Norwich, Bournemouth and Watford Reviewed

Next in this series is the newly promoted clubs – Norwich, Bournemouth and Watford. There is no immediate Premier League (PL) record to examine, of course, so this article will be more aimed to get to grips with some of the key players and possible Fantasy Football options for next season.

NORWICH

THE MANAGER

Alex Neil is a young manager (33) who took over at Norwich in January 2015 and had an instant impact by virtue of a 68% win record (17 wins from 25 games). This enabled Norwich to return to the top flight at the first attempt. The East Anglia side’s Swedish full-back Martin Olsson says of his manager:

We’ve been working well under Alex….he’s a very tough manager but that’s what we needed.

Here’s what Neil, who favours a 4-5-1 formation,  says about the team’s return to the PL.

We will need to learn fast, I’m fully aware of that.There will be an incredible amount of hard work to make sure we can compete at that level. We will need to add a few quality signings but I will stick with the core of the squad and make sure they get an opportunity.

THE DEFENCE

Alex Neil is noted for his preparation and organisation and this seemed to result in an improvement in Norwich’s defensive record under him – 29 goals conceded with six clean sheets in 24 games before he took over and 21 goals conceded with nine clean sheets in 25 games afterwards. So Norwich appear to be a side that can defend capably and they may be of interest to Fantasy Football managers looking for cheaper defenders.

John Ruddy is an experienced goalkeeper with 91 PL appearances as well as an England call-up behind him. Norwich are likely to be rotation paired with Leicester in the coming season and with Ruddy likely to be priced at 4.5m a GK rotation with Kasper Schmeichel could be one that some managers might look at. The back four under Neil was typically Steven Whittaker – Russell Martin – Sebastian Bassong – Martin Olsson,  although Martin is more usually a right back and could be shifted to that position if Michael Turner returns to the club after his loan at Fulham or if Norwich sign a new centre back. All of these defenders are internationals with Premier League experience but Martin, as team captain, or left-back Olsson, would probably be a safest picks for those looking for a Norwich defender.

THE MIDFIELD

A typical Norwich midfield under Neil utilised Nathan Redmond on the right wing and Bradley Johnson on the left wing, with Alex Tettey  in a defensive midfield role, Jonny Howson in a central midfield or attacking midfield role joined by either 33 year-old Wes Hoolahan, who is more of an attacking midfielder, or central midfielder Graham Dorrans.

All of these players have plenty of PL experience. As Fantasy assets it will probably be the wingers that will gain the most interest. Bradley Johnson (voted Norwich’s Player of the Year 14/15) was their highest scoring midfielder with 13 goals from 38 games and is very good in the air whilst Nathan Redmond is a highly regarded England U-21 international who impressed in the playoffs, though his six goals in 38 games over the season was quite a way behind Johnson and there still seem to be doubts among Norwich fans about his decision making and end product.

STRIKERS

The pacy Cameron Jerome was Neil’s preferred option for the central striker role and is another with PL experience. He was never a heavy scorer at that level, however, apart from a decent return of 11 goals for Birmingham in the 2009/10 season. He scored 21 goals in 45 games for Norwich in the season just gone. Other current Norwich striker options are Gary Hooper – a prolific goalscorer in his Celtic days but who has never been so successful in England – and Lewis Grabban, a player with a good scoring record in the lower leagues but who was unavailable through injury for much of the time under Neil.

Striker is one position that many Norwich fans feel may be strengthened.

BOURNEMOUTH

THE MANAGER

Bournemouth are another of the promoted teams with a young manager – the highly rated Eddie Howe (37) who has spent most of his career at Dean Court as player and manager. He has a 54% win ratio in his latest stint as Bournemouth manager and recently received an award as “Football League Manager of the Decade” after taking the South Coast club from the foot of Division Two to the Premier League in seven years. Bournemouth clinched automatic promotion after a superb unbeaten run from March onwards with nine wins and four draws (including seven clean sheets) in their last 13 games

Howe says he will “observe training sessions in either Italy or Spain this summer to improve as a coach” but “knows the squad needs adding to as well.” There should be money available from the deep pockets of billionaire owner Maxim Demin and goalkeeper Artur Boruc (free transfer from Southampton) and attacking midfielder Christian Atsu (loan from Chelsea) are among those players already added for next season.

Bournemouth mainly played in a 4-4-2 (sometimes 4-2-3-1) formation in their promotion season and were known for their possession-based pressing game, apparently modelled in part on Guardiola’s Barcelona tactics.

THE DEFENCE

Bournemouth stood out for their league leading 98 goals scored in 2014/15 but their 45 conceded (18 clean sheets) was also impressive and was only bettered in the Championship by Middlesbrough. Whether they will be equally resilient in the PL is more doubtful unless Howe changes his approach, however, as they seem to be a team built to attack first and foremost. Polish international GK Boruc will provide a safe pair of hands with PL experience and, as Bournemouth are likely to rotation pair with Southampton, could be a contender for a cheap early-season GK pair with whoever Southampton will be playing pending the injured Fraser Forster’s return.

The back four was usually Simon Francis – Tommy Elphick (c) – Steve Cook – Charlie Daniels, none of which have PL experience. It would be not at all surprising to see Bournemouth add a defender or two with PL know-how in the summer, possibly a centre back to play alongside Elphick.

THE MIDFIELD

Typically a four man midfield (sometimes with the second striker dropping back into midfield) was used. The formation usually relied on defensive midfielder Drew Surman (CDM) and central midfielder Harry Arter sitting deeper, with wide players Marc Pugh and Matt Ritchie pushed on. Of these, Matt Ritchie looks like the stand out player for FPL managers after a season where the highly regarded 25-year-old scored 15 goals in 46 games, was capped for the first time by Scotland and was voted the Football League’s best player of 2014/15  by FourFourTwo magazine.

Pugh was also among the goals (nine in 42 games) but might find his place threatened by the arrival of Josh King. The other midfield arrival that will interest FPL managers is attacking midfielder Atsu on loan from Chelsea. Atsu is a talented 23-year-old who has showed up well in the last 12 months for Ghana at the World Cup and in ACON (where he was awarded Player of the Tournament), after a season where he was voted Player of the Year at Vitesse in the Eredivisie (2013/14). Capable of playing as a winger or behind the striker, it seems quite possible that we will see Atsu in the #10 role for Bournemouth in the coming season. However, it is worth noting that Atsu failed to make an impact while on loan at Everton in 2014/15, mustering just 113 minutes of play and registering only one assist, although he should be afforded more opportunity at Bournemouth.

STRIKERS

Callum Wilson was the main man for Bournemouth in the season just past, scoring 20 goals in 45 appearances and being linked with a host of PL clubs including Spurs, Southampton and Villa. A good finisher with a high workrate, Bournemouth are reportedly offering the 23-year-old a much improved contract in the hope of keeping him at the club. He could certainly be a candidate for good FPL returns at a lower price level, as Charlie Austin and Danny Ings were last season.

Wilson was usually partnered by Yann Kermorgant (15 goals from 38 appearances) or Brett Pitman (13 goals from 34 appearances). When Kermorgant played it was usually behind Wilson (4-2-3-1) whereas with Pitman it was more of a 4-4-2. Both were often used as a substitute, however, and may find their opportunities next season more limited if Atsu or Ritchie is handed the #10 role.

WATFORD

THE MANAGER

The new manager at Watford is Enrique Flores, their fifth manager in a year. He has a mixed coaching history with some success in Spain and Portugal (including the 2010 Europa League) as well as a recent spell in the UAE. As he is a new appointment it is very difficult to know how Watford will approach the new season. This section will therefore concentrate on some brief notes about players though there are likely to be ins and outs – Watford are owned by the Pozzo family who also control Spanish side Granada and Udinese in Italy and have a business model that involves bringing talented younger players in that can later be sold for a profit. Loans and transfers between their three clubs are also common.

THE DEFENCE

Watford will probably rotate with Chelsea next season so will be of less interest to FPL managers looking for home/away defensive rotation pairs – those with Chelsea assets are likely to play them both home and away. The three defensive players that had the most appearances last season were goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, centre back Gabriele Angella  and right back Juan Paredes. Gomes is known as a good shot-stopper and had PL experience with Spurs.

THE MIDFIELD

The midfielders who had most play were central and left sided midfielder Daniel Toszer (who is in the middle of a two-year loan from Parma and was described as “an unsung hero” of Watford’s promotion push), attacking midfielder Almen Albdi (nine goals from 32 appearances) and Scottish international right winger Ikeshi Anya. How useful as FPL options any of these are likely to be is hard to evaluate at this stage although Abdi’s goals and his share of free kicks are worth noting.

STRIKERS

Watford’s 91 goals in the season just gone was the 2nd best total in the Championship and a lot of the credit for that was given to their three strikers – Troy Deeney (21 goals from 42 appearances), Matej Vydra (16 goals from 42 appearances on loan from Udinese) and Odion Ighalo (20 goals from 35 appearances). Ighalo is quite typical of Pozzo players, having already played for Udinese, Granada and Watford during his short career.

Troy Deeney will probably be the most popular option here for FPL managers. He is a proven goalscorer who has now scored 20+ goals for Watford three seasons in a row and is another, like Bournemouth’s Wilson, who could feasibly gain “cult” FPL status next season.

With thanks to TLK42, Hooperman and Dat Guy for their input