After this manic summer and being somewhat over indulged with our signings, the hint of Alderwiereld had my head turning quickly. I feel as faithless as Tiger Woods. I'd forgotten just how good Turner was and then how brilliantly Bennett slotted in. Of course, some credit must go to Bassong, particularly as he was carrying an injury, but I really feel we are ready for the season. http://espnfc.com/blog/_/name/norwichcity/id/1007?&cc=5739 Of course, some will point to some gaping holes in pre-season, but we won't really know until it all kicks off. Having thought back, I really think we've strengthened in the right areas
The last home game against Albion he was superb. If he works on his consistency he will be a fine player
I really like Bennett, I'd have him ahead of Turner because I think the longer term benefits could be huge.
A lot was made of his twitter comments but he was nowhere near the lee Hughes school of scumness. He was young and made a mistake but worked on his football as a result. Good luck to the lad.
I wouldn't be the slightest bit surprised if by this time next year one of the 'big four' will offer us £10m+ for him. I think he has the potential to go to the very top and can see him being part of the England set-up in the next couple of years. He's class, lovely footballer and I'm really looking forward to watching him develop this season
See him in Sainsburys all the time, nice, normal bloke with a young family. Good luck to him. Always speaking to people and is pleasant from what ive seen. Then again Im not wum gooner trolling him on twiiter.......
I think by the end of the year he will be our first choice CB, at the end of last season I doubt Turner would have gotten his place back even if he was fit.
I hope a Bassong-Bennett partnership is the way we go this season when possible, really impressed by him. Whilst more competition is nice, I wouldn't want it to stifle Bennett's development, so I'm not tooo worried about missing out on Alderweireld, good as he may be.
Probably gonna be shot down here but if we signed Toby, I'd fancy a Alderweireld Bennett partnership developing, I genuinely believe in a year or so Bennett will be better than Seb. That said I would want to see that partnership developed slowly and Seb would still be important to us for the more physical games. Doubt it will happen though and Bassong/Bennett will be fantastic together I have no doubt.
Brave call and you may be right. However, Seb was voted player of the year for a reason and to think he was carrying an injury for half the season! His physicality and sheer athleticism sorts out many mistakes (some self-inflicted) which Bennett may never have to the same degree. But the boy can read the game well and has a good eye for a pass. There's more than one way to skin a cat so to speak!
I was just saying to a fellow fan the other day that our Full Backs lack a bit of pace when dealing with speedy wingers and he said that Olsen was quite fast. I have been VERY impressed by Seb's speed when tracking back - especially for a big man!!! Just off to get readdy to go down the pub before today's game!! C'mon you YELLOWS!!!!
Obviously this has little baring on reality, but in FIFA13 after several season Bennett was basically the best English defender in the game and challenging for best defender in the world. He may struggle to reach that potential but he definitely has the abilities to be a top top player in the England team.
I agree about Bennett who looked sharp and commanding in today's match alongside Turner. Seb was interviewed after the match and said that he is going to play in the U21 match on Monday and may feature against Everton.
I thought the defence looked quite solid today and would be quite happy for Turner and R Bennett to start next Sat. Snodgrass had a good half and linked well with Rusty a couple of times in attack. Olsson also looked impressive, as did Hooper until he went off injured. Well done to Johnson for his 2 goals and felt he was quite impressive throughout. Redmond I thought looked a real handful and my only hope is that he gets more than 10 minutes on the pitch and gets his chance to run at the likes of Rafael.
Agree Bennett was solid defensively, but I thought he was profligate with his attempts at long Gerrard-like diagonal balls. He had a solid midfield in front of him and plenty of movement, but too often he didn't play the simple pass.
I mentioned a few weeks ago he is above Turner in my pecking order for centre back position. His reading of the game is obviously a huge strength of his which can be rare in a defender of that age. When defenders come through early 20's it's when they make there mistakes and can be rash, so he has real maturity as a centre half, that's what I think will see him hit the top as his intelligence and experience increases. I remember in today's game when he played it long, I thought 'for christ's sake, keep it on the deck', pinged a diagonal straight to Snodgrass's feet who misplaced his first touch pass. I was impressed with his technique to pull that one off. I read Darragh McAnthony, Peterborough Chairman, tweet just before window opened, that he wouldn't be surprised to see Rodgers try and sign Bennett for Liverpool. Apparently he was really keen for him to go Swansea and would probably try and bring him to Anfield. I hoped that wouldn't materialise and thankfully I don't think it will this transfer window.
Benteke and Lukaku hardly had a kick in those two games near the end of last season, and not many defences achieved that last season
His definitely up there, when he joined I thought he got too much hype from our fans but in fairness every game his played in has warranted that. The twitter saga makes me laugh we have some really cranky miserable fans who could do with lightening up a bit, his not the brightest of sparks and I think a lot of our fans take what he says on twitter out of context.
