I turned on for the second half; I don't know what you guys were complaning about. We looked pretty good.
Was the result down to new CB pairing? According to BBC Radio Norfolk, Batth had a very solid game, not sure of Warner. With this win, will owners keep faith with Wagner? If so, he will have to prove that this result was not a fluke. This could run and run when it looked like Wagner was down and out.
https://www.whoscored.com/Matches/1732072/Live/England-Championship-2023-2024-Cardiff-Norwich Bathh 7.8 with 8 aerials won and two tackles. Warner 6.0. I take Whoscored ratings with a grain of salt, though.
Batth was solid much of the time, but he was also at fault for Robinson's goal, allowing a virtual free header. He was much more commanding in the second half though and very much the leader at the back alongside McLean. Fassnacht was my MotM with the first goal and forcing the og for the second with a top class cut back, but he was also excellent battling to win the ball back time and time again. Definitely back to his best. Wagner may now get a temporary reprieve with the international break and then a run of games where we could pick up points, beginning with QPR at home.
Last 11 games in Championship: W3, L7, D1. Now 16th. Wagner mentions injuries as a main reason for shortcomings on pitch. When we played Blackburn, they were decimated with injuries, but still managed to win.
I thought we looked pretty good from the start. But given we were forced to field a new CB pairing, the selection of Fisher and Placheta at FB seemed an unnecessary risk. And while Placheta contributed well in attack, his defending justified those fears. Re. Cardiff's second goal, I don't agree that Batth was at fault; he was beaten by the precision of the looping cross. Any other trajectory of cross and Batth would almost certainly have cut it out. If blame is to be attached, IMO it should lie at the door of Long and Placheta. But, as has often been pointed out, the crucial mistakes leading to goals have usually been made well before the scorer converts the resulting chance.
It was certainly a wholehearted performance but the second half, particularly late on, showed the character and determination missing in recent matches. As for the Robinson goal, Batth was a good yard away from him when he headed the ball. That's not good marking in my book. It's a shame because Batth was excellent but for that.
I thought Fassnacht’s battling was incredibly important, I feel we have missed that over the recent run, we have been far too passive.
