Norwich City (Away) Wednesday June 24

[dunlopp9987]

I'm gladly eating crow watching Iwobi today. Haven't really been all that impressed by him this season but he's finally showing something. 

[Shukes]

He should have finished that. Very poor attempt, just as he was starting to look menacing.

[Sibdane]

Pukki coming on for Norwich.

[Shukes]

1 minute ago, Sibdane said:

Pukki coming on for Norwich.

Has to really, isn’t Norwich famous for pies.

[nyblue23]

Would love to see more than 3 minutes from Kean here. Should be brought on for Richy just about now.

[Palfy]

Iwobi with the silky touch now. 

[nyblue23]

We really do like to make everything as nerve-wracking as possible.

Also Ancelotti listening again.

[badaids]

I hope Norwich don't sign a player with the Surname Avery...

 

Because they'd have Avery Krul Farke at the club.

[Sibdane]

Oof Kean, be careful.

Hope he can bag a goal. 

[dunlopp9987]

Iwobi MOTM by a mile I'd say?

[barryj]

23 minutes ago, Shukes said:

What happened to Iwobi at half time?

Looks a different player this half.

In a poor half he was still one of the better ones. 

[Palfy]

Iwobi

[dunlopp9987]

Big Dunc making one hell of a 4th official

[Shukes]

Well I have to say, I’m more worried for us after watching this match. I feel like we’ve hung in against one of the bigger teams and stole a result. 
 

Norwich have much more energy than us, more vibrant and work harder.

We just look awful. terrible.

[Palfy]

5 minutes ago, Shukes said:

Well I have to say, I’m more worried for us after watching this match. I feel like we’ve hung in against one of the bigger teams and stole a result. 
 

Norwich have much more energy than us, more vibrant and work harder.

We just look awful. terrible.

I agree with that first half, we were much better second half. 

[markjazzbassist]

we got the result we wanted.  win and a clean sheet.  first half was rough, iwobi the only bright spot.  second half we were a lot better, you can tell a lot of the players still aren't fully fit.  kean looked spent and he was on the pitch for 15 minutes.  he was dragging ass when he was off the ball.  

[AlbanyNYToffee]

8 minutes ago, Shukes said:

Well I have to say, I’m more worried for us after watching this match. I feel like we’ve hung in against one of the bigger teams and stole a result. 
 

Norwich have much more energy than us, more vibrant and work harder.

We just look awful. terrible.

Away match on short rest after a 3 month break was always going to be difficult. Week off now to get the legs back and finish strong. 

[barryj]

11 minutes ago, Shukes said:

Well I have to say, I’m more worried for us after watching this match. I feel like we’ve hung in against one of the bigger teams and stole a result. 
 

Norwich have much more energy than us, more vibrant and work harder.

We just look awful. terrible.

We had the least amount of time between games than anyone. We’ve just been out for months and we only made one change for this fixture. No wonder we had less energy!?! 

[barryj]

4 minutes ago, AlbanyNYToffee said:

Away match on short rest after a 3 month break was always going to be difficult. Week off now to get the legs back and finish strong. 

Haha - snap must of written it at same time! 

[Zoo 2.0]

Much better second half, although it really couldn't have been much worse. Insane performance from Alex Iwobi (easily MOTM) and hopefully he could build on this as everything seemed to go through him, he was a real nuisance for Norwich and all over the pitch, one of those games where I don't think anyone would like to go up against him. Well played to Sigurdsson for tightening up the midfield too, something which was badly needed after the first 45. 

DCL seemed to be snatching at a lot of his chances today, some 25 yard screamers that could have possibly turned out better had they been passes to a team-mate, but hey ho. Kean looked quite lively but still has a lot to learn, got booked for a reckless challenge and tried to dribble out of his own box with 91 minutes on the clock, he was actually tackled but the ball luckily fell to another Everton player - it could have been a real clanger. 

Pickford solid (thought didn't have much to do) and much better from Michael Keane after a poor opening 10 minutes. No real ''bad'' performances other than Davies who I've spoken about in depth already. 

19 minutes ago, Shukes said:

Well I have to say, I’m more worried for us after watching this match. I feel like we’ve hung in against one of the bigger teams and stole a result. Norwich have much more energy than us, more vibrant and work harder.

We just look awful. terrible.

Norwich had a lot of energy, but not much else. For all their dominance in the first 45 minutes they hit the post once, and barely did anything else of note in the entire game. Not to mention that the fact that we look so lethargic is that we've had less time to rest than anyone in the league after coming back from a three month break against Liverpool, one of the most hard-working, pressing teams in the entire sport. 

[Steve_E]

At least the defensive unit seems to be playing well these past two games.

Are we sure that Richarlison is actually good? I can't seem to make my mind up.  

[Shukes]

42 minutes ago, barryj said:

We had the least amount of time between games than anyone. We’ve just been out for months and we only made one change for this fixture. No wonder we had less energy!?! 

That’s a reason.

They still lacked energy and fight, whatever the reason.

We just played a team that is rooted at the bottom of the division. They got torn apart by Southampton, where they looked two leagues lower..... and we hang on to a 1-0 win. Trust me, they won’t be thinking “phew, we managed to come away just losing 1-0”, they will be disappointed and feel they deserved a point.

[Shukes]

Have to admit, I had 9 weeks off work, went for a kick around and loved every minute of it. Next day my 7 year old wanted to go on a jog.... little blender managed 5k haha. Next day.... I went to work as a builder.... managed the whole week and then trained then have the kids a training I gotta session again on the weekend.

Its a good job I’m 47 and not a professional footballer... I would need much more of a break if I was haha.

Anyone watched Man City matches? They are so good, not just technically. They look like they haven’t missed a beat. Fitter, faster, stronger, just a step ahead all round. Either they are taking performance enhancing drugs, or they must have training staff that are leagues ahead of the rest of the premier league.

Ignore my ranting I’m just too old fashioned to listen to the old excuses. I played for over 30 years and in my late 30s could still handle two matches in a day. Even now I can do two kicks up without needing a weeks break.

[markjazzbassist]

3 minutes ago, Shukes said:

Have to admit, I had 9 weeks off work, went for a kick around and loved every minute of it. Next day my 7 year old wanted to go on a jog.... little blender managed 5k haha. Next day.... I went to work as a builder.... managed the whole week and then trained then have the kids a training I gotta session again on the weekend.

Its a good job I’m 47 and not a professional footballer... I would need much more of a break if I was haha.

Anyone watched Man City matches? They are so good, not just technically. They look like they haven’t missed a beat. Fitter, faster, stronger, just a step ahead all round. Either they are taking performance enhancing drugs, or they must have training staff that are leagues ahead of the rest of the premier league.

Ignore my ranting I’m just too old fashioned to listen to the old excuses. I played for over 30 years and in my late 30s could still handle two matches in a day. Even now I can do two kicks up without needing a weeks break.

man city can field 2 teams of completely different players that are both better then 95% of the teams in the league.  their depth is staggering.  the rest of the teams look like us, you watched leicester's draws with 2 shit sides?  they're 3rd in the table.  

[Shukes]

1 minute ago, markjazzbassist said:

man city can field 2 teams of completely different players that are both better then 95% of the teams in the league.  their depth is staggering.  the rest of the teams look like us, you watched leicester's draws with 2 shit sides?  they're 3rd in the table.  

I don’t disagree mate, but that was the worst match I have watched for a very long time. 
I even voted Iwobi MoM, but can still picture him losing the ball and being no more than two feet behind their player.... and literally jogging back while they powered down the field.... then the through ball from Gomes, he jogged a few steps towards it but realised it was heading for a 50/50, so pretty much stopped.... and he was MoM for me.

The are poor, extremely poor. And I couldn’t wait for the final whistle as they had a few chances at the end to steal a point. 
 

I know there are reasons, our players aren’t as good as the teams above us, they aren’t as fit, they aren’t as fast, and they are nowhere near as aggressive, I get that. 
 

But a player sprinting towards a ball and failing to get there as he isn’t as sharp yet... is miles away from a player jogging towards the ball and trying tot to get into a challenge. That’s not fitness... that’s not willing.

My opinion is we were extremely poor and if we play at this level against mid table teams, we’ll get rolled. Sorry I can’t be happy watching that. Happy with the points... that’s it.

[barryj]

23 minutes ago, Shukes said:

That’s a reason.

They still lacked energy and fight, whatever the reason.

We just played a team that is rooted at the bottom of the division. They got torn apart by Southampton, where they looked two leagues lower..... and we hang on to a 1-0 win. Trust me, they won’t be thinking “phew, we managed to come away just losing 1-0”, they will be disappointed and feel they deserved a point.

They didn’t tear them apart first half in fact Norwich were the better side similar to us today. They imploded second half by playing poor balls out of the back and their manger said pre game today that they were changing it up which they did. 
 

I agree we were poor and like you I’m happy with the points I just feel we need to have realistic expectations with 10 out of the 11 playing Liverpool (Unfortunately easily best side in league) less than 3 days ago after months off. 

[Shukes]

39 minutes ago, barryj said:

They didn’t tear them apart first half in fact Norwich were the better side similar to us today. They imploded second half by playing poor balls out of the back and their manger said pre game today that they were changing it up which they did. 
 

I agree we were poor and like you I’m happy with the points I just feel we need to have realistic expectations with 10 out of the 11 playing Liverpool (Unfortunately easily best side in league) less than 3 days ago after months off. 

Really? I thought Southampton looked a league ahead of Norwich. Watching them made me relish this game thinking we would smash them... they were awful.
Southampton’s 22 shots 9 on target compared to Norwich 9 shots 1 on target. 

But I suppose it’s all opinions. I’m just watching other teams get quickly into their stride and football jealousy is setting in haha.

[Shukes]

Another good point is Liverpool have the same schedule as us, play a team fighting for a top half performance.... and... well.

But we just have to accept our players can’t possibly perform against the bottom team because they are tired. 
 

Like people keep pointing out, we are worlds away. Maybe even galaxy’s away.

[pete0]

1 hour ago, Steve_E said:

At least the defensive unit seems to be playing well these past two games.

Are we sure that Richarlison is actually good? I can't seem to make my mind up.  

Glad someone else noticed. Let him off as over trying in the Derby but today he was the worst player on the pitch. Tbf I don't blame him, he's learning a new role but the manager got it wrong playing him up top today.

Those people moaning about Davies yet don't mutter a word about Richarlison, it says a lot about your character, I bet you loved standing behind the bullies in school. 

[Bailey]

I have to echo a lot of what Shukes has said. We have seen these players a lot now and the excuses need to stop (including me at times too). 

I quite liked our defensive shape again but Norwich showed that once you break through the midfield, especially on the transition, we are hopeless at getting back in. The midfield just can't react and then Keane never backs away and away, Holgate either commits completely and goes out of the game or backs off too far as well. Digne mostly dives in too. Coleman is the only one who seems to know how to get tight and not over commit. Defending is easy when you are in your banks of 4 and set, it's when this shape breaks down that you see how good your players are. You don't see VVD or Laporte doing any of that rubbish above. 

Our midfield struggled hugely. Gomes showed in spells that he can play a big game with more support. He has quick feet and a quick brain, just not quick legs. Siggy did well enough when he came on, but when they turned up the pace after the subs, he was nowhere again. The less said about Davies the better. 

Iwobi much better. He looked too strong and powerful for these weak Norwich players. I still thought he was crap first half though. Bernard didn't exist first half but he showed a few glimpses in the second. I like him, he has a bit about him, but he is weak and very inconsistent. Why is it so hard to find players who can play consistently?

Up top it's probably a question of who was more wasteful. Richarlison made a better fist of getting between the lines in the second half but he just gave it away time and time again. DCL worked hard but his lack of quality showed again. I have no idea why he takes long range shots because his technique is as average as mine. Both were a waste. He had two headers he should have done better with as well. The first he was too weak and the second was plum and he got it wrong. I'll throw in as line about Kean here as well because I watched his runs and movement and it was dreadful, slow and obvious. He needs to sort himself out ASAP.  

All I can say about this game is that I am glad Norwich had most of their best players on the bench. FWIW I think I would take Hernandez off them for a few million.