Good win that, massive difference to see the strength of players we are able to bring off the bench, let alone field in the starting line up. Our subs today Hernandez, Nunez, Sorensen, Barnes and Schwartau
Strikers need goals, especially when they arrive with a big price tag. He laboured away but without the confidence and body language he's showing now that the goals have gone in. His defending and pressing has also improved and he's taking charge up front, proactive rather than reactive. Credit to the coaches as well.
I loved the way he came on and took the free kick straight away. He looks keen to make up for lost time and played like he's never been out.
Says a lot about Ante Crnac. Would anyone have blamed him if he'd put his first City hat trick ahead of maximising the chances of a goal being scored? What's more, the pass to set up Marcondes was perfectly played -- with his weaker foot.
I was at the match today and despite some periods of frustration, including the gift to Luton for their first goal, there were some huge positives. Our goals were all well taken but the assists were equally outstanding; Stacey chasing a lost cause for Crnac to score, Crnac's completely unselfish pass to Marcondes when he could've gone for his hat-trick and Onel's pinpoint ball for Sainz. It was brilliant to watch! I'm unsure what was happening with Sainz first half. He wasn't seeing much of the ball and there seemed a reluctance from Fisher / Doyle and others to pass to get him in the game when he was hugging the left touch line in good positions. The ball, more often than not, went right, leading to Sainz eventually drifting in field and a couple of times going over to the right to get involved. He was getting quite frustrated first half and you could see he was questioning why he wasn't getting a pass that was clearly on. Still, he persevered and got a deserved goal for his endeavours. I thought McClean was a bit error prone today but despite that, it's good to have him back. I understand he has one more game to get through before Yellow cards are increased to 10 for the season, rather than five. All in all, an enjoyable day at Carrow Road and Crnac quite rightly awarded Man of the Match.
Two sets of highlights: I think the best highlights is probably the second We have now scored 3 goals more than any other side, but there are only 5 sides that have conceded more. Much more fun than being a side like West Brom or Swansea
Re. Duffy's far post header from Marcondes' corner, the highlights illustrate something I've noticed before, a run by Crnac which draws the defender marking Duffy (in this case McGuinness) away, leaving the big No.4 free. McGuinness spent most of the match trying to intimidate Crnac, but he kept his cool and had the last laugh when he nicked the ball off McGuinness' toe, leaving him on the ground while Ante set up Marcondes' goal.
And he is quite imposing already for a young lad. A couple more years of conditioning and he will be a frightening prospect. Great skills for a big lad
Sainz I think was effectively man-marked, which basically kept him out of the game - but that created more space elsewhere
Those are qualities that have developed over the season, but there's nothing like goals to boost a striker's confidence and the confidence others have in him. This was obvious with Sainz once the goals started to go in. Suddenly he was full of confidence and other players saw him as our best chance of scoring after Sargent's injury. 3 goals and an assist in the last two games have boosted Crnac in the same way. His body language was noticeably different as the goals went in. There was a similar turning point for Sargent when he scored a brace in a game and then progressed rapidly after that. Hopefully it'll be the same for Ante.
I also get the impression that the players around him have taken a few matches to get used to his style, and he to the demands of a centre forward in the Championship - basically the equivalent of pre-season warm up matches. You can almost see the experiment in Thorup’s mind. First he tried Schwartau, then Crnac, then Marcondes, then Crnac again but an early substitution with Hernandez. And with the exception of the West Brom game, the team has been playing like it is Sargent up top, without Sargent - now they’ve clicked better as everyone gets used to the playing styles.
I think that's true, but another factor has been Marcondes coming in to play AM behind Crnac. Rated 7.25 there, Emiliano is now our second highest rated player on WhoScored after Sainz. His experience and instinctive ball distribution has helped Crnac and shaped our attack in recent games. He reads the game so well and plays like a second striker at times, taking pressure off Crnac. That developing relationship could be a key element in the rest of our season. Another factor is Forson, who has upped his rating to 6.68 since switching out to the right and has 3 assists in his 9 starts overall.
I liked this from the ACN match review: What was the best bit of the game? At 2-2 and with no one on either team being able to stop passing to the opposition / someone’s arse / elbow / into the stands, up stepped Shane Duffy who’d clearly decided enough was enough, took the ball and piled up the pitch like a JCB digger at full throttle, onto the edge of the area and created our third and decisive goal. We were all crying out, “Come on Nodge, someone wannut” – and so he did. It changed the game and was just what we needed. https://www.alongcomenorwich.com/articles/the-acn-match-review-24-25-luton-town-h/
