I've only seen highlights but it seemed we defended well enough, as well as getting lucky a few times. It's been said before but again, Whitacker seemed suspect in most of Liverpool's best play. He was beaten at least 3 times for very good chances. He doesn't really provide Martin with any cover. I really think Wisdom is worth his chance. He may not have as much flair as Whits but he is far more solid. That'd give Redmond more freedom and Martin more confidence. People had a few question marks over Brady at LB but I think he has been far better than Whitacker both in attack and defence. On a different note, I wanna completely disagree with Lawro about Tettey's defending when Coutinho was through on goal. He managed to simultaneously cover the far post and Ings forcing Coutinho to try and beat Ruddy, which he failed to do. Overall it seemed we were worth our point and just lucky Suarez no longer plays for them.
I completely agree! Tettey's positioning was superb because it meant that Coutinho could not square the ball (which was obviously what he wanted to do) and Tettey also managed to help cover the far post, which meant Coutinho had to shoot for the near post, which Ruddy had a much better shot at saving (as well as pulling out a very good save). I thought that was excellent from Tettey, though really ultimately it is Coutinho that should have finished all the same. I saw on one of the Liverpool fans comments on an article that he made the point that although Liverpool had several decent chances, each of those came almost directly from a Norwich error. We were lucky in that Liverpool were very poor at finishing, but if we cut out the silly errors we were never cut open by brilliant play, despite how much better the Liverpool players are supposed to be. If anything, there was only one really "cut open" moment, and that was when I think Howson got Redmond in behind.
Totally agree on the Tettey positioning. If he had gone at Coutinho with Ruddy committed in front of him then an easy square pass would have lead to a tap in as both defender and keeper were in no position to make a block. I think also that his position would have left him blocking or in a position to block the far post had Coutinho shot that way and he certainly would have been in his line of sight which maybe contributed to the option he chose. It was counter-intuitive as letting a player go one-on-one with your keeper often results in a goal but with the benefit of hindsight it looks like he made the right decision at the time. That said had a goal arisen I am sure a lot of people would have been quick to put the boot in and I'm not sure that Tettey's decision would be approved by any coaching manuals!.
And Lawro calls himself a defender. What a mug. That's been our problem for a while though hasn't it. You can almost forgive Martin his errors in the game after the day he had, though that one where he cut the ball inside, then tried to cut back out and got caught smacked of over confidence, and maybe playing up to the fans a little. I'd rather our team were over confident than under confident though. Agree that the best actually move was Jarvis' shot. Really unlucky not to get another goal. It was a perfect example of how Neil has gotten us playing. Hitting the by line and cutting it back for the forwards running into the box. It was brilliant movement by Jarvis as well.
Sorry yes I mean the Jarvis chance exactly! I think it was comfortably the best move of the match coming from a traditional build-up right from midfield through an organised defence, so discounting where Liverpool broke forward a couple of times because we gifted them the ball in dangerous positions.
Just be happy that we saw Norwich produce the best move of the match at Anfield. Be interesting to see what happens to the team selection after the West Ham game as AN will have a real headache if MO comes into the team at the expense of the "cup tied" Jarvis and he and Brady both have a stormer. Nice problem to have though. I reckon MO must be under a bit of pressure at the minute as should he have a poor game then I can see the Brady/Jarvis axis being well-used this season. I wonder if MO can play right back????
I've said it before, but AN also has the option of playing Jarvis at RW, thus providing competition for Redmond as well. It's going to be a battle for all 4 players. As for those complaining about Martin at CB, Mick Dennis has this to say: http://norwichcity.myfootballwriter...one-more-than-enough-to-be-spared-the-moans/?
Oops, I just stared a new thread based around this same Mick Dennis article - feel free to close / merge, whatever.
