Norwich thoughts.

[Red Mullet]

Cheers. Was hoping he'd bring up the penalty shout. That was at a crucial time, and fucking blindingly obvious, they had a chance moments after and if they scored it, it would have been 1-1 and potentially a much different game. There's quite clearly a witch hunt against Suarez amongst the officials. Loved the fans chanting though.

It was soooooo obvious.

The good thing is the players didn't let it get to them and gave the perfect response with 4 more goals. A bonus is that it was so obvious that in future games Refs would hopefully give penalties to avoid being biased or known as making retarded decisions.

Come to think about it, it was the same "Beach-ball" ref (wasn't it) so maybe we should have expected retarded decisions!

 

[Red Mullet]

Apologies , i missed the game as got too caught up celebrating the Swannie's win . So how did wisdom and Suso do ?

Very good!

 

[Halmeister]

Apologies , i missed the game as got too caught up celebrating the Swannie's win . So how did wisdom and Suso do ?

Wisdom was solid throughout, didn't put a foot wrong while not really pulling up any trees. Very good job and kept it simple.

Suso showed glimpses of his obvious ability and some lovely touches. Understandably faded in the second half.

 

[StevieM]

Apologies , i missed the game as got too caught up celebrating the Swannie's win . So how did wisdom and Suso do ?

The red and white balloons I had the pub decked out in were fab.

The brown & yellow - not so good.

 

[Hansern]

Great performance. Simple.

 

[Rael]

Jesus. Christ.

Try not to be too depressed.

I'm not depressed, I said I was disappointed that we were defensively poor. Carry on making stuff up though.

 

[James]

How lucky were we that Snodgrass put the ball over the bar from about a yard out? Could've been entirely different game if that had gone in.

 

[Red Mullet]

How lucky were we that Snodgrass put the ball over the bar from about a yard out? Could've been entirely different game if that had gone in.

Yes, and if we got that penalty....

 

[localny]

Pepe pulled off some great saves, so let's give him a pass for now on a rare error. As for us being defensively weak, I don't buy it based on today's game. Two individual errors. But yes, Norwich did seem to be so close at times. I hope this answers people's questions when they ask how have we placed dirk, maxi, and Hellers 27 goals...

 

[StevieM]

I'm not depressed, I said I was disappointed that we were defensively poor. Carry on making stuff up though.

Actually you didn't. You said you were disappointed without being specific about why you were disappointed.

You were also said it while wearing a wonder woman outfit.







I made one of those up.

 

[StevieM]

Yes, and if we got that penalty....

... and Gerrard & Suarez hadn't missed 2 absolute sitters.

 

[Red Mullet]

Actually you didn't. You said you were disappointed without being specific about why you were disappointed.

You were also said it while wearing a wonder woman outfit.







I made one of those up.

Me, me, let me answer that one!?!?!?!?!

 

[furyoo]

On a lighter note, any reason why we were wearing our third kit? Is our second jinxed? On the tele it looks better than the black kit though.

 

[Farkmaster]

I'm really happy we won, we deserved it, and not just for this game.

That said I don't think it was a great performance. We played well in stretches, but our defending was shocking, and our ball retention at times invited all sorts of pressure, thankfully Norwich aren't really equipped to punish us, but despite that, we could have shipped still more goals. I suspect Rodgers knows this, but he's right to just praise the team to some extent, the team is young and deserves to enjoy this, but if we went out like this every game, it would be an entertaining way of finishing low-mid table. We showed an astounding lack of focus after putting the game away. Not only are we not going to face such a plodding defense every game, Suarez isn't going to finish like that every game. Yes, our overall attacking play was good and we'll create more chances, but if we are going to allow the opposition 20 yards of space to run onto our retreating exposed defenders, we'll have to hope we're playing Norwich every game.

I was excited about Suso, hugely impressed by Sahin, but above all, Suarez reminded me once again just how brilliant he can be and I also just loved his attitude. I loved when he was off holding his head and immediately cured himself by fouling someone, I loved his look at the Norwich supporters after remedying his error. How many nutmegs did he have this game?

And all these new players we've brought in, they are all comfortable enough on the ball and aggressive enough to suck players in, turn them, draw attention, cause threat. Very exciting.

I said a few games back it'd be more fun watching us lose at least this season. That's true. We're more fun to watch win too. Let's just get the balance right.

 

[rampage]

It will take us awhile to get used to the system, it will be no surprise that we're shipping goals as this time.

We were shipping goals when Rafa first introduced the zonal marking system, until he brought in Pellegrino and help to stabilize it.

 

[LeTallecWiz]

It will take us awhile to get used to the system, it will be no surprise that we're shipping goals as this time.

ding ding ding ...

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

We're not shipping goals because of poor defensive schemes or because we're too attacking though. It's basically come down to bonehead mistakes by individuals most of the time. There's Skrtel with a piss-poor pass, a mistimed tackle and not tracking his man, Reina and his fumbles, Johnson and his laziness on the turn, Johnson and Agger not communicating, Reina and Skrtel not communicating... It's not like we're setting offside traps that don't work, or that our fullbacks are overlapping and leaving gaps behind which aren't properly covered, or that we're leaving people unmarked during setpieces.

I think we've been failing at defence because players have been very sloppy and not concentrating. There has been just token or no pressure in some of these situations. The culprits just need some hardcore kicking in the butt, starting with Reina and Skrtel.

 

[keniget]

I don't think it's purely a case of individual errors.

When the opposition get the ball our pressing game is sadly lacking and the midfield is seemingly all over the place. I've read a lot of people drawing comparisons to Barca and stating that our style of play seemingly goes hand in hand with conceding two goals every game but that's just nonsense I'm afraid. You are not going to be successful trying to play "pretty" football and allowing the opposition confidence from numerous chances every game. Barca work like absolute dogs to get the ball back and control the midfield. Guardiola said something along the lines of hating his team when they don't have the ball and he was right to - their strengths are almost completely centered around having possession.

The same should go for us now. We have no real defensive discipline and we struggle to balance keeping our shape (whatever that is half the time) and pouring forward. Rafa gets a lot of stick at times but he got his midfield dominating games. If we want to play possession football and succeed, we need to sort out our pressing game and get our midfield doing far far better than it is right now.

 

[RedStar]

The only thing missing from the game was a clean sheet really, we got good performances from the new guys, Gerrard Allen and Sahin looked like a potent combination for a group that has only had 90 (?) mins together up til now. It has to be acknowledged that the quality of the opposition was pretty poor, I reckon Norwich will be nailed on for the drop this year.

On the plus side

Suarez needed that, hes in a rich vein of form now. He will always be the sort of player who scores in bunches and misses as many as he scores but he never lets his head drop and always wants another crack at it, today was the perfect of example of that. He not clinical but by god is he productive, I think hes going to get a soft penalty soon too. Hes had so many decisions go agaisnt him its getting ridiculous

We have alot more quality in the squad than many of us believed when the transfer window shut, the young players have hardly put a foot wrong since they have been drafted in and its honestly been really exciting to see. Suso and Wisdom can now add their names to the list of players we can trust to step up and play a part in the first team when needed. I dont expect either to be first name on the teamsheet by the end of the season but its great to see young players pushing the first team, competition breeds improvement

Sahin looks like he has settled in nicely, 3 goals in a week and hes looking every inch the classy midfielder we need to knit this team together. When Lucas and Shelvey come back in we will have a hell of a lot of options in the centre

While the media kept trying to convince us all that the pressure on Rodgers was building intensely but the fans never bought it for one second and never let it be transmitted to the team, the fans have really taken to him, sometimes its just a good fit. I can see Rodgers being with us for a long long time to come

The negatives (there are always some)
The back 5 are still too loose in possession and costing us at least one goal per game, we wont play against defences that generous very often, if we are allowing teams to create 3 gilt edged per game we will concede an awful lot of goals

We need to wrap up a deal to extend Susos contract, he will attract attention the more first team minutes he gets and in Jan he can sign for another club, it would be an awful shame to lose him as he is begining to fulfill his promise.

Refereeing decisions are just not going for us right now, I dont believe its a conspiracy and I dont believe it evens itself out over a season either. Its just something we are going to have to endure and get on with the business of playing our football and winning games

 

[red_maradona]

I don't think it's purely a case of individual errors.

When the opposition get the ball our pressing game is sadly lacking and the midfield is seemingly all over the place. I've read a lot of people drawing comparisons to Barca and stating that our style of play seemingly goes hand in hand with conceding two goals every game but that's just nonsense I'm afraid. You are not going to be successful trying to play "pretty" football and allowing the opposition confidence from numerous chances every game. Barca work like absolute dogs to get the ball back and control the midfield. Guardiola said something along the lines of hating his team when they don't have the ball and he was right to - their strengths are almost completely centered around having possession.

The same should go for us now. We have no real defensive discipline and we struggle to balance keeping our shape (whatever that is half the time) and pouring forward. Rafa gets a lot of stick at times but he got his midfield dominating games. If we want to play possession football and succeed, we need to sort out our pressing game and get our midfield doing far far better than it is right now.

good points. i think the pressing game is still being learnt. I notice a number of times allen rush to press an aopposing player only to leave space behind him for a pass. there needs to be better co-orindation to cover gaps or ensure that you press with the right number of people.

 

[Farkmaster]

Keniget is absolutely correct, the thing is of course there are going to be individual errors when your back line is exposed and forced to make quick decisions which when they fail are likely to produce a goal. Our midfield was absolutely non existent in defense at times yesterday. Yes, it's a matter of reducing those individual errors as well, particularly the more unforced ones, but for me it misses the point, just like criticizing Reina's performance yesterday. He made a great save, a world class save, and then on a slightly deflected shot, he didn't hold. We need more control, and he won't have as many difficult reflex saves to make.

 

[ibromurph]

I'm really happy we won, we deserved it, and not just for this game.

That said I don't think it was a great performance. We played well in stretches, but our defending was shocking, and our ball retention at times invited all sorts of pressure, thankfully Norwich aren't really equipped to punish us, but despite that, we could have shipped still more goals. I suspect Rodgers knows this, but he's right to just praise the team to some extent, the team is young and deserves to enjoy this, but if we went out like this every game, it would be an entertaining way of finishing low-mid table. We showed an astounding lack of focus after putting the game away. Not only are we not going to face such a plodding defense every game, Suarez isn't going to finish like that every game. Yes, our overall attacking play was good and we'll create more chances, but if we are going to allow the opposition 20 yards of space to run onto our retreating exposed defenders, we'll have to hope we're playing Norwich every game.

I was excited about Suso, hugely impressed by Sahin, but above all, Suarez reminded me once again just how brilliant he can be and I also just loved his attitude. I loved when he was off holding his head and immediately cured himself by fouling someone, I loved his look at the Norwich supporters after remedying his error. How many nutmegs did he have this game?

And all these new players we've brought in, they are all comfortable enough on the ball and aggressive enough to suck players in, turn them, draw attention, cause threat. Very exciting.

I said a few games back it'd be more fun watching us lose at least this season. That's true. We're more fun to watch win too. Let's just get the balance right.

Agree word for word. Especially this bit.

I think we're only 50% of the way into BR's vision of us. Right now, we're still not retaining the bal; as well we should nor are we defending anywhere near as well as we should be, if we have any hope of a top 6 finish. If we played like yesterday every week, we'll win as many games as we'll lose, and mid-table beckons. Mind you, they'll be exciting games.

 

[ibromurph]

Rafa gets a lot of stick at times but he got his midfield dominating games. If we want to play possession football and succeed, we need to sort out our pressing game and get our midfield doing far far better than it is right now.

I was thinking the exact same thing this morning in regards to Rafa. Could we not hire Rafa as the defensive coach, to work on retrieving possession? And then we can implement Brendan's philosophies when we do have the ball.

Rafa was excellent at getting us organised, dominating the midfield and controlling games. It's just after we got the ball when we found it difficult to break down teams.