The 2018-19 Season

Now pre-season games have finished, what are City's strengths and weaknesses for the actual season?

GK: Krul seems to have taken over the gloves and his experience will be invaluable. The key will be whether he can match Gunn's consistency over the season. He has the same defence in front of him, though, possibly improved at RB.

RB: Pinto, Marshall and Passlack (and Aarons) have different strengths, but Marshall seems to have the shirt for now. Passlack is raw and DF is concerned about his positioning, so he'll need more time. Position is stronger now.

LB Lewis and Husband still here but more experienced now. Aarons could also provide emergency cover if he doesn't go out on loan. Slightly stronger here.

CB Same three as last season which should aid continuity, but Godfrey has taken over from Raggett as the fourth option. Slightly stronger here.

DM: Tettey is still here, but he now has competition from Thompson and Godfrey. Trybull is more a hybrid CM/DM, IMO (as showed at Charlton). Definitely stronger here.

CM: Leitner has returned as deep playmaker, but needs to improve on pre-season performances. Vrancic is still injured, but will hopefully be back soon. McLean has hit the ground running and settled quickly, seeming to add a dynamism often missing last season. Stiepermann has now found his best position so stronger and deeper here now.

AM: Maddison is the obvious loss here, but the signs are that we will depend less on a number 10 type AM in a 4-1-4-1 formation. Leitner, Buendia and Cantwell can all play that role, but all are more likely to be deployed elsewhere. Weaker here with the loss of Maddison.

WL: Lost Josh here, but Hernandez has looked very good in pre-season, adding goal-scoring as well. With McLean and Buendia also able to play here there is plenty of potential, but we'll need to see it realised in league games. Jury out here.

WR: Hernandez seems to be playing WL now to make room for Pukki as a second striker in the 4-1-4-1 formation and Marshall is likely to play at RB, so this is a bit of a question mark. Cantwell and Passlack have both played here in pre-season, but it's uncertain how it will go. Jury out.

S: The addition of Rhodes and Pukki has made us stronger up front and Srbeny is now more experienced. Oliveira is still around, but unlikely to stay, IMO, so it all depends on how the new boys can notch the goals. I'm hopeful, but the jury is still out.

Overall, progress depends on whether the new players can match and then add to the Maddison and Murphy goals we've lost and probably those of Oliveira as well. At the back much depends on Krul fitting into the defence which is settled now and slightly improved, as is midfield. The potential is there, it just needs to be realised.

 

Last season we had a few exceptional players like Gunn Josh sometimes and Maddisson but glaring holes all over the place at times.
Lewis and Hanley came into the side and Trybull arrived from nowhere scoring on his debut and forming a strong partnership with Tettey who simply can't play every week because of his knees.

For me we have lost our stand out talents in Gunn and Madders but we have a side of average players with potential to form a strong team together.

When it became clear how reliant we were on Maddisson to create a moment of genius every week it became easy to snuff us out as an attacking force .

I just hope we get more entertainment this season even if it means winning 4-3 and throwing the sink at the opposition than the painfully drab tippy tappy pass sideways and back to the keeper rubbish looking to win every game 1-0 or draw 0-0.

We need to get Pukki Rhodes McLean and others getting goals and Marshall and Hernandez getting down the flanks and actually getting crosses in.

For too many seasons Josh would bomb down the wing and curl one in without a yellow shirt in the box , Rhodes is just the kind of nuisance that loves getting into those positions and Pukki loves a tap in too.

I am more confident going into this season than last and hopefully Farke is up to speed on this division.
As with most Norwich seasons I won't panic until December after taking stock.

My first game will be Ipswich away on 2nd September as it's easy to get a seat and walking distance from my house, also it will be a great test for the new boys in the Worlds fiercest derby .

 

Excellent analysis DD, I agree with all you have written (yeah, it had to happen sometime). We, I believe, now have a better all round team. So long as it is used correctly we could be in for some form of success.

 

Thanks , I may be a pain in the arse and overly opinionated but I have been obsessed with my team for over 30 years and will always be a passionate loyal fan.

 

You're being too hard again, DD!

I also liked your analysis, but I feel many of our players are above 'average' and some, like Rhodes, Pukki, Leitner, Lewis, Hanley, Klose, Hernandez, Marshall and Krul have the potential to be top players if they can consistently realise their potential. I haven't seen enough of Buendia, but his cameos so far suggest that he also has that potential. The key lies in getting the whole team to consistently perform well both as individuals and together as a team. That's down to DF.

 

I think losing JM may actually be a bonus, last season all the opposition had to do was stop JM, and some pretty crude methods were employed to that end.

This season if we play as a collective with action coming from several different players, we'll be more difficult to break up!

 

I mean average in terms of other clubs sniffing around and paying £10m plus for any of them .
We sold both Murphy's Pritchard and Maddisson for quite substantial amounts Gunn was worth £15m .

Don't see many clubs putting in bids for anyone now , maybe Godfrey on the cheap to Palace a few weeks back and Lewis was looked at by a few.

At the moment we have plenty of potential but they have not transcended beyond better than average.

How many players did we have at the World cup for example?

Klose didn't make the Swiss squad .

 

You set a pretty high bar, DD. Some of our players like Rhodes, Leitner, Klose and Krul have performed at the top level and it depends on whether they can get back to that level again. Their age is against them achieving inflated deals though.

Other players like Lewis, Passlack, Buendia, Godfrey, Cantwell and Thompson are young enough to do so if they consistently perform well in the Championship, but that, in all cases, is what I meant by their 'potential' for this season and it's still an unknown factor. It could happen for all of them, some of them or even none of them. We had high hopes for Oliveira last season that were never realised. Maddison, on the other hand, exceeded our expectations. The potential though, is what makes this particular season so interesting. As, you say, we'll have a much better idea by Christmas.

 

Fully agree I also see McLean doing well, he was only sold for bargain basement prices because he was out of contract Marshall was outstanding at Millwall and Wolves only let him go because they are mega rich now Hernandez has been terrific and could step up a level.
Hanley seems to be getting better and better .

Let's not count our chickens yet though and start with a clean slate for all and blind optimism.







Until after the Birmingham game at least

 

#saysitallreally

 

Like JMF, I agree that this is the crux for this season. Last year, DF and many of the new players were new to the Championship and it showed, especially early on. The squad was a mix of old and new and struggled for consistency. DF commented on this recently. He now has a year under his belt and an experienced squad as well. Only Passlack and Buendia have no previous experience of British football. That could make all the difference this season, but the players have to buy into the tactics DF wants. Presumably he has set these out and the players are committed to the approach. The proof will, as ever, be in the pudding, starting on Saturday.

 

We appear to be much stronger down both flanks at the moment, with options on personnel and systems. I just hope this leads to a more flowing offensive outlook by DF. I have never said anything for or against his management of our club, but the time has come for him to deliver with what is now his own squad.

 

I agree GE. We've now had three windows of restructuring and DF has made the squad his own. Most of us bought into a two year process and it's reasonable to expect us to be competitive for the play-offs now.

 

Dan O'Hagan‏@danohagan
Been asked to cast my beady eye over #NCFC’s summer dealings for a couple of outlets this week. Genuinely think top six is doable. Automatic promotion will be difficult.
Expect Derby, Stoke, Leeds and West Brom to be the contenders for that.

 

Our "home grown" players seem to come down to :- Krul, Marshall, Hanley, Lewis, Aarons, Godfrey, Thompson, Cantwell, Mathews. Have I missed any contenders? I cannot see any of these going out on loan as things stand. A suspension and injuries and we will be hard pressed to meet the present criteria.

 

With the players we have now, the play-offs should indeed be 'doable', but there are around 10 teams who could also say that. Of the favourites, Lampard could hit the ground running or fall flat on his face at Derby. Stoke would be my favourite for automatic promotion, but even they could fall short in the relentless grind of the Championship. West Brom could also struggle, having been in the PL so long. Leeds have often looked likely in the past only to falter like they did last season. Our own chances depend on key players like Rhodes, Leitner, Krul and Trybull getting back to previous levels of play, Pukki translating Scandinavian success into this league and other new players living up to their apparent potential.

 

Some good news on the injury front

DF - “We have a big hope that Jordan Rhodes can return in midweek, we have to wait to see how it develops,” the German continued.

“Also probably Jamal Lewis and Ivo Pinto will be able to return to team training in the beginning of the week. Okay for them it will probably be too short term to involve them at Birmingham.

“Alex Tettey is back in individual training, a bit earlier than we expected, so everything is sorted with the chickenpox and also we expect him to be back in training in midweek, perhaps not on Monday or Tuesday but in the middle of the week I think he can return, so this is good news.

“So in general I hope that there is no further injuries and especially after this game we are there with no-one being guaranteed for a position in the team or even the squad because there is lots of competition. I will have to watch a bit more and I want to watch more in our training sessions to see who is really desperate and who is there with a fighting attitude and knows what is important for winning points.”

 

Rhodes as well of course.

 

You missed Rhodes and Husband, GE, and if Matthews goes out on loan, we could put Oxborough on the bench if we were struggling. It should mean our young players getting a fair crack at playing time though.

Edit: Hadn't seen your Rhodes correction when I posted, GE. SW and DF seem pretty confident about managing the quotas:

http://www.edp24.co.uk/sport/norwich-city/canaries-boss-homegrown-quota-rules-1-5626953

 

I've been worried this summer that the 4-1-4-1 that so badly let us down at Millwall last season is going to be our first choice formation this season. So, I went back and looked at the side that day:

Gunn
Pinto Martin Franke Husband
Reed
Hoolahan Vrancic Maddison Murphy
Oliveira

So you could argue it's a 4-2-3-1 with the personnel on show, but what stuck out more was just how much the squad has evolved, from what was already a heavily Farke-influenced side. Not one of those back 6 remain first choice, and only Vrancic remains as a first team option. It highlights how the turnover this summer has been as dramatic as last, even if the number of players in/out is slightly lower.

So whilst I'm prepared to give the 4-1-4-1 another chance, I'm still concerned if it's Trybull at the base of the midfield. I'd feel a lot more comfortably with a proper DM there, such as Tettey or Thompson.