Daniel Farke spoke to the assembled media at Colney on Tuesday lunchtime and he says that he doesn’t like to ‘rotate and to change after a setback, especially at the beginning of the season.’
The majority of Norwich fans, no, all of them, that I’ve spoken to since the Sunderland defeat have agreed with my assessment that Wes Hoolahan and Nelson Oliveira should start the next game, along with Ivo Pinto.
Russell Martin didn’t cover himself in glory against Sunderland, although I am well aware that he has been playing with injections and pain of late and fair play to him for that. I would however, like to see Ivo Pinto playing either as part of a back four or as right wing back, if the coach sticks with three at the back, against QPR.
Yanic Wildschut looked good going forwards against the Black Cats but defending is clearly not his game.
I expect that Farke will be briefed by his Sports Scientists as to how fit Wes and Ivo are but if he can only make 60-70 minutes, why not play Wes from the start? I know that it’s not quite so simple with defenders but I’d like to see Wes play ahead of Watkins for the next one.
Daniel Farke may be less inclined to change the side too much after speaking to Canaries.co.uk
“Ivo Pinto and Wes Hoolahan had long breaks in pre-season but they are on the right path,” Farke told the media.
‘Ivo is such a good player and will be important this season, and he only had one week in training. He had 70 minutes in the Carabao Cup game but you can`t play two games in five days after missing so much of pre-season – he can play, but not two games in four days. They will both hopefully be 100% after the international break
“I don`t like to rotate and to change after a setback, especially at the beginning of the season. The guys need to be trusted and to find rhythm. But we have four games in nine days and three in six days, so for that I think it`s necessary to bring some fresh legs on the pitch. Wes will be fresher, as will Josh Murphy and Mario Vrancic.”
So, sounds like we’ll see Wes, Josh Murphy and Mario Vrancic at some point, even if not from the start. Whether Nelson Oliveira starts is the big question for me and perhaps after starting Cameron Jerome for the first three games in a week, Jerome could be held in reserve this time.
OTBC