I ask the question because next up we play Norwich City, a team we historically struggle against. Personally I think this will be a very hard game for us. Like us, they are on a good run, confidence is beginning to flow and they are only four points behind us. Why I worry is because they are a high energy team, the sort of side that we do not like playing against. We have shown that, given the time on the ball, we can cut any team to pieces. But Norwich will not allow us that because you can be sure their players will remember what worked so well against us before. They will be at us from the first whistle to last and, if our players aren't up for a battle, the superb results we've achieved of late, will be disappointingly diluted. If we aspire to a top six place, these are the sort of games we must win, if only to send a message to similar teams that we do have the character to battle them and come out on top. I am concerned about midfield. If we get on top and dictate the game, players like Ki and de Guzman can use their ability to spread the ball around and keep them on the back foot. But I worry about them, to be honest. Ki is showing too little energy for me. He will not be allowed time on the ball and, when Norwich have it, they will attack with pace and numbers. Will Ki get stuck in? Will he track their runners? And keep doing it? And the same applies to JdG. We need to match them in midfield and stop them gaining momentum, which is not our game. If we can play our game, we will win but Norwich will have their own ideas. With this in mind, I wonder about bringing in Kemy and or Tiendalli to stiffen our midfield. Kemy is strong and can also pass it, whilst I was impressed with the athleticism, pace and attitude of Tiendalli in his recent cameo. Of course, whether he can play midfield remains to be seen but he strikes me as the sort of competitor we need in that area of the pitch. I know it can be argued that we should concentrate on doing what we do well and leave Norwich to worry about us. I certainly believe that our "A" game is better than theirs and we should win the game - particularly with home advantage. But I believe that Norwich think they are a bit of a bogey team for us and that will give them confidence. So, those are my thoughts and I think they are valid. This will be a completely different challenge to WBA and Arsenal, teams I think we are better equipped to deal with than the likes of Norwich. The rewards are there for us; a top six place beckons and even more credibility about our credentials as a top Premier League team. We are well capable of winning but we have to be prepared to man up to Norwich and match their energy and work rate before imposing our own game on them. We can certainly do it but it will be tough.
Ivor this is going to be a hard game as Norwich have been playing well of late. But where we are in the league nw and the way we have been playing should we be worried about changing the shape or the way we play. Shouldnt Norwich be worrying about us as well. I am sure if we start like we did in our last 2 games then there are 3 point there to be one.
If we get off to a good start I fancy us against anyone. Like you said Ivor, Norwich will attack us with pace and numbers, which could be in our favour the way we've been playing on the break this season. If we get the early goal and have them chasing the game, I'd fancy our chances
Rhys, a number of us have commented lately on the fact that some sloppiness has crept into his play. He has played a number of loose passes recently that could have led to goals and, when he lost the ball, was very slow to get back. There is no doubt that Ki is a talent and he is great when we are going forward - not so when we are under pressure. There are undoubted flaws in his game and I noticed a few comments on the internet from Celtic supporters who said the same. He has a laid back style but my guess is that because he has little pace, he has to play that way. I have always advocated that you need energy and bite in midfield, the one thing we do seem to lack. We are great going forward but other qualities are needed when the other lot are having a go. And Norwich will be having a go because they will believe this is a game they can win if they get amongst us. They've done it before so they will try it again and we had best be ready for it. As has been mentioned, an early goal will help us settle. Then when they come at us, as they'll have to, we can pick them off on the counter which is something we are very good at - and their defence is not the best. An intriguing game and we'll have to play well to get a result. Fortunately, we are capable of doing just that.
We should not read to much into our wins as both liverpool and arsenal have been in decline and if they were at full strength and back to their best then we would have lost to both of them, dont get carried away because of the names and realize both teams are bellow their usual standard. We struggled against the saints dont forget and we got beat before that.....I take each game as it comes and norwich are just as good as liverpool and arsenal but lets see how we do against man utd, the way this season is going everyone can beat each other on the day and teams like the traditional big clubs are not as good as previous seasons and all are dropping points to unfancied teams every week.....We wont get a better opportunity to make the top 6 than this season if we stop thinking we are better than so and so club and take every game as if we are playing the top team....The premiership is the weakest i have ever seen and we should take advantage of the situation while we have the players and manager to do it.....
They were at full strength and as good as they're squads actually are. Who have Arsenal got to come back into their sides to make them stronger? RVP, Henry, Adams, Viera?
valley are you blind ??? Have you seen the strange results this season compared to previous seasons...In previous seasons you may see the odd freak result of a small club fluking a result against a top club. this season man utd chelsea, man city, spurs, arsenal, and liverpool, everton, are all losing matches to smaller clubs and that can only mean one thing....the premiership is not as strong as previous seasons....
It might mean that the smaller clubs are getting stronger and not being the push-overs they once were. Certainly, because of the styles involved, in my book we stand as good a chance of beating Manchester United as we do Norwich. United will play football and we like that. We know what Norwich will bring - the type of challenge that historically we have found it difficult to deal with.
You can only play and beat whats in front of you . . Historically there's always been "freak results" and that will continue ,thats what makes football the game it is and doesn't necessary means the PL has got weaker .
We are a different animal to last season, when teams like Norwich stopped us playing out from the back we would always struggle as it had a big impact on the way we play. Not so anymore and that is a big plus to our game. I hope Hernandez and Routledge are back for Saturday as if we play the same starting eleven as we did against WBA I think we will give Norwich a thumping, something along the lines of 5-2 would be my prediction.
Dai, I am asking who have Arsenal and Liverpool got to come back into their sides to make them 'stronger'. Are you blind, or do you have difficulty understanding a question before replying
I must have been sleeping or away when the memo came around that the likes of 'Pool, Arsenal et al have some holy God given right to be forever superb and if for some reason they lose it can't be because the other team is so much better it's because they didn't have their strongest team out or they were not at their best. The density of utter ****ing nonsense is becoming too much Dai. I have been watching football for over 45 years. I've played it. I've coached it. There is one thing that I recognize is that the way we play is extremely progressive, highly efficient, technically superb and has flair and imagination. We are not lucky to have won the games we have, we earned them, not only because on the day we were the better team, but our style of play and execution prevented the other team from producing their best. Arsenal were not off on Saturday; they were contained, simply, efficiently contained, broken down, pressurized and when the stress to break us down became too much they made the little mistakes that the really good teams punish ..... that by the way is us. The Prem is not the weakest in years - dear God with the money talent on the books of Man C, Man U, Chelsea and others ... the Prem has a pool of talent that is as rich and deep as ever. What's happening is that some of the old guard are failing to adjust to newer ways and other teams are improving, getting technically better, being coached by tactically savvier coaches. The gap between those just below the middle and the top is closing in general. We happen to be on the leading edge of that improvement. The next thing we'll hear is that Michu is scoring all these goals because the play of keepers and defenders is not what it used to be...
Just listened to Alan Curtis on the radio and he quite correctly said that given the choice he would rather have a win over Norwich than Arsenal. We need in the 1st instance to make sure we are top of the pile of the clubs in the lower half of the table. That must be our priority and a win over Norwich is therefore a 6 pointer. Only when we have established that position then, as I am sure we will, we can look to move into the top 10. It will be a tough game on Saturday with two in form teams- hopefully Hernandez and Routledge will be back and therefore I would expect Ki to be in the bench. Hopefully we will get a first 20 mins which will be on par with the WBA game and we go on and put the game to bed.
Great Post and spot on Arsenal fan on Talksport tonight pretty much echoed the fact that we outplayed and out thought them and if it wasnt for their keeper it could have been 4 or 5-0
Im not saying we have not improved im saying like a lot of football people are saying that the premiership is not as strong as previous seasons...and if you look at results then you cant come to any other conclusion as said on talk sport and i agree. chelsea,man city and man utd look weaker, liverpool arsenal are not what they were, spurs newcastle blow hot and cold. we lose and draw and then go on a winning run beating teams that are a class above us....and like i say we wont have a better chance this season to finish in the top 6 because the league is the weakest it has ever been.....things may change in january and i expect it will get stronger, but there has been to many big clubs losing games they should never lose already this season to call it a one off....even our very best sides are getting demolished in the champions league by foreign clubs...the premiership is much more even where anyone can beat anyone with no dominance and that can mean only one thing and that is the premiership is not as strong as previous seasons.....It wont last long as the top teams will buy the dominance again....
If what you say is true then long may it continue . buying expensive players doesn't always bring success .But one point, Talk Sport Dai I thought there was more about you than that
Top teams have never had such deep strong squads. It is unrealistic to expect top teams to win 100% of their games - they are going to drop points. Statistically speaking the best they are likely to achieve is one standard deviation away from the mean number of points a team could possibly win. Only in La Liga where you have a power house like Barca and a league that is distinctly below them on block you get one team that dominates. Irony is Barca is a Black Swan - except that they are always a black swan. To verify the FACTS - I have run some numbers based on last season's points total and where we are for this season. Surprise, surprise!!! 2011/12: Mean = 52.35 points Std Dev = 17.439 Mean + S = 69.7894441 = 70 points (i.e. Arsenal finished 3rd) Mean - S = 34.9105559 = 35 points (i.e. Bolton was relegated with 36 as the last team to go down) So this means that the top 2 teams (Man C and Man U with 89) were outside the one standard deviation. So far this season it breaks down like this: mean = 19.75 Std Dev = 7.636 mean + S = 27.386 = 27 (i.e. Chelsea in 3rd has 26) mean - S = 12.114 = 12 (i.e. Southampton has 12, two teams are below them) Man u and Man C are again outside the one standard deviation. This season so far is exactly as last season ended in terms of point spreads and how the table lines up. So Dai, just as I thought you're full of **** - nothing has changed this season, the Prem is no better, nor no worse - just because 'Pool and Arsenal suck doesn't mean a thing, other than they suck. Rules of the game: if you get more than the (Mean + S), you're likely to win the league or challenge for it; if you get less than the (Mean - S), you're going down.
Didn't a British club win the champions league not only 7 months ago? The bottom teams are getting stronger, not top clubs getting weaker. Cardiff fans were telling us that it was going to be a much stronger premiership with Southampton and reading coming up. They are now feeling the effects of the premier league themselves and have found themselves fighting against relegation. The premiership is as strong as it ever was, more so now that there are more teams to challenge the old top 4 and recent top 6.
