First of all, the whole of Read Norwich and Fresh Press wishes you a merry Christmas.
With Norwich entering the festive period, it’s not the games of Charades they’ll be looking forwards to later this week. A trip to Carrow Road on Boxing Day to watch – hopefully – the Canaries continue their fine form, with the Christmas Day turkey not hindering their performance. Anything other than a win would be seen as a surprise, with Millwall sitting down the table in 21st position despite a promising start. However, two wins in seventeen has seen the Lions slide alarmingly towards the relegation zone, with ex-Blackpool boss Ian Holloway coming under ever-increasing scrutiny.
As discussed on this week’s podcast, Millwall have struggled to have a consistent goal-scoring threat. Their top scorer, Lee Gregory, has just the four goals so far this season – the same as Bradley Johnson, and not even a dent on Cameron Jerome’s tally of eleven. As well as the lack of goals, Millwall have suffered from a poor discipline record. Captain and defender Alan Dunne has already racked up eight yellow cards this season (three more than Kyle Lafferty) and could be a weakness that the pace of Lewis Grabban or Nathan Redmond could look to exploit.
Last time out against Derby, Norwich set up perfectly in a system designed to frustrate the hosts and keep the scores down. Unfortunately, some dreadful positioning and awareness from Russell Martin (probably due to the fact that he’s not a centre back) allowed the unmarked Johnny Russell to finish neatly past John Ruddy. Lazy defending from Carlos Cuellar gave Derby a penalty, so perhaps the defence is something that Adams will look at and decide to change. Credit where credit is due, Steven Whittaker had a great game in an attacking sense and took his goal very well. I’m not a massive fan of the Scottish right back – along with the majority of City fans – but he does merit his inclusion for Friday’s game. With that in mind, thoughts turn to the centre back pairing and the return of Ryan Bennett. Without doubt, Bennett is the best defender at the club and the sooner he comes back into the starting line-up, the better. In that case, will Martin or Cuellar be dropped? Considering that Martin – despite having the poorer game of the two against Derby – is club captain, it is unlikely he will be dropped so it would be Cueller dropped; that is, if Adams decides to change the team at all.
Also mentioned in the Canary Talk podcast was the form of Cameron Jerome. Admittedly, he has scored two in two, yet the consensus was that his touch was off and he looked desperately in need of a rest. Millwall would be a prime chance to drop Jerome and give him that much-needed time out from the rigours of the Championship. Hooper, of course, has to stay in. A strike partnership of Grabban and Hooper would certainly be interesting to see and the former will have to prove that he can continue his fine form at the start of the season.
Against Derby, the midfield had a fairly fluid formation. Alternating between a diamond and a flat four, Bradley Johnson was again excelled and was instrumental in dragging Norwich back into the game. He is unique; for a team usually regarded as pretty and organised, Johnson adds the ruthlessness and dirtiness to the midfield. He doesn’t take prisoners. The fact of the matter is, Norwich are sometimes too nice – you don’t see any timewasting, no standing in front of opposition free kicks to stop them taking it quickly, no “clever” fouls to deny a quick counter attack. Johnson has been pivotal in Norwich’s recent upsurge in form and is proving to be undroppable. The only downside is that Jonny Howson is wasted on the right wing; he’s far more influential in a central role.
Prediction: It should be a comfortable 2-0 victory for Norwich, with Millwall unlikely to put up any sort of threat and Norwich’s recent form means they’re on a high. It offers Adams a chance to rest a few players – hopefully Jerome – and play a more attacking style that could see Nathan Redmond return to the starting line-up, although that’s unlikely.
