The contretemps between Forgot_My_Lines and Canary Rob on the subject of Stiepermann's contribution on Saturday draws attention to the fact that, when it comes to winning a game of football, less often means more. I can illustrate that with the individual possession stats for the game, which best support FML's comment that Marco "did very little". By that measure Marco contributed less than all but two of his teammates, the biggest contributor being Leitner, followed by Buendia. So anyone focussing on how much time each player had the ball would say, as FML did, that Marco S indeed did comparatively little. But a rather different perspective is put on that if one looks at who did even less and who did only marginally more -- the answer being Teemu Pukki (less than anybody) and Todd Cantwell (little more than Marco). Despite which most posters on here rank those two as the top two performers on the day. My conclusion would be that measures such as e.g. how much possession a player has and how many passes he makes, are very far from being the whole story about the quality of his performance; what matters more is what he does with the possession he has, and the importance of the passes he makes, and on those measures Marco is among the top performers most days. Take passes: Marco was instrumental in the play leading up to the first and third goals, as well as, for example, in the play leading up to Pukki's missed chance when he pulled the ball across goal and wide of the far post. Fact is, against Newcastle, while Leitner orchestrated our play overall, Marco was the crucial node through which a large proportion of our penetrative attacking play passed.
And I thought Hanley was our weakest link despite massively improving since Liverpool he slipped on the one on one chance gifting Newcastle a late consolation .
Yep a generally good game but when his very first touch at the beginning of the game was a wobbly one, I did wonder if that would be the case. Definitely at fault for not closing off Shelvey at the end but otherwise a decent game I thought.
Apparently, he was suffering from a touch of cramp and if we had had another CB on the bench, he would have been substituted!!!! I was at the game (as was FML) and I thought he played quite well. He was massively helped by Godfrey.
Teemu probably does comparatively little because his single touch is immediately followed by the opposition keeper fetching it from the back of the net.
The other great thing about the focus on Pukki, totally deserved as it is, is I think we all know how much the players behind him contribute, given how few touches he has! Buendia for example has had two very good games (that assist v Liverpool!), but is yet to attract too much attention. We know Stiepermann when he’s on form can score from anywhere. Vrancic can win a game on his own. All these players are not attracting attention and so I reckon won’t be as pressured in our next match.
Nicely put, but there is also an important point that our attackers are receivers more than passers. When they do pass, it's often in the form of a 'key pass' leading to a goalscoring opportunity, thus the number of assists. Leitner passes a lot because he receives many passes, having the gift of being in the right place to receive the ball from a player under pressure. This was obvious when he came on at Anfield and relieved the pressure on Trybull and our defenders. Suddenly our our play was freed up, showing the value of a deep playmaker in linking up with the 4 attacking players and overlapping FBs. Had Leitner started, we might have done much better in the first half. The passing stats do reflect his importance in linking play from defence to attack. Stiepermann is probably his favourite target, as he can then pass into space for the other attacking players. Newcastle couldn't cope with that.
More praise for Pukki from 90 minutes: "You can probably imagine what Pukki was up to between the time of his Celtic departure and his return to these shores four years later. He was toiling away and honing his skill-set. He was reaching peak Pukki. That is why his marvellous start to 2019/20 is not just a flash in the pan. He has earned the right to be here, showing grit and determination to right past wrongs and make himself a more rounded footballer. Pukki has class, Pukki is permanent." This conclusion is reached after an accurate analysis of his skill set, praising his calm patience, his two footedness, his accuracy and the willingness to work hard to score his goals. Unlike other commentators, however, they also emphasize the hard work that he puts in to make this happen, as his career path shows. https://www.90min.com/posts/6436739...on-form-is-no-flash-in-the-pan?utm_source=RSS
A lot of praise for Norwich on all the Popular football podcasts today! After slagging us last week. A lot of humble pie being eaten.
A terrific article from Melissa Rudd on Saturday’s game and looking forward to Chelski’s visit on Saturday in front of the BT cameras. Teemu Pukki and Joelinton - two strikers at different ends of the spectrum Afternoons like Saturday's don't come along often. In 23 years watching City I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen them dominate Premier League opposition from start to finish. Pukki doesn't appear to suffer from the confidence issues that plague so many strikers across all levels of professional football, although Celtic fans who must be rubbing their eyes in disbelief at his exploits south of the border may beg to differ. How many times do we see a player miss a chance and then overthink the next one in front of goal? Take an extra touch, or snatch at it in haste? Pukki doesn't let missed opportunities affect either his decision-making or mentality. Cantwell was everywhere on Saturday, making more key passes than anyone else on the pitch and linking up beautifully with Pukki throughout the afternoon. https://www.pinkun.com/opinion/melissa-rudd-norwich-city-column-post-newcastle-1-6228684
Yes, I read that, JMF and it's excellent. In over 47 years of following City I can't remember many top division games where we won so easily. The must win game we won 4-0 over West Brom under Hughton comes to mind, but there wasn't the same sense of domination. Newcastle players looked totally bemused much of the time. This wasn't things going our way, it was taking the game by the scruff of the neck and dominating it. Yes, if Joelinton had put his header away, it might have been a bit different, but Pukki had 3 good chances before he scored. One went just wide and the other two were on target. The whole Newcastle team only had three good chances in the whole game and Shelvey's was the only one on target.
The usual suspects do keep mentioning the Joelinton chance and suggesting it would have dramatically changed the game. As you say, it might have, but it's difficult to say. But I am sceptical - it's not as if we played any differently any other match where we have gone behind in the last year or so. What would Newcastle have done? Had even less possession and played even deeper? That would just have made us look even more dominant and, frankly, I think would have been even more confident of scoring.
My own view of the game on Saturday was mainly that we didn't allow NUFC to get a foothold in the game at any time and as you say, that was how we played for the majority of last season, but the entire team seems to have upped their game to Premier League standard. The Chelski game is going to be a HUGE test, but I don't envisage any change in tactics/team selection. Disclaimer - possibly Klose to replace GH, or GH t start and Klose to come on as sub. Edit - I expect we'll still get the 'dullards/trolls' moaning if GH starts!!
City win performance of the week award for their win over Newcastle United https://www.canaries.co.uk/News/201...ch-city-win-lg-performance-of-the-week-award/