Morning one and all, With the recall of Alex Kacaniklic from Watford this week, could we be seeing the start of a new youngish on the team. Been thinking about line ups and whether we could use the youngsters next season: Stockdale Briggs Hangeland Grygera Kelly / new right back Kacaniklic on the left Dembele Murph's / Demps Frei on the right Dempsey / Ruiz Pogrebnyak I have been really impressed with the way in which we are adapting to life under Jol and it is clear to see the players are enjoying their football. The one thing I have noticed though, particularly against United, was how slow we are to counter attack. United got the ball from the half way line to a cross into the box within seconds, whereas we took an eternity to get it there. That said United are masters of this but it is something that we need to improve, look at Spurs and the success they have had from fast attacking football. Bringing in youngsters like Kacaniklic and Frei to give us some pace and skills could be the difference we need to step up another gear. Of course this is dependant on them getting game time but it seems Jol is keen to get some students from the academy into the rey so fingers crossed. I feel today is going t be a tough game. If we play as we can and control the pace of the game from the midfield we should have enough to win, but Norwich will be wanting to banish the 6 - 0 drubbing they had last time out at the Cottage. 2 - 1 COYW
The future is certainly looking bright with the likes of Stockdale, Burn, Donegan, LDV, Trotta, Briggs, Gecov, Kasami, Kaka, Frei looking to break through next season.
Agreed all round, frei and kacaniklic in particular are very exciting talents. I thought despite the thoughts of some around me that ruiz played very well today, so hopefully he'll become a more integral part of the team for next year. Regarding the counter attacking that froggie mentions, I think the problem is that dembele is our only natural ball carrier in midfield so we rely heavily on him to get the ball out the box, he is in many ways becoming our yaya toure type player. Dempsey carries it well but does not tend to play as deep as dembele has been lately. I think diarra should helped our counter attacking though, as while he may not have the range of passing of murphy, he does move the ball a bit quicker so hopefully his continued presence and the work of our young wingers in frei and kacaniklic should help change this soon. Having more attack minded full backs will also help this, although that said I thought kelly and riise looked better going forward today than has often been the case this season.
