Hi all Felling like nothign went our way yesterdya and that we were very unlucky not to get 1 or 3 points yesterday. I just wnated to see if anyone else felt that the system and tactics are becoming more encouraging. I know there is still some fine tuning to be done but if you look at the game from from around 35-70 minutes we were dominant against a team that is a title contender. I really think Olsson at LB has made a huge difference and his pace allows him to get forward and go past player but also cover at the back. I have also been very impressed with his crossing which I didnt think was going to be one of his strong point. Fer was again solid and oozes class. We have all highlighted how good he is so I dont need to say anymore. Howson seems to prefer his more attacking role which is not a surprise really and Pilking has also come back to form. A special mention to both Snodgrass and RVW. RVW had a good game and his header for the goal was fantastic. Not just the header but the movement allowing him to get in a good position 5 yards behind Terry was great. Snodgrass was working a lot harder off the ball and seemed to be less predictable and put in a much better performance than we have seen recently. All in all I think the tactics were great, just a shame we conceeded so early. I think its just about finding the balance between getting enough bodies forward and not being too defensive but I think the players in that system are capable of even better performances. Redmond off the bench against tiring legs is the perfect substition and if that shot had gone in it really would have been something special. All in all I am very positive despite falling into the bottom three. I just want to see us have that level of performance on a more regular basis and making it count against mid/lower tables sides.
After closely watching the Stoke & Chelsea games, I said as much just after the game last night, I do think CH now knows the 'ideal' formation and the players to use for that particular 'ideal'. Now this is based on all players being fit and available of course, and it remains to see how some other players will fit in to the formation and style.
What did you think about the substitutions during the Chelsea game?, I think that against the top flight teams we should be keeping on Snoddy, we need the experience on the pitch against teams like that. Redmond is okay against teams that are equal to us(Stoke, Southampton), but I think he's still too much of an unpolished diamond against the top flight teams. Agree?, disagree?
Although Snodgrass had a much better game yesterday, he did an awful lot of tracking back against Schurrle, especially, and was visibly tiring - as were many of our brave souls Redmond is an unknown quantity to most of the teams in this league and as such hard to defend against at the end, when they, too are tiring. Makes sense to me to bring him on for 15-20 minutes to run at fading defenders Great to have a fully firing Pilks back, he has really made a difference.
With Snoddy's current form/state of mind??, this is a tough one to answer. He did okay yesterday, in the main, but still nowhere near as good as last season. He seems a lot less of a threat going forward than he was, and his free kicks don't carry the same menace either (most of the time). So, in conclusion - give us last seasons Snoddy, and he should play all game, every game. This season it's different and I thought when Redmond came on, he posed much more of a threat, so the substitution was justified. Perhaps CH got a break there as we are never sure what NR is going to bring to the game. Hooper for RVW was straight forward and fair enough, RVW must have been knackered after that shift so a straight swap was also right - IMO
I remember being one (of many) suggesting that he could drift out of games and become anonymous last season. But this year, he's the archetypal swashbuckling, up-and-at-em, get in your face Pilkington that opponents don't like facing. Keep it up, bor
I don't get all this criticism of Snodgrass, I though he was very good against Chelsea, in fact getting better each game.
He was better for sure and is getting a little better most games, and I did not intend to criticise, just highlighting that he is not where he was last season, and it's true - he's not.
Would you start with Redmond then?, or give Snoddy more time to improve?, I think he will eventually get back to top form, he's almost there now.
Aha! That's the big question isn't it! I would start with Snodgrass every time, and use the young 'un for impact later against tired legs.
I start with Snoddy and Pilks, what they both need to someone who is waiting is the wings (no pun intended) to challenge them, especially Pilks. Redmond came on and did a really good job, which is great cos it makes sure they'll put a shift in each match. pilks has just started to get in the ROI team and he wants to cement his place. We could well see the best out of Pilks this season
Asd I see it, if Norwich are generally playing reasonably well, Redmond shines, and if Norwich are not, he struggles to get in to the game. Now this is not all of his own doing of course, just an observation though.
pilkington = key player snodgrass = key player redmond = impact player back to the formation, i think the one player to really benefit from the system is jonny howson. he looks a rejuvenated character this season (to be fair, he did at the end of last season too) and i thought he was man of the match on sunday. sitting alongside fer is obviously important, but its having tettey behind him and a bit of added security that is why he is starting to look a good player again. i'd still like to see both howson and fer drive on a little more - it wasn't always possible yesterday but certainly against teams of a more natural match to ourselves will require the midfield to break into the box as often as possible.
From what I've seen of Fer so far, he certainly has the pace and ability to burst forward. However, he always seems reluctant to quickly surge forward on the counter - he is very unselfish and often looks to pick out a pass rather than try and break past a defender himself. Whether he's a bit worried about leaving space in the midfield defensively I'm not sure, but I agree that I would like him break forward more often.
Although the improvement in centre midfield was evident against Stoke, in that match our play was hugely imbalanced, with disproportionately more play on the right than in the centre or on the left. Between them, Russ Martin and Snoddy accounted for 25% of our successful passes in the game, and 50% of those were passes from one to the other (36 successful passes). In contrast, Olsson and Pilkington exchanged just 8 successful passes. Against Chelsea our play was much more balanced and I thought we saw for the first time what I have been saying CH is wanting -- the wide midfielders to move infield and engage with the central attackers. Both Pilkington and Snodgrass did just that, and quite of lot of their contribution was made closer to the penalty box than the touch-line. Our goal came from a cross by Olsson, not Pilkington (just as Hooper's chance against Villa came from a cross by Garrido and RvW's goal against Everton came from a cross from Whittaker). Carrabuh will point out that we still didn't manage to get behind the Chelsea defence and turn them with balls from the by-line, but yesterday that was more a testament to John Terry and his colleagues than any failing on our part. So my take on it is not just that the shape was better, but that we got what Chris Hughton has been slowly working towards all along.
Definitely a step in the right direction yesterday and IMO one of our best performances for a while. I thought we were very unlucky not to come away with something. I thought CH got his tactics pretty much spot on yesterday bringing on Redmond against a weakened Chelsea left hand side and his pace and freshness almost made a difference the way that Hazard's did for the critical second goal. RvW needed a rest and so Hooper was worth a punt. I heard people around me criticise Hooper but I feel that this is unjustified as RvW fed on scraps from a fit and firing central midfield trio whereas Hooper was basically being supported by a knackered Howson who was blowing after about 75 minutes and a fading Tetty (who I thought played really well) and Fer (who is class). When we conceded the second I felt angry with Tetty for not getting rid and Ruddy for letting it through him but with hindsight Tetty was the player chasing back from a pretty ordinary corner trying to defend against a fresh Hazard (OT - what a claas act that boy is) and he marginally under hit the ball back due to tiredness and pressure and Ruddy should have done better but at that range I would think that it is surprisingly hard to stop a shot that close to but not hitting your body when the attacker (again, just in my opinion) mis-hit the shot from fairly close range. With hindsight it was disappointing but not as bad as I thought in the ground on Sunday. I do think that if we continue to play as well as that we will do enough against the lesser sides to rise up through the table. Hopefully if we can keep the players fit this XI will gel and develop into a pretty useful side. One other point was how good our bench was on Sunday - I can't imagine us thinking that we could have players of the calibre of Hooper/Johnson and Bennett on our bench a couple of seasons ago and Wes not even in the squad.
Howson was definitely my man of the match. Every positive move in the game seem to go through him and he didn't stop running. With Fer and Tettey around him he seems to be letting himself go a little and his passing, strength and general determination have greatly improved this season alone. If he can keep up that level of performance alongside the other 2 then our midfield is going to be very formidable this season. And a quick question, did anyone else read the EDP this morning, I swear they said Pilks went off injured for Redmond even though I know it was Snoddy who went off and Pilks lasted the whole match. There was even a whole bit in the pink un about him going off early. Seems really odd to me!
Our midfield is now looking the real deal. Fer is Evertons loss. Just excellent every match as is Tetty. And as for Howson, he is turning into the player he was reported to be when we signed him. Possibly his best game for us given the opposition. It will be hard for any of our other midfielders to break into the team with this level of play from those three. Injuries and suspensions aside of course. All in all, despite being in the bottom three at this time, I am fairly happy and can see an upsurge in results from now on. Could we even shock Arsenal?
