Considering our financial constraints. IMO, SW has done brilliantly with his signings. I'm sure there will be hiccoughs along the way, but #cantwaitfortheseasontostart
https://www.sportinglife.com/footba...f=1197317995&dcmp=SL_FACEBOOK_CHAMPTEAMBYTEAM A look at how all the Championship teams are shaping up so far. Interesting that the rate Ben Marshall as our key player for this season
Our very own General Melchett has been let loose in the MFW office! Even ending with his customary 'Bah'! Nice work, GM http://norwichcity.myfootballwriter...season-does-the-quality-of-opposition-matter/
Yes, a very well argued piece GM. I thought the three games in Germany tested us and brought on fitness in severe heat as well. To me it also makes sense to finish against two League One sides to prepare for the Brum opener. Hopefully we'll play our best 11 for most of those games and be ready to hit the ground running when the season starts.
I don't get this? Surely we should look to be facing sides as good as or better than Brum in our final warm ups? Not from lower leagues. It makes absolutely no sense to me - we should be testing ourselves at the highest possible level on the eve of a new season, surely?
Yes, I can see that Cromer, but for me it's about developing a rhythm of play and building confidence for a good start to the season like Cardiff had last season. That allowed them to carry on with confidence and consistency through the rest of the season. We've brought nine new players into the squad and they need to be integrated into a fluid playing style for when the real tests start. That's how I see it anyway.
My argument is that that fluid playing style is only established against weaker opposition and gets knocked out of us when we face the sterner tests in the league, the best example being Mario, who llooked good in pre-season but was pretty rubbish for half a season. Could he have been better prepared? Could our defence? Hard to prove one way or another, Mario was never going to hit the ground running, it took the best part of 4-5 months, maybe that 4-5 months couldhave started from mid-July rather than August is all. bah!
I agree with this and I think there may be a chance of injuries being caused by doing too much too soon, this needs of course to be balanced with the fact that lower league players are often guilty of late tackles which can also play havoc with unwanted injuries.
Unfortunately we can only play matches against clubs that are happy to play us. PL clubs at this time of year are usually globe trotting somewhere exotic. We would probably have had a final game at home against continental opposition if the pitch was ready.
Could we have made it as a condition of selling Maddison to Leicester that we played them pre-season ?
Number 8, was that Mahrez’s old number? I really hope he plays week in week out and gets better and better at Leicester. Would love to see him earning an England call up
Last year we had a massive restructuring and Vrancic wasn't the only one who needed time to adjust. This season we've brought in eight new players, but only two of those (Buendia and Passlack) have never played here before. IMO the rhythm and confidence are the key to a good start. You cited Cardiff's lower level pre-season and their great start to the season last year. I'm hoping that we do well in these last two games, score some goals and go to Brum full of confidence.
