And Josh DIDN'T miss an open goal in the last minute against the mighty Tykes???? Great post FML and against any other trte, we'd have been slaughtered!!!! Also, as Cromer mentioned - WHY even bother with subs after 75-80 minutes Well done Delia et al - next season will be the first season when we don't have a waiting list for season tickets since 2010-2012!!
After what I said about Vrancic's first half performance. I didn't notice him at all second half, but still. Never seen him play well for a whole half before, so I thought picking Maddison for MOTM again was a bit weak. Yes, he looked a class above, because he is. Every little thing he did on and off the ball was class, as always. I don't think he excelled though. Maybe it shows how poor we were that he got it. I think if I was voting, I'd give it to Hernandez. He worked so hard, he beat his full back a lot, he drifted in centre to back up a sh*t striker, AND, what most impressed me, he uses his pace and fitness to track back and hassle their wingers when they are trying to attack. That really impressed me. Not only has he got pace, but he has an engine!
I have had concerns about late substitutions before, but today I looked at our 11 after 70-80 minutes and thought who needed to be subbed? Klose took a bad knock in the first half, but Zimmerman has just recovered from a serious illness - was there any point in risking him? Vrancic was our next oldest player at 27, but we didn't have another option at CM. This is a much younger and fitter squad so there's less need for replacing tiring players. Yes, it would have been easier if Srbeny had converted one of his two good chances, but he worked hard all game to earn a 6.9 rating on Whoscored. Was it worth risking Oliveira when we had the lead? Also, substituting him earlier would have been a blow to his confidence. Murphy and Hernandez were terrifying their FBs. Had we had a two goal lead, Edwards could have come on, but when we were protecting a one goal lead, it would have been a big gamble. IMO, DF played it about right to see this one out and get a much needed win.
As others have said, Josh's decision making isn't very good. It's like he thinks "well last time I passed, so this time I'll shoot."
That is mental! How could anyone rate him above a 4?! He is a target man who cant win a header in their box, and a striker who can't score an open goal! I gave him a fresh chance, and ignored everything I have seen and read about him, and based it on this game. He looked way off. Which is exactly what has been said and written about him. To tell us we have no money, then spend money on him. While loaning out Morris, and leaving our youth strikers in the reserves. If you want "just a striker" who is way off the Championship quality. Then why not just use our own strikers who are free! Morris is twice the striker he is.
I would rather try Abrahams at this stage of the centre forward display and goal drought than Watkins
To wait 90 Minutes for a sub, and see Srbeny (sh*te) come off for Watkins (sh*te) was mental. Screaming for him to make a change for about 20 minutes, and on 90, he makes that one. Again, my Arsenal friends asked why we were bringing Watkins on. Again, I just had to say. "This is what he does".
He at least gets in the box and waits for crosses. Yes, I started yelling for subs from about 75 minutes, but DF resolutely refuses to make them before around 85 m.minutes or later!!! I'd LOVE to know what the REAL attendance was at yesterday's game, as it's a long time since I've seen SOOO many empty seats and I know the weather would have played a part Edit - I've just seen that yesterday's attendance was - 25,098. I've heard of 'creative accounting', but I'd be surprised if there were even 24,000 actual fans watching us struggle to beat a VERY poor team!!!!
Nowhere near that many there. It was pretty empty and no one was making any noise. Been a hell of a lot of years since I've witnessed Carrow Road being so flat. Reading fans were trying to get something going. Chanting a lot, and trying to taunt a response. "this is a library", "sh*t town in Ipswich", "we forgot that you were here" etc but the stadium just stayed silent. Says a lot about our style of football that a "5 goal thriller" was so dull. At least we stopped the winless run, and got a win at home for a change. Good to get that in before the international break.
As I've said many times before, FML, the Whoscored ratings are based on the player's actual contributions throughout the game rather than on a single gut reaction about a performance. As with Oliveira and Jerome, it isn't just about scoring goals, it's about all of the other things a lone striker has to do. I'm satisfied that he did those things and that suggests to me that he will come good once he breaks his duck and adds goal scoring as well. He's only 22, so there's a lot more development to come as he finds his feet.
Do his misses not contribute to that score then? Did he miss 2 or 3 absolute sitters? At least one of them, was harder to miss. I wasn't basing it on a "gut reaction", as I said before the game I was going to keep an eye on him to see what he does off the ball and when the ball comes to him. As I've heard and read that he hasn't been good. So was interested to see if it was just lack of service, or his quality. I based my opinions on that.
I wonder if we will get a chance this season, when everyone is fit, where we could see: Leitner, Maddison, Trybull, Reed and Hernandez in the same side. I wonder if they could all fit in the system. Might lack pace and width on the left. I really like the look of all of them, if they could all fit in a line up, that would be exciting. Maybe play strikerless
Usual high quality stuff from Gary Gowers on MFW http://norwichcity.myfootballwriter...kles-of-the-faithful-at-a-frozen-carrow-road/
This is from Gary Gower's article posted in full on the match day thread. "Dennis Sbreny, along with Hernandez, also enjoyed his most fruitful shift in the yellow and green, and there were signs that if we afford him the time to develop there is a good ‘number 9’ in there. Alas, when his big moment arrived he choked – snatching at his golden chance to score midway through the second-half – but there was enough in his all-around game to suggest he has the capability to be the player we want him to be. His first touch was pretty good, he held it up quite well and was able to bring others into the game; all components that go to make up a successful lone striker. The missing, rather important, element of scoring goals will hopefully come, and he’s definitely one who will benefit from a full Farke pre-season."
Yea, read that this morning. He also talked about how Reading “came to play” which I thought was strange. I thought Reading looked really, really poor. I understand the fact he’s young, he’s new, he needs a preseason with Farke. He was bought because we need a striker and need one now. We have kids who are free in the youth team who would be in the same position. Hopefully he’s a confidence player and gets a goal in his next game, and he can kick on.
Yes, he also mentions the fact that they tried to keep the ball on the deck - what else could they do with a Siberian hooley blowing all day?
There was very little excitement/passion from the crowd even when we did score and I'm sure the cold didn't help. '5 Goal Thriller'?????? Perhaps at Anfield, but DEFINITELY not at CR!!! Good question FML and IMO, that would make a pretty formidable team and yes they could all play in the same side, as they all play in slightly different positions and possibly omit Reed for Murphy - Gunn Pinto, Klose, Hanley, Zimmerman, Lewis; Trybull (unlikely to be fit until Cardiff or later), Leitner, Maddison, Hernandez, Murphy; Sir Benny/Basil
That team of 12 would cause most championship teams problems. But obviously we would need to be able to use 4 subs.
If Hernandez and Murphy learn how to pick out someone or start scoring regularly we have 2 of the quickest most exciting wingers in this division. Other than Srbeny we looked quite balanced .
