in central midfeld today (it is not Neil''s fault so many are unavailable) perhaps we should not have started with two attacking wide  players in Redmond and Lafferty. In any event, since Lafferty has been booked perhaps Elliott Bennett on for him in the second half?

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I don''t know, I feel we need to take Hooper off and bring on Wes, I''m not sure the partnership is unbreakable or proving that effective today. We look a liability in midfield and need someone to keep hold of the ball and also the extra man defending. But to bring Wes on for Whittaker, who looks out of his depth, would be pretty suicidal.

Could do with a bold change, whatever it is, fair play to Brentford they have schooled us most of the half.

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We haven''t had any strength of presence in CM position for a long time. Johnson, O''neil and Tetty are tenacious and they work their arses off, but they''re not strong, they can''t hold onto the ball under pressure, get around players, link up with the forwards (that effectively, look at Brentfords link up play, that''s how you create chances) etc.

I don''t think EB is the answer, he just isn''t the same player he was, Hoolahan is the only player I feel we could do with in this game, but where the hell do we put him? If Adams was still in charge I''d be expecting him as a straight swap on the left for Lafferty soon, hopefully Neil has a more inventive trick up his sleeve!

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Might as well try replacing Whittaker with Hoolahan or Bennett in CM. Feels odd saying it, but i have more trust in either of them to track their runners and cover the defence a bit better. Also Whittaker doesn''t have the creativity of the latter, and certainly not of the former, and if there''s anything else we''re missing beyond the midfield''s off-the-ball tenacity and effort to cover Bretford''s movement, it''s the midfield''s on-the-ball creativity.

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Redmonds played well. His goals shows the advantage of two-footed wingers and how it can be more beneficial to sometimes cut-inside rather than stay-wide and cross constantly. Olsson bailed out the defence twice with some great covering tackles. Not an easy task to sweep-up behind a defence when playing as a full-back as your always playing on your weaker side. Johnsons played poorly, but seeing as he''s had no help at all from Whittaker, it''s hard to citicise him too much. The central-defenders have done OK, considerng the lack of protection form the midfield. 
We''ve been awful in the centre of midfield. Complete inability to move ball from side to side has resulted in too many long passes in behind the defence. Hooper and Jerome have chased them manfully but the inability to work our way up the pitch is worrying. Whittaker has looked awful. He has no positional discipline and is pressing far too high up the pitch. Lafferty has been non-existent (although it''s hard to blame him, the midfield has been so bad at moving the ball that unless an attack starts down his side he''s unlikely to see it).
The most pressing issue is sorting out the midfield but it''s hard to see what Neil can do. He has no fit central midfielders to replace Whittaker with. McGrandles can play a slightly deeper role in the centre, but it''s a big ask for a player with such limited championship experience to try and play a defensive role against a team that is so adept at moving themselves between the defence and midfield. I believe Bassong has played defensive midfielder in the past, that could present some kind of solution.

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[quote user="PurpleCanary"][quote user="Darth Catbeard"]Hooper and Jerome can''t be dropped atm and rightly so but I feel we need Hoolahan to make the ball stick in their half a bit more. We''ve got two defensive midfielder playing but they''re not stopping us getting cut open through the middle...Hmm not sure what I''d do, we need to get a grip in midfield but we can''t sacrifice one of our form strikers[/quote]I don''t know if his point has been made, but with our lack of strength in central midfeld today (it is not Neil''s fault so many are unavailable) perhaps we should not have started with two attacking wide  players in Redmond and Lafferty. In any event, since Lafferty has been booked perhaps Elliott Bennett on for him in the second half?[/quote]Without comment:Michael Bailey: HT change for City - Elliott Bennett on for Lafferty. Sounds good to me. #ncfc 1-1

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Really surprised how bad the team really is. No team work. Depending on individual efforts like Redmonds goal and lucky there was no one cover their left back so Redmond could shoot.

Brentford is not a bad team, but if they had stepped up a gear they really could have thrashed Norwich in the first half.

The defense is shaky and also the central midfield looks terrible. The decision making is shocking sometime. The 1-0 goal came as a direct result of lack of desicion making by Whittaker and lost the ball on Brentfords penalty area. Looked like a under 10 player!

Kyle Lafferty is always to late in tackling and easily loose the ball when in possession.

No signs of Premier League quality in this team so far today.

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Bennett playing on the left? I have a memory of him being distinctly awful during the extended amount of time he spent their during the second half of Hughton''s first season in charge, during one of Pilkington''s many long visits to the physio.Hopefully he''s now somehow mastered that role on the left during all that time he''s spent on the sidelines this past year and a half. I doubt it though. I can''t even be a*sed to feign some sort of lighthearted sarcasm, i really really doubt it.

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[quote user="John"]Bennett playing on the left? I have a memory of him being distinctly awful during the extended amount of time he spent their during the second half of Hughton''s first season in charge, during one of Pilkington''s many long visits to the physio.Hopefully he''s now somehow mastered that role on the left during all that time he''s spent on the sidelines this past year and a half. I doubt it though. I can''t even be a*sed to feign some sort of lighthearted sarcasm, i really really doubt it.[/quote]There there there.

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Good afternoon everyone.

It looks here like a cohesive group of average players versus a dispirate group of largely average players but with a few good players here and there.

The support could make the difference.

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The moments stall, then the cut in followed by the tame cross played in front of the oppositions defence and behind the attackers.... The memories are streaming back.

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I''m enjoying Redmond''s presence on the right as much as any Norwich fan, but it''s not worth the torture of seeing Bennett played out on the left.

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Norwich fans lambast the defence and strikeforce, but the midfield is where the problem is. We needed to use our financial advantage to play football, but instead we''ve tried to outrun and outmuscle teams. When we come up against better footballing sides, especially ones which play well as a team, we get found out.

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