2020/21 Ben Godfrey

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Brands has to go - we have Tosun as back up CF

No apparent back ups at LB/RB

No back up at RW

Yet The Oracle DOF of ours is spunking £25 million on a CB when we already have 4.

Baffling.
The signings have been hit and miss for Brands, that kinda goes with the territory. Where I think he’s really failed and should be judged harshly is shipping out players who aren’t contributing and haven’t contributed for some time.

The right and left back fiasco is really starting to cost us now and it seems like really poor communication between Carlo and Brands. If Carlo doesn’t fancy Kenny or Niels to play when our first choice players are out, to the point he literally rips up the formation and plays players who’ve never played there before - why the f... is he not saying to Brands we need to prioritise fullbacks in the window. I’m not buying Kenny’s still injured, he’s been training since/during the international break. Carlo just doesn’t fancy him so why is he still here? Poor.

Why loan out Kean and have Tosun as back up? Surely it should be the other way around. More bizarreness between the pair of Brands and Carlo.
 

For me, at fault for the goal.
You can’t allow Premier League footballers time, by standing off.

Great goal, fair play to Raphinha, but so so poor.

Hes not the only one, Keane and Holgate were also guilty of standing off through the game, just so happens that Godfrey’s was the one we got punished with.
 
Surely you’re not advocating splashing 20 million pounds to plug a gap for a couple of months? They’re back fit now.
yeap, it was obv they would be back quickly. idiotic to buy another CB. Keane and Holgate are miles better than him. Which is not saying much.
 
Given Mina’s injury record it was that or play our best full backs out of position for the period until Holgate was fit
Seems an expensive way to go about it, gambling that Mina would get injured, which he didn’t. One thing for sure, writings on the wall for Mina now, can’t keep all these centre backs happy and give Gibson/Branthwaite opportunities. Like you say, he’s injury and error prone so he’s the one to go.
 

Being a youngish English lad blinded some to the fact he was a major part of one of the worst defences this league has ever seen, like the other English lads that played next to him there who garnered a strange reputation as being decent. The one positive is he does have the right physical attributes so there’s something for Carlo to try to work with

Norwich fan here, it has been really interesting reading this thread for me.

Because I kept making the point to fellow supporters that we couldn't possible have had a "£30m" that and a "£25m" that, some people were even throwing around £50m valuations at some of our young players.

And in particular, we couldn't possibly have had 3 x £30m defenders, even if considering homegrown status and the potential for them to improve, whilst having the worst Norwich defence I can ever remember in the top tier. Especially when the keeper behind them was one of the few in the team to finish the season showing that he is, without a doubt, Premier League quality (Tim Krul is class!).

And I got some major stick for suggesting that Godfrey was far from the finished article and may never be, and for suggesting that Jamal Lewis is average at that level and that mid-table with Newcastle will probably be his pinnacle.

I can see why football people could get excited by Godfrey, he's fast and can pass a ball and carry a ball out of defence, incredible attributes to possess as a centre back in the modern game. But at the same time his positioning is terrible, he's not great in the air, and to be honest looks like he needs to have a year of being taught to defend by somebody like Rio Ferdinand (who keeps saying that Godfrey is the real deal, and who has apparently been a bit of a mentor).

Our defence in the Championship this season looks more reliable than the defence we had in the Championship last time, having taken Godfrey and Lewis out of it.

Max Aarons however I can see going very far (he's 3 years younger than the other two). Barcelona bid for him for a reason, although more a wing back than a full back as he does get targeted in the air at that back post due to his lack of height. Lewis, Godfrey and Cantwell I all considered to be over rated not just by Norwich fans but by football fans in general last season. Aarons and Buendia are the two who I think will go on to reach the top of the game, e.g. play for a side which regularly qualifies for Champions League.

I mean.... to go from a Defensive Midfielder for Shrewsbury to playing at centre back and instantly winning the Championship means that you must have something about you, but I'm still very much 50/50 on whether Godfrey can actually complete his transformation into a quality centre back, just seems to really lack something and I can't quite put my finger on what.

But... I really hope he does, good kid and left in the right way.
 
Seems an expensive way to go about it, gambling that Mina would get injured, which he didn’t. One thing for sure, writings on the wall for Mina now, can’t keep all these centre backs happy and give Gibson/Branthwaite opportunities. Like you say, he’s injury and error prone so he’s the one to go.
Gibson was never going to get a chance just yet anyway, he’s struggling to even get in Reading’s team
 

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