SW has talked about bringing players in to develop and sell on as a money making strategy, especially strikers as they sell for more. I wonder if that is all this was, if Porto buy him we will have made a million from a free transfer.
I’m glad Leitner has agreed to terminate his deal, obviously wasn’t going to be involved, hopefully this will free up some wages after the settlement fee has been taken care of. I think it was the right time for Stieps to go, if I’m honest I’ve never been a fan of his, although I can admit he was very impersonator in our 2018/19 promotion. But I think now we have grown beyond his talents. I’m suprised we didn’t try to get a few for him, maybe we didn’t and there was no takers? Another set of wages freed up. I wonder what will happen with Trybull and Drmic now.
I wonder whether Danel Sinani will get a chance this season. He's left-footed and can play in all of the AM positions and plays as a striker for Luxembourg. Having watched him he it seems that he could be a useful option as cover and could take Stiepermann's place in the squad. As for formations, I'm hoping that DF will vary his tactics to suit the opposition this season. I'll be disappointed if we go to ManCity playing a 4-2-3-1 with FBs playing like WBs. A back 3 with the new CB or Zimmerman or even Sørensen playing as RCB in a 3-4-3 or a 3-4-2-1 would be far more solid and could use Rashica's and Pukki's pace in counterattacks.
Even in a 3-4-3, a Gilmour/McLean partnership is probably too weak defensively. The skillset of both Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips skews a lot more defensive than either Gilmour or McLean's skillset, for example. And when we're going to be on the backfoot a lot, we still need our midfield to protect the defence, even if there's 3 CBs there. In the Premier League, Brighton have Bissouma, Wolves have Neves, Leicester have Ndidi, West Ham have Rice whenever they line up similarly. I can definitely see the arguments for 3-4-3, or 3-4-2-1 suiting our full backs and attacking players, but I don't think it allows you to play a central midfield pairing of Gilmour and McLean.
As I understand it, the whole purpose of a 'double 6' midfield is that it doesn't require a dedicated DM. Bissouma, for example, like McLean is a number 8 playing as a number 6 (like Kenny, he's listed as a CM who can also play as a DM, as is Gilmour). Bissouma plays in a 3-4-2-1 alongside White, who is a CB who can also play as a DM. I would be more nervous about a McLean/Gilmour partnership in front of a back 2 rather than a back 3. We're said to be looking to sign a CM/DM, so perhaps that's for when we play a 4-2-3-1. Certainly Skipp is a dedicated DM and I'd guess he is our first choice there.
Josh Martin loaned to MK Dons, that feels like a good move for him. Decent level, coach who is familiar with Norwich and trying to play good football, and some good senior players he can learn from. Not too far away so he can still keep in regular contact with Colney. Hope he can have a successful season there!
New rumour on Twitter: Maximilian Eggestein Also at Werder Bremen, he's a CM/DM valued at £7.5m on Transfermarkt: https://www.transfermarkt.de/maximilian-eggestein/profil/spieler/190284
Billy is certainly a precocious talent, as Wiki details: "Gilmour developed his career as part of Rangers Academy. His progress saw him fast-tracked towards the first team, making his debut for the under-20 development team in December 2016 at the age of 15 and being invited to train with the first team squad the following month by manager Mark Warburton." Into Rangers' first team at the tender age of 15 and then on to Chelsea the following year to develop through the academy. "He made his Premier League debut on 31 August 2019 against Sheffield United, coming on in the 84th minute for Tammy Abraham. He made his full debut on 25 September, playing the full 90 minutes in a 7–1 EFL Cup win against Grimsby Town. He was added to the Chelsea first-team squad on a permanent basis in February 2020. He was widely praised for his performance in a 2–0 win against Liverpool in an FA Cup tie on 3 March. Gilmour would later make his first Premier League start later that week on 8 March against Everton, earning Man of the Match honours in a 4-0 win. He did not play much for the next six months or so, due to the lockdown caused by COVID-19 and a knee injury. Gilmour made 11 appearances for the Chelsea first team during the 2019–20 season." He was called up to the Scotland squad at the age of 19 and featured in 3 Euros matches, culminating in his man of the match performance against England.
This would be interesting I’ve heard good things about him, never seen him play. We need to bring the German numbers back up again.
Never in doubt. Farke / Tuchel relationship can only mean good things for us. I think Farke is more respected in the industry than some fans realise.
In his own words: https://www.canaries.co.uk/News/2021/july/billy-gilmour-there-are-very-exciting-times-ahead/
The Athletic have a really good article about him, and his strengths and how he might be used. https://theathletic.com/2682007/202...helsea-midfielder-could-bring-to-farkes-team/ The key bit on formations: "Norwich want to play different midfield set-ups next season, and to have a tactical flexibility that often isn’t necessary to win in the Championship. That will mean playing at times with two No 6s, in order to be more compact in front of their back line, but also playing with two No 8s and one holding midfielder when they look to carry more central dominance. Gilmour has experience in both roles." Although the whole article is excellent, particularly if you like stats. Sounds like our standard 4-2-3-1 may be used alongside a 4-3-2-1 next season. There's also mention of Gilmour having the ability to play incisive passes from deep like Leitner could (but being quicker of thought/feet to do it at a higher level, with some tenacity to contribute defensively), and that a Skipp/Gilmour parternship shouldn't be ruled out. The Phillip Billing rumour also resurfaces.
Billy also has some pretty impressive admirers: https://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwi...ne-frank-lampard-billy-gilmour-praise-8107692 His technical skills and ability to progress the ball through the thirds is ideal for Farkeball, but he is also very strong defensively as he showed against England. It seems DF wants to blend his range of skills with those of McLean or other potential midfield partners and I hope we do vary formations to suit the opponent. A 4-3-2-1 is only a slight shift from a 4-2-3-1 or a 3-4-2-1 and there's no reason why these shifts couldn't occur in the same match. Like McLean, Gilmour can also play as an AM and either moving up to do so automatically shifts the formation. This is what was missing too often last time in the PL but with Gilmour and Rashica the possibilities have been greatly extended.
