Re. that graphic from The Athletic, for a specialist DM, Sorenson seems to score rather highly on "Receptions in the opp. box". What we need is someone who minimises opposition players's "receptions" in OUR box!
That might be misleading, Robbie, because he played as both a CM and DM last season. His defensive stats look good, but his games as CM may have inflated his 'reception in the opposition box' stats (note the 'quantity of defending' stat being quite low). Transfermarkt lists him as a CM who also plays as a DM or CB, though he describes himself as firstly a DM. The combination of defending and attacking skills could be useful though, should DF want to play him alongside Tettey, when he could use both attacking and defending skills to good effect.
For all Tettey's great value to the dressing room, I really think it's time for him to surrender his "first on the team sheet when fit" status. His worth to us has always exceeded his actual ability, due to shortcomings elsewhere on and off the pitch. Last summer, you and I both had high hopes of Amadou when he signed, for that very reason. We both anticipated a dedicated DM who would obviate the need to have another similar player alongside him in front of the CBs. We both saw it as a sign that Leitner would be able to come into his own. So much for our hopes; Leitner, to everyone's cost, has been sacrificed to the need to plug the several holes elsewhere in our defensive dyke.
I'm hoping that Sørensen, Sitti and Mumba (hopefully) have been recruited to provide different options at DM and the tactics overall. Sørensen's ability to play at CB or CM means we could see more flexibility in midfield. I had a similar hope for Amadou, though, and that didn't happen. His ability to dribble and carry the ball forward could help our forward movement while his defensive strengths could allow him to shield the defence more tightly to help break up attacks. We'll have to wait and see though.
Placheta confirmed, 4 yr deal https://www.canaries.co.uk/News/2020/july/przemyslaw-placheta-joins-norwich-city-on-four-year-deal/ https://www.pinkun.com/norwich-city/placheta-set-to-join-city-on-four-year-deal-1-6757104
So that's 1 in (Placheta) and 1 out (Raggett) today. Hope we start to strengthen the central defence soon, looking forward to seeing these new players play and what they can bring to the club.
Good video compilation Cromer. He's certainly pacey with an eye for goal. According to Transfermarkt he can play WL/WR/LB. Including Sinani, Sitti, McCallum and hopefully Mumba, SW has already recruited 5 players with another in the pipeline. Five is the total number signed last summer and the window hasn't even opened yet.
Transfermarkt has the fee for Placheta at £2.7m. He played nearly every game last season as a LW, so it seems like Onel and Placheta are in direct competition. Hopefully that's good for them both. Michael Bailey commented yesterday that he sees Sorensen initially playing alongside Tettey (or that type of player) rather than instead of him, but it sounds like he might have the defensive capabilities to do Tettey's job, but as he's eased into the squad he perhaps won't be trusted with the same responsibilities right away. Depending on opposition, I could imagine seeing Sorensen as the most defensive midfielder against weak opposition, alongside Vrancic or McLean for example. But in harder games it could still be a Tettey+Trybull, Tettey+Sorensen, etc pairing. Pleased we seem to be getting some deals done early on in the window, given how truncated the pre-season is likely to be. Much as being relegated this early sucks, at least we can make plans for a promotion push. I imagine Farke/Webber have sat down with most of our current squad to figure out how they fit into 20/21 plans. Who wants to leave, who the club want to leave, etc. Meanwhile Villa, Bournemouth and Watford will struggle to commit to things fully when they've no idea where they'll end up. And as for the current Championship sides, the play-offs are a long way from completed at the top end of the league, whilst legal battles around relegation spots could drag on well into August.
One who should be on our radar is Everton's 18 year-old CB Jarrad Branthwaite. He signed for them from Carlisle Utd in January and, having made two first team appearances as a sub in Everton's recent matches against Wolves and Villa, earned himself a start in their most recent game, the 1:0 win over Sheffield Utd in which he was Man of the Match. At 18 you would think Everton would be looking to loan him out to a club able to offer him regular starts and with a good reputation for bringing on youngsters. And being from Carlisle, he might listen to encouragement from Holty!
I think that was the overall plan. Rob the Premier League Bank, rebuild and come back stronger next time round.
Godfrey can also play CDM or CB. I would like to see him given a go as a CDM provide we have enough fit CB's
Latest rumours about Dennis Man seem to be that we're offering a club record fee, but a large amount of it would be performance-related bonuses. Sounds like Norwich are trying to play to the owner's ego by letting him say "Norwich agreed to pay £14m", but the scenario in which we'd pay all of that would mean we'd got promoted and Man had set the Premier League alight and broken into the national team. So we'd only pay £14m if he'd become worth £30m.
