A repeating flaw of Norwich is that they don't build upon the foundation that got them up. They brought in 11+ new players in the Summer. Almost the entire team was reshaped, with no chemistry or experience together in the top flight. Compare them to Brentford, Leeds or even Sheffield United a few seasons prior. Amended some weak points and comfortably finished or will be finishing mid-table.
I don't think you can compare Norwich to the likes of Brentford, Leeds, or Sheffield United. They are a Rotherham style club where they will always bounce back and forth to maintain as a club. They are good enough to always be promoted but won't spend like crazy to try and stay in the premier league which could ruin their club if certain things don't go their way. Instead they will get new players that could potentially play in the premier league for much cheaper and then sell the off, use parachute payments to reinvest, and move back up to the premier league
I'd say we've been doing pretty decently lately, even in the first leg vs Villareal we started strong and only threw it because we sat on the 1-0 lead for way too long. Hopefully with this being the second leg Allegri feels some more urgency and shows less willingness to just scrape through.
If the away goal rule still applied, he'd probably play for a scoreless draw, lol.
Typical Allegri. Nigga waited until the 80th minute to make his subs thinking he was guaranteed to go into extra time. Meanwhile Villareal has fresh legs all over the pitch down the stretch of the second half. Disappointed but not surprised lol hopefully he gets the sack.
Benfica beat an Ajax side that was supposed to be really good and Villareal exposed Juventus.
I mean, Benfica must have been a bit lucky there. I didn't watch the game but Ajax had 70% possession and couldn't finish any of their chances. Liverpool should be able to beat them without getting out of second gear but who knows.
I think there are only 2 real favorites to go through with Bayern and Liverpool. Chelsea vs Real and City vs Atletico look like they could go either way and I really don't think either team are favorites
City v. Atletico should definitely be interesting. City hasn't been in the best form lately and Atleti might be able to frustrate them with how organized and disciplined they are defensively. Also, Joao Felix is finally starting to look like the player they paid all that money for a few years ago.
I don't get why everyone was giving Felix a hard time for not performing amazing right away. He was clearly a long term investment and he would have to not only develop as a player into a good talent in tougher leagues but also adapt to the Atleti style of crazy defensive work. It was always going to take a long time to develop for both of those
I always blamed Simeone more than Felix himself. It's like he got a Ferrari and is driving it like a minivan. The same criticism can be given to Allegri with Vlahovic...or any technically gifted player he gets. Felix is great, I hope he goes somewhere like City or Barca where he can express himself.
I think Felix could turn into a Griezmann at Atletico with the style of player he is. Simeone has other concerns but I think Felix will be alright if given enough time and it looks like Simeone is willing to give it to him
I think Real will beat Chelsea and City'll beat Atletico, for the other semi
The Liepzig v Atalanta match up is the only Europa league match worth watching as a neutral
