The season, so far

As an eternal pessimist, I have been able to see the storm clouds gathering over Carrow Road for some time now. Norwich City have started slightly better than I had expected this season, but we seem to be creeping ever closer to where it is I expect us to inevitably end up … the Relegation Zone.

Prior to the previous international break, Norwich City had been plodding along nicely, thank you very much, and had been putting in some fantastic performances that should have yielded more of a reward than we actually got. The first game back from that international break was to be against Newcastle United, who up until that moment had been struggling badly, and couldn’t even come close to buying a win.

As a result of that, I was feeling semi-confident we could come away from St. James Park with a draw, at the very least. What followed was a horrendous 6-2 battering which knocked us totally out of our stride. That result was followed up with a 1-0 defeat at home to West Bromwich Albion, who you could argue are one of our relegation rivals.

Thankfully, there have been signs of late that we are beginning to recover. A vastly improved performance saw us lose late on to Manchester City, 2-1 away from home, and our last effort before the international break was a much needed confidence booster. A 1-0 home win against Swansea, another of our relegation rivals, it would seem, leaves us 15th  and four points clear of the relegation zone.

The road ahead

The most worrying thing from my point of view, is that we now have an absolute nightmare run of fixtures to see us through to the New Year, whilst some of our rivals have either improved of their own free will or brought in new managers. who will no doubt improve things. too.

Between now and the New Year, Norwich City will play seven matches, which will include visits to Chelsea (another relegation rival), Watford, Manchester United and Tottenham. Also in that nightmare run, we will play host to Arsenal, Everton and Aston Villa.

MORE FORECASTS: Arsenal | Everton | Liverpool | Manchester United | Tottenham.

I believe that we need to really focus on the games against Watford, Everton and Aston Villa and look to pick up some points in those fixtures. My heart tells me that we can possibly get two wins out of those games, but my head is saying that a realistic outcome will be a maximum of five points from the 21 on offer in that period.

I have had a cursory look at the fixtures that our rivals have coming up, too, which has given me reason to be hopeful. Whilst I am the ultimate pessimist when it comes to Norwich City, I tend to be even worse when it comes to our rivals. With that in mind, I find it hard to see where Watford, Sunderland, West Brom and Bournemouth are going to pick up points in the coming weeks.

Come January

Once all the dust has settled, I expect Norwich to be in 16th place on 17 points. We will be ahead of Newcastle by a solitary point, six clear of Aston Villa, eight clear of Bournemouth and nine clear of Sunderland. Come May, however, I still expect Norwich to be in the bottom three, and we will be relegated along with Bournemouth an Sunderland.

For any chance at all of survival, it is imperative that Alex Neil signs a decent center back in the January transfer window. We are reasonably well covered in other areas, but the heart of defense remains our biggest and most glaring Achilles heel. It has to be sorted in January or we will be down by early April.

The 2015-16 Premier League season is well under way, and transfer deadline day has passed. The usual frenzied activity of deadline day has now given way to the relative calmness and tranquillity provided by the international break. This brief respite in proceedings offers a perfect opportunity to reflect on how my beloved Norwich City have started their first season back in the Premier League following their glorious promotion in May.

If somebody had said to me that after 4 games this season that Norwich would be level on points with Chelsea and one point ahead of Tottenham, I’d have called them a mad man but assumed that Norwich had made a pretty reasonable start. The truth is that Chelsea and Tottenham have made appalling starts, whilst Norwich have already been a mix of good, bad and unlucky.

If you take it on a game by game basis, you would say that poor refereeing cost Norwich a point at home to Crystal Palace, poor defending by Sunderland gifted us precious 3 points away from home, whilst an outrageously good individual performance from Jack Butland ensured we only got a point against Stoke in what could quite easily have been an absolute rout. The less said about the debacle at Southampton the better, but suffice it to say that Steven Whittaker owes us a very impressive display or two when he returns from suspension.

SEE MORE: Norwich City’s 2015/16 season preview.

The one thing that I can safely say is that I am more than happy with the performance of the manager so far. Alex Neil has done a wonderful job since taking over at Norwich, and I have the utmost faith that he has enough tricks up his sleeve to ensure that we at least put up a decent fight throughout the course of the season. The last time we were in the Premier league, I always got the impression that there was no Plan B when things were going wrong. I don’t get that impression from Neil, and so I think that we are now in safe hands.

However, I was a little concerned by our activity in the transfer window. Every Norwich fan knows that we are crying out for a little more quality in central defense. Sebastian Bassong and Russell Martin haven’t really put a foot wrong so far this season, but Martin is so blatantly a right-back and always has the odd costly error in his repertoire. The fact that we weren’t even linked with a central defender is somewhat worrying, as it is so clearly our weakest area in the side, but for now I shall trust in Neil’s judgement.

Allowing Bradley Johnson, last season’s star performer and key player, to leave for Derby County was a little upsetting, but I think that deep down even the most ardent of Norwich fan can see that he won’t be getting much game time this season, and is probably just a little shy of Premier league quality. I wish him nothing but the best though at his new club.

The magnificently named but hardly prolific Ricky Van Wolfswinkel has once again been jettisoned out on loan, and been replaced with the equally magnificently named Dieumerci Mbokani. Hopefully he can supply the goals that will keep us up this season, and with Matt Jarvis coming in on loan from West Ham, we should now have, with Nathan Redmond on the other flank, two players with decent crossing ability to provide plenty of ammo for Mbokani. Redmond himself remains our most talented and dangerous player, but will require more help from those around him.

I was pleased with the signings of Robbie Brady and Youssouf Mulumbu, but Brady is being played as a left-back until Martin Olsson returns to full fitness, whilst Mulumbu is yet to feature after breaking his foot. We will need both those players fit and firing if we are to stand a chance of survival this season.

Once everybody is fit and available, I would love to see Neil line up with the following side:

Ruddy, Wisdom, Martin, Bassong, Olsson, Tettey, Mulumbu, Redmond, Howson, Brady, Mbokani

I still think we need to strengthen in defense in order to stand any chance of staying up, but as an eternal pessimist I fear we will fall just short and finish 18th in May. We have got off to a fair start, and have four points from four games. We should really be on seven points, and as such I will give Norwich a 3.5 out of 5 for the season so far.

Sunderland entertain Manchester United on Sunday afternoon in what will be the latest indicator to Louis Van Gaal as to how much work still needs to be done to this broken United squad.

Sunderland go into the game as the form side out of the two clubs, and there is a real feel that they will go on to inflict yet more misery on the beleaguered Red Devils.

Whilst United were outplayed and well beaten at home to Swansea on the opening game of the season, Sunderland can count themselves unlucky to come away with only a point from their entertaining game against West Bromwich Albion.

With no injury concerns at, Gus Poyet is expected to stick with the same starting eleven that began the game against the Baggies. Vito Mannone will start in goal behind a back four of Wes Brown, John O’Shea, Valentin Roberge and Patrick Van Aanholt. In midfield, Lee Cattermole and Jack Rodwell will do the running and covering, allowing Seb Larsson and Adam Johnson to focus on supplying opportunities to Connor Wickham and Steven Fletcher up-front. Jozy Altidore is expected to sit on the bench again.

Having got the best part of 70 minutes worth of action under his belt last week, Rodwell will be expected to stamp his authority in midfield and win his battle against what is an incredibly soft and mediocre United midfield. United were once heavily linked with a move for Rodwell, and you can’t help but feel that he would be an improvement on what they currently have in the middle of the park.

Van Gaal himself admitted after the Swansea debacle that he desperately needed to bring in reinforcements before the transfer window closes. He has brought in the first of these reinforcements in the shape of Argentinian World Cup defender Marcos Rojo.

Rojo is a fine player and had an impressive World Cup. He is, however, far from being the sort of player that United fans can get excited about. That said, he is versatile and can be deployed as either a left sided centre-back, or a left fullback. Unfortunately, United has been unable to get international clearance in time for Rojo to play today.

With Antonio Valencia, Jonny Evans and Robin van Persie all training this week, United could field a much changed line-up.

What I would expect to happen is for Van Gaal to stick with the 3-4-1-2 (or 3-5-2) formation that served him so well with the Dutch side in Brazil, and also for United in pre-season friendlies, which all of sudden seems to feel as though they were played an eternity ago.

If Evans is fit, he will slot in alongside Chris Smalling and Tyler Blackett at the back. Phil Jones would then play at right wing-back with Ashley Young on the other side. Darren Fletcher and Ander Herrera will be retained in midfield, with Juan Mata playing just behind Wayne Rooney and the returning Robin van Persie.

If United are able to field this team, then they should have enough to get a much needed win. However, all is not well at the Old Trafford club, and not many would be surprised if they were to lose again.

Sunderland:

Manchester United:

In my opinion, the squad that Luis Felipe Scolari chose to represent Brazil at their own World Cup was the worst Brazil squad ever assembled. What was supposed to be a sixth World Cup championship on home soil ended in utter humiliation and exposed an assortment of flaws and frailties.  Here, I’ll take a look at those who made it, and those who will hopefully be called up in future.

The keepers chosen for the World Cup were Julio Cesar (Toronto FC), Jefferson (Botafogo) and Victor (Atletico Mineiro)

At the 2010 World Cup, Brazil were coasting to victory against Holland, when Julio Cesar let a Wesley Sneijder cross through his fingers to let Holland back into the game. Brazil would go on to lose and Julio Cesar blamed himself for the defeat. At the 2014 World Cup, Julio Cesar didn’t really put a foot wrong. He was badly let down by the players in front of him and was fighting a losing battle throughout the games against Germany and Holland. He’ll probably be cast aside now, but I for one will always consider Julio Cesar to be up there with Taffarel, Marcos and Dida as top-class Brazilian World Cup keepers.

The other two keepers taken to the World Cup are Jefferson and Victor. Neither have really staked a claim to replace Julio Cesar as the No.1, so I would like to see the next Brazil manager take a punt on Gabriel, the 21 year-old who currently plays for Milan. He may well have to leave Milan to secure regular first team football, but he impressed me during the 2012 Olympics and was the Brazil keeper when they won the 2011 U20 World Cup. If given the chance, Gabriel could be first choice keeper for years to come.

Right-back has been a bit of a problem area for Brazil ever since Cafu retired. The job has been shared over the last 8 years between Dani Alves and Maicon, both of whom were chosen by Scolari for the 2014 World Cup.

Dani Alves is great when he gets forward to link up with the wonderful attacking players that Barcelona have. He is an abysmal defender though, and seems to have lost a yard of pace of late. Take a look at the German defensive line. They play a flat back four, and occasionally, Lahm gets forward; but more often than not they keep their discipline, sit back and focus on their defensive duties. They are not frustrated midfielders or wingers who feel as though they are missing out on the fun just because they have to stay back.

Compare and contrast this with the Brazil team. Dani Alves, David Luiz and Marcelo all love to bomb forward and join in the attack. At most, one of them should do it at any given time whilst the other three defenders stay back. The fact that all three of them go forward at the same time is just one of many reasons as to why Brazil are so weak defensively.

For me, whilst he is a good footballer, Dani Alves is not a great right-back. He is no Cafu, who used to be able to get forward at will, but would always get back to defend at a canter if possession was lost. He was as fit as a fiddle and could also defend.

Behind Dani Alves at the start of the World Cup was Maicon. Four years ago, he was exceptional. He could defend well, but could also time attacking forays into the opposition territory to perfection. The last two or three years have not been kind to Maicon however, and he is a shadow of the player he used to be. The fact that he was a better alternative to Dani Alves in the latter stages of the tournament says more about Dani Alves and the dearth of talent that Brazil have in all positions right now.

Going forward, there are options for Brazil to explore in this area, particularly when you consider the fact that Brazil won the 2011 U20 World Cup, the 2013 & 2014 Toulon Tournaments and had a very promising team at the U17 World Cup in 2013 (more on them later). However, if you are looking for players who are already established, then surely Rafael at Manchester United could have been given a chance to stake a claim? He seems to have been punished for making a costly mistake in the early stages of the Olympics Final. Another option is Danilo, who is the regular first choice right-back at FC Porto.

So, my verdict is that either Rafael or Danilo should have been considered for the World Cup squad, and they should definitely now be given an opportunity to show they are worthy of a place in the Brazil side.

Marcelo and Maxwell were drawn in for the left back spot. It is hard to argue that they were the wrong two. Felipe Luis had a fantastic season for Atletico Madrid and has now been snapped up by Chelsea for a cool £20m. However, before the squad was announced, I was hoping that Maxwell and Marcelo would be the chosen two, and so I was happy with the choice.

Marcelo is a top class player, and has age on his side. I can see him remaining as the starting left-back for Brazil for the foreseeable future. The problem with Marcelo though is that if you play him, the right-back needs to be a solid and disciplined player who puts his defensive duties first. You can’t play two marauding fullbacks anymore when the center of your defense and your defensive midfield is so lacking in discipline.

Maxwell is far more defensively sound than Marcelo, and is no shrinking violet when it comes to attacking play either. However, he has been overlooked for most of his career despite playing at some of Europe’s top clubs, and will probably now be cast into the wilderness.

Going forward, it would be nice to see one of Alex Sandro of FC Porto, Alex Telles of Galatasaray or Wendel of Bayer Leverkusen given opportunities to show that they can rival Marcelo for a starting berth. Alex Sandro, like Rafael, appears to be paying the price for the unsuccessful Olympic campaign. Luis Felipe, who has just been signed by Chelsea, would have been an ideal choice, but Scolari didn’t seem to fancy him because he puts more of a focus on defending rather than attacking.

What of Brazil’s center backs? Thiago Silva is a world class center-half, of that there is no doubt. He can’t do it all on his own though, and as far as I am concerned David Luiz proved once and for all in the games with Germany and Holland that he is not a top class defender. He may well blossom into a semi-competent defensive midfielder, but I for one don’t want to see him line up in the heart of Brazil’s defense ever again.

Manuel Neuer once said that Dante was the best defender he has played behind. I believe that Scolari should have used the Confederations Cup of 2013 to build a partnership and understanding between Dante and Thiago Silva. Instead he went with Luiz, and we all witnessed how that panned out this summer. It is hard to blame Dante for the capitulation against Germany. He was at least trying to keep his shape and discipline whilst others around him were all over the place.

Henrique doesn’t play regularly enough for Napoli, and his inclusion was more a case of Scolari knowing him and trusting him. I very much doubt he’ll be involved in any of the Brazil squads in the near future.

The omission of Miranda, who was a rock in the heart of Atletico Madrid’s title winning team, suggests to me that Scolari didn’t really do much homework as to which players were available to him. To leave out one Brazilian defender from the Atletico Madrid side is careless. To omit both of them is incompetent.

Going forward, Marquinhos at PSG shows lots of promise, as does Juan Jesus at Inter Milan. It’s ironic that Marquinhos may have his chances limited due to the laughably pricey arrival of David Luiz in Paris.

Brazil’s midfield at the 2014 World Cup was an utter disgrace. They were more content with kicking opponents rather than showing any kind of flair or creativity.

I am not entirely sure what it is that Paulinho does, or what he brings to a team. He was atrocious for Tottenham all season, and the fact that Scolari persevered with him for so long in Brazil is testament to the fact that his judgment was way off. The alternatives weren’t much better though.

Fernandinho had a great season for Man City this year and performed well when called upon for Brazil, but then seemed more determined to perform the job of hatchet man. It’s such a tragic waste of talent, as he is more than capable of playing some beautiful football when he wants to.

Luiz Gustavo is decent enough, but shouldn’t really be anywhere near the Brazil side. His sole responsibility was to sit and protect the back four whenever the full-backs (and David Luiz) went forward in search of adventure and glory. He performed that job so well at the Confederations Cup last year, but couldn’t repeat the performances in Brazil.

Hernanes was never given a chance to show what he can do, but when I have seen him play for Inter Milan, he flits from brilliant to abysmal so often over the course of a match that he is clearly considered too inconsistent to run Brazil’s midfield.

Ramires is another player who I am unsure about. He isn’t a defensive player, and doesn’t have the creativity to be a playmaker. So what is his role? I genuinely do not know. He is lauded at Chelsea, but for me, his involvement with the national side is due more to his fitness levels and willingness to run nonstop rather than his footballing ability.

The most worrying thing about this particular department for Brazil is the distinctive lack of any truly viable alternatives.

The attack was a far cry from the flair Brazil is usually known for. Gone are the glory days of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo. Even a Luis Fabiano would have been nice! Instead, at the heart of their attack at the World Cup, Brazil had a choice of Fred or Jo. Both are ordinary at best, and neither of them is blessed with any great pace, trickery, or finesse. Fred was the top scorer in the Confederations Cup in 2013, although that tournament now seems painfully irrelevant and second rate at this juncture.

The wide/creative players in Scolari’s squad were a mixture of the sublime – Neymar and occasionally Oscar, and the ridiculous – everybody else. Hulk failed to score a goal or register an assist throughout the entirety of the World Cup. He at least appeared to try hard in some matches, but his first touch always looked too heavy, and his shooting was all power and no accuracy. His decision making also leaves a lot to be desired.

Willian always looked like a rabbit trapped in the headlights whenever he was called upon, making it hard to believe that he was the same player that performed so admirably for Chelsea last season.

Bernard was another who tried hard, but was unable to make any impact. He seems a little too lightweight at the moment to stamp his authority on a game. The fact that he struggles to break into his club side in Donetsk should preclude him from playing for Brazil.

Neymar was fantastic before he got injured, but not even he could do it all on his own. He was surrounded by such mediocrity that he was constantly fighting a losing battle. He looks set to be the poster boy of Brazilian football for years to come. They will need to rebuild their broken team around him.

Oscar looked like a player who hadn’t had a rest for the last three years. He was leggy and labored, and was only able to show his true brilliance in flashes. However, he showed enough to suggest he still has a part to play in Brazil’s future.

This was meant to be the World Cup where Alexandre Pato joined the list of great Brazilian strikers at World Cup finals. However, injuries and an alarming slump in form have seen him relegated to the bench at Sao Paulo.

Ademilson and Alan Kardec are talked about as potential Seleção forwards, and will hopefully be given a chance in the coming season to prove that they can transfer their form at club and youth level to the senior ranks.

Roberto Firmino had a great season for Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga last term, and is another who needs to be given an opportunity. He is not that well known as yet, but is a star in the making; I can assure you of that.

Another star in the making is young Gabriel Barbosa who plays at Santos. He is only 17 at the moment, but great things are expected of him, and the fact his nickname is Gabigol suggests he knows his way around the penalty box.

Lucas Moura at PSG and Coutinho at Liverpool can both consider themselves unfortunate to be overlooked for the final 23 man squad. Coutinho in particular was magnificent as Liverpool came close to winning a first league title in 24 years.

The World Cup is over, and whilst the Germans are probably still celebrating their thoroughly deserved victory, as a Brazilian, I am more concerned about the mess that the national team is now in. Over the course of 180 minutes in Belo Horizonte and then Brasilia over the last week, the current crop of Brazilian internationals destroyed nearly a century’s worth of painstakingly gained football legacy. All that is left is a pile of rubble, a trail of destruction, left behind by the marauding German and Dutch sides.

Clearly that rubble needs to be carefully reassembled piece by piece in the hope that Brazil can one day return to the pinnacle of world soccer. It seems a long way off, and at this precise moment, we don’t even know who it is that will be tasked with picking up those pieces and implementing a recovery plan. Whomever it is will have one hell of a job on his hands, and the signs don’t look all that great.

First of all, one need only look at the 23 man squad that was selected by Luiz Felipe Scolari. If this is truly representative of the best 23 Brazilian football players on the planet right now, then I am utterly shocked. Sure, you can probably look around and cite players such as Miranda and Felipe Luis from Atletico Madrid, Coutinho from Liverpool, Lucas Moura from PSG, and maybe even the old guard of Robinho, Ronaldinho and Kaka, as players that may have been worthy of a call up, but generally speaking, this was pretty much the best group available to Scolari.

If that wasn’t terrifying enough, then consider this. People have for decades now always mentioned the “conveyor belt of football talent” in Brazil. Well I for one believe that the first thing they need to do is find an engineer to fix that conveyor belt, as the talent within the youth ranks seems almost as bare as that of the senior ranks. Indeed, the Brazil U20 side failed to qualify for the 2013 FIFA U20 World Cup, finishing bottom of their group in the South American qualifying competition. The fact that their one victory in that tournament came against perennial South American underachievers Venezuela, makes it even more sobering.

Even in this year’s Copa Libertadores, Brazilian club sides have struggled, with only one of them making it past the first round of knockout matches. Cruzeiro were able to make it through to the quarter finals, but were then beaten by San Lorenzo of Argentina.

Luis Felipe Scolari is now gone, his once boastful managerial record at international level severely blotted by what happened in his last two games in charge. Somebody will now have to take over, and he won’t find it easy at all.

Being an England fan at the latter stages of World Cup finals is akin to staring in through the window of a party you weren’t invited to. You can see all the fun being had by everybody there, and you can see all the talent on display and it makes you wonder “What is it that they have, that we don’t?”

With regards to England, it is a question that has been asked time and time again following multiple failures at major international tournaments. Enquiries are always held, the spotlight is always shone in many different directions and the same old questions are churned out over and over in the hope of one day finding a solution to the perennial problem. Who is to blame? How do we change things? Who has to go? Who can stay? Is the Premier League to blame?

Somewhat peculiarly, despite England crashing out so early at the World Cup this summer, I genuinely believe that there were far more positives to come out of it than at some of the previous tournaments in which England have managed to somehow drag themselves through to quarter-finals.

The two games that England lost were incredibly close, and could have gone either way. Unlike in South Africa four years earlier, when England were utterly outclassed against Germany, or two years later when they were subjected to a footballing master class by Andrea Pirlo but somehow managed to cling on for penalties, there was no gulf in class this time around. In fact, against both Italy and Uruguay, England were the better side for long periods of the game. That is a moot point now I know, as England lost two games and finished bottom of the group, but there were positives to be drawn.

Firstly, Roy Hodgson had boldly gone with the younger players who had just completed such good seasons for their club sides. Nobody in their right minds would have said at the start of the 2013-14 Premier League season that Raheem Sterling, Jordan Henderson and Daniel Sturridge would have started for England in Manaus.

In years gone by, England managers have been guilty of picking players on reputation rather than form, which is why the same old players were always seemingly selected. Hodgson deserves a lot of credit for shaking things up a little.

The early interchange between the forward players, particularly Sterling, Sturridge and Danny Welbeck was at times beautiful to behold. They ran out of steam in the end, but the way they played was something we hadn’t seen in an England shirt for many a year, and it was a welcome breath of fresh air. England were actually playing football that was pleasing on the eye, and there were enough signs at least to see that there is much promise in that particular department. Again, Hodgson has to take credit for that.

Ironically, England’s main failings this summer were in an area where they normally excel: defense. But for a short spell in the second half against Uruguay, Leighton Baines didn’t quite translate his club form onto the international arena. Glen Johnson always comes across as a player who is selected mainly due to the fact that are no other options in his particular position right now. Gary Cahill and Phil Jagielka are very capable central defenders, but neither of them are anywhere near the calibre of Rio Ferdinand, nor John Terry, who in my opinion remains England’s best centre-back, despite being in the twilight of his career. Joe Hart is a world class goalkeeper, but looked as though he had little faith in the players in front of him.

Steven Gerrard and Jordan Henderson are not defensive midfielders. Nor are they the sort of players who can consistently split defences open with incisive passing, control the tempo of a game or take a game by the scruff of the neck. If England are to persist with the new formation that Hodgson seems to favour, they will have to unearth a specialist defensive midfielder for starters, as well as a playmaker. Jack Wilshere may be able to fill one of those roles, but he is currently far too injury prone and inconsistent to be too effective at this level.

All in all though, despite the early exit and the usual harbingers of doom, there are reasons to be optimistic for England.