Norwich City vs Brighton (Away) Saturday 2nd November.

[morty]

It will be all aboard the cabbage express for me!

We need something here, the last game felt like the players were faltering a bit, slightly caught in the headlights thinking "Shit, this is Man Utd".

Onel definitely has to start, but we anxiously wait on the press conference for fitness reports on Krul (jarred his knee) Amadou (hopefully just a knock, but he could barely walk on Sunday) and Lewis (who went off and straight down the tunnel, so assume an injury). If Amadou is injured then I don't know what the hell we will do, Tettey at CB?

 

[OldRobert]

Could play Byram at CB. Must play Trybull. Not convinced that Cantwell should start, is losing possession too often. If fit I would play Onel or even Marco, thought we looked better with them on Sunday. Just my opinion, what the hell do I know!

 

[morty]

Could play Byram at CB. Must play Trybull. Not convinced that Cantwell should start, is losing possession too often. If fit I would play Onel or even Marco, thought we looked better with them on Sunday. Just my opinion, what the hell do I know!

Marco links the play to Pukki, who has looked increasingly isolated. He deserved to be dropped, because he hasn't quite been on it yet this season.

I don't know if Byram has ever played at CB. If it turns out that Amadou and Lewis are both injured then we really do have problems!

 

[Fenway Frank]

Lewis was ill so will be fine for Saturday. I don’t think he’ll start Onel as he has still played a small amount after a lengthy lay off. He will be better coming on after about 60 minutes when the full backs are tiring. At the moment I can’t see us getting anything from this if I’m honest.

 

[GJP]

Don't think we need to see Leitner in the more advanced role again.

 

[morty]

Mrs Hernandez about to drop a sprog, which may rule Onel out.

Krul fit thankfully.

Late calls on Amadou and Cantwell

 

[OldRobert]

Probably why he fell down the stairs.

 

[Fenway Frank]

Perhaps they were doing it on the stairs

 

[morty]

Mrs Hernandez has birthed!

 

[Din]

Interesting that both Mrs Hernandez and Mrs McLean have given birth exactly 9 months after the week we beat Ipswich and Leeds last season

Think we need a minimum of a point from this one. Like all Premier League away games it's not gonna be easy but if we play how we did 2nd half against Bournemouth we'll definitely get something. Assuming everyone's fit I'd go with:

Krul
Aarons Amadou Godfrey Lewis
Tettey
Buendia Trybull Leitner Hernandez
Pukki

Subs: Fahrmann, Byram, McLean, Cantwell, Stiepermann, Roberts, Drmic
​

Dunno if Farke will start Onel given what he's been through in the last 24 hours aha, if he's able to start though he 100% should. Would definitely like to see Trybull back in as well. The fact that Roberts wasn't involved for the u23s tonight suggests he'll probably be in the squad for this as well.

Working tomorrow so am gonna miss the game, but I'm certainly very hopeful it's one where we can get a result. A loss here similar to some of the other away defeats we've suffered would be really disappointing. Quietly confident we can get something though

 

[OldRobert]

Marco for Leitner would be my only change, bit more beef in midfield, and imo would leave Pukki less isolated, as Morty said he likes linking with Marco.

 

[dj161]

Tettey, starts in defence, Amadou on the bench, McLean and Trybull in the centre of midfield, Hernandez and Steips back in the starting lineup too

 

[dj161]

0-0 at half time, you'll never beat the Tettey

 

[OldRobert]

Spoke too soon dj161, that turned into a nightmare. We'll see whether Morty agrees when he returns from the wilds of the South Coast. What I saw streamed was pretty horrendous.

 

[morty]

Right, just got home, glass of wine poured!

I thought we looked bright, to begin with. We have looked more nervy as the losing streak continued, but we started like we looked up for it today. But really, over all as we failed to create, the doubts seemed to creep in. They got a foothold late in the second half, one of those periods where an opposing team just move up a gear and you can feel a goal coming, and there were a few hairy moments, but made it to half time. Both of their goals were avoidable, more on that in a minute. And once we were two down it just descended into a predictable play out, same old story away from home. I feel if we could just score first while we are away, it could be a very different story.

Alex Tettey.

I like Alex, but lets make no mistakes about it, he is a very tactically limited footballer. He breaks up play, and plays a short pass. That is his job. He is not, and as far as I know ever been, a centre back. Do not, for the love of God, ever play him again. Probably tried his best (some seem to have an utter blindness towards him that means he often doesn't get as much criticism as he deserves) but was ultimately just completely lost in the position, woefully out of position, and just does not possess the ball skills to play the position.

Jamal Lewis

Absolutely solid today, totally reliable.

Max Aarons.

For some reason seeing a lot of opinion he should be dropped, didn't do much wrong really. Byram did look good when I last saw him play, so not sure there.

Onel Hernandez

We have really missed his direct running, gives us a different dimension.

Emi Buendia

Again, seeing a lot of criticism for him, but for Emi read Hoolahan. Players like that are going to frustrate you as they try things, but would you want him out of the team? Nah, not for me. I do feel that teams have worked out, pretty quickly, that he is a player that makes us tick, and one to stop. I think the players around him, maybe losing confidence are a big issue, last season you would see tricky wee interchanges, and within 5 or 6 passes you had suddenly opened a team up, and those little moments aren't quite happening. Not just Emi's fault.

Overall, we are just a bit too one dimensional, we aren't getting the time to build play as opposing teams just close us right down when we play it out from the back. Ideally you would tweak and change, but injuries limit our options. But I do wonder, if fit, if Vrancic could bring a bit more passing guile, and the pass that Pukki needs.

Friday, against Watford, is massive.

 

[Number 9]

Right, just got home, glass of wine poured!

I thought we looked bright, to begin with. We have looked more nervy as the losing streak continued, but we started like we looked up for it today. But really, over all as we failed to create, the doubts seemed to creep in. They got a foothold late in the second half, one of those periods where an opposing team just move up a gear and you can feel a goal coming, and there were a few hairy moments, but made it to half time. Both of their goals were avoidable, more on that in a minute. And once we were two down it just descended into a predictable play out, same old story away from home. I feel if we could just score first while we are away, it could be a very different story.

Alex Tettey.

I like Alex, but lets make no mistakes about it, he is a very tactically limited footballer. He breaks up play, and plays a short pass. That is his job. He is not, and as far as I know ever been, a centre back. Do not, for the love of God, ever play him again. Probably tried his best (some seem to have an utter blindness towards him that means he often doesn't get as much criticism as he deserves) but was ultimately just completely lost in the position, woefully out of position, and just does not possess the ball skills to play the position.

Jamal Lewis

Absolutely solid today, totally reliable.

Max Aarons.

For some reason seeing a lot of opinion he should be dropped, didn't do much wrong really. Byram did look good when I last saw him play, so not sure there.

Onel Hernandez

We have really missed his direct running, gives us a different dimension.

Emi Buendia

Again, seeing a lot of criticism for him, but for Emi read Hoolahan. Players like that are going to frustrate you as they try things, but would you want him out of the team? Nah, not for me. I do feel that teams have worked out, pretty quickly, that he is a player that makes us tick, and one to stop. I think the players around him, maybe losing confidence are a big issue, last season you would see tricky wee interchanges, and within 5 or 6 passes you had suddenly opened a team up, and those little moments aren't quite happening. Not just Emi's fault.

Overall, we are just a bit too one dimensional, we aren't getting the time to build play as opposing teams just close us right down when we play it out from the back. Ideally you would tweak and change, but injuries limit our options. But I do wonder, if fit, if Vrancic could bring a bit more passing guile, and the pass that Pukki needs.

Friday, against Watford, is massive.

I missed most of today, who was available for defence in place of Tettey?
I assume an u23 player would be available, but i don't know if any senior players were?

 

[morty]

I missed most of today, who was available for defence in place of Tettey?
I assume an u23 player would be available, but i don't know if any senior players were?

Basically nobody. And if any U23 player was deemed ready I can only assume Farke would have had no hesitation putting him in. Probably some weeks ago instead of Amadou.

 

[OldRobert]

Thank you Morty for the report. I've read that Byram could be played at CB, has even been suggested by Archant journos, maybe that's an alternative to Tettey? He is after all a natural defender. I did think we looked more solid with Marco starting instead of Cantwell today, but I wasn't there, so correct me if I'm wrong, bit unlucky with his shot which hit the bar imo. I do wish they'd shoot more instead of trying to walk the bloody thing into the net. It might have worked in the Chumps when we beat nearly everyone, but not now.

 

[morty]

Thank you Morty for the report. I've read that Byram could be played at CB, has even been suggested by Archant journos, maybe that's an alternative to Tettey? He is after all a natural defender. I did think we looked more solid with Marco starting instead of Cantwell today, but I wasn't there, so correct me if I'm wrong, bit unlucky with his shot which hit the bar imo. I do wish they'd shoot more instead of trying to walk the bloody thing into the net. It might have worked in the Chumps when we beat nearly everyone, but not now.

I like Marco in the side, he adds a bit of physicality, and he links well with Pukki, just not well enough yet this season. Yeah if the shot that hit the bar goes in, its a whole different game. I would have thought that had Byram been comfortable at CB then he would have been there before now, so not sure if it is just guesswork on their part.

It makes me wonder if opposition managers are seeing something we aren't. For the first 30 minutes I was reasonably happy, but they very much kept us at arms length, and I believe we didn't actually register a shot on target for the whole 90 minutes, the keeper didn't work for anything. They just turned things up either side of half time, and the game was won. Maybe we are easy to work out, and maybe they know full well that we don't really have much on the bench that will change the game.

 

[Fenway Frank]

Cheers Morty, nice to read a fair report without all the meltdown you get on the pinkun. As for Byram, someone on a forum suggested he may be able to play centre half and it escalated from there. If he was good enough to do it he would have played there by now. I don’t think we’re far off Hanley, and possibly Zimbo coming back into the side, probably after the next international break