Match Day Thread Norwich vs Burnley

I don’t think that’s fair - the reality is that we are very much not relegated and the reality is the performance today gave us added encouragement.

I’ll accept that the reality includes that we are favourites to get relegated and there are good reasons for that, but if we are going to speak in realities there’s no benefit making it really narrow without qualifying it in some way.

 

On the plus side only Watford so far are a side that won't finish in the top half. Whilst I agree that relegation is highly likely if we continue to improve it could be a close run thing.

 

The worrying thing about that table is our minus goal figure is the same as Burnley and Newcastle combined.

With 31 games remaining I'm not throwing the towel in just yet

 

That's true Dunc, but Burnley and Newcastle have yet to visit ManCity. My hope lies in the potential for improvement in our 9 new players as they adjust to the PL.

 

I'm hoping Farke can use the clean sheet as a catalyst and perhaps even get a few 1-0 & more 0-0 .
Our results when he arrived were built on a strong defence when he arrived , boring the crap out of us before morphing into Farkeball.

Going back to basics is probably the best chance of survival

 

Thing is our style vs theirs is such that we are always likely to concede more than Burnley. We just have to believe (and I still do) we can get at least one more point than each of them overall and at least one other team

 

Agreed, but more as a confidence builder than a change in style - holding out Brighton and Chelsea especially on their current form would be fantastic

 

We showed very little going forward but for the first time this season we weren't caught with our pants down gifting stupid goals as we naively sacrifice our wing backs in forward positions.


I would happily take negative boring football and the odd 1-0 than 16 losses on the trot trying to beat superior sides.

The back 3 and Normann looked effective we just need someone to threaten the other side.

Pukki looks low on confidence and his first touch was abysmal, take him out of the spotlight and start Idah , the guy gets 5 minutes to do something at the end .

 

I am not sure that the loan of Gilmour is going to work out beneficially for us. At this level we need experience rather than potential in the middle of the park.

 

I thought Pukki did all right yesterday but he only had a few half chances. He and Sargent did a lot of good work without the ball as well. DF could bring Rashica in alongside Pukki with Sargent and Tzolis as impact subs. Gilmour could feature against less physical opposition perhaps, but he won't be eligible against Chelsea.

 

Maybe as the season progresses we will get a bunch of suspenjuries and he'll be needed but he's too small for this unforgiving league in that area .

Perhaps in the Wes role but not in the middle of the park agains massive lumps

 

Spurs v Villa and Buendia on the bench again, Skipp starts .
Shows the gulf in resources if a side like Aston Villa can pay £30m plus for a player and not play him .

I can see Skipp becoming an England regular he's destined for greatness.

 

I agree, he made an immense different to us last season, and the Spurs midfield looks similarly porous without him this season.

 

I only panicked a few times during that game which I watched both halves about 6 hours apart. I watched the first before putting the meal in the slow cooker, heading off to church, having lunch, moving the play pen and a bunch of washing up, but whoo hoo we actually have a point!

I thought Farke got the selection and the substitutions right, however I would have liked them all 5 mins earlier than he made then. He often seems to wait until the opposition's subs have allowed them to build up a head of steam I feel. I thought Sargent looked pooped when he was taken off. I was wondering if Burnley would have a player sent off as they got so many bookings in the first half. We didn't make any mega silly mistakes and I think this is a good formation for playing away and trying to frustrate the opposition before hitting them on the counter. I am sure it is part of the gelling process, but if we are solid at the back the next step is to try and give our strikers some support. Sargent and Pukki ran around a lot, but were feeding off scraps, balls played a few inches too far or a little too fast for them to get to..

So good to get the loss monkey off our backs and now to get a win to follow it up.

 

Buendia may still be lacking match fitness after the Agentine covid problems. He came on in the 69th minute, but to little avail as Spurs won 2-1.

 

How was your dinner ?

 

I noticed we seemed to press Burnley more than other teams. Playing two up front allows us to get at the opposition GK and defenders more effectively when they're in possession. It meant both Pukki and Sargent put in a busy shift. Good to see.
I just wish Kabak had put Pukki in after this week's long dribble. That would have been a trademark Pukki opportunity if Kabak had managed to flick the ball over to him. Wide open!!

 

That was our big chance to grab the points after Kabak's run.

 

You're so right, HMQC. Big missed opportunity. But it was great to see that Kabak can do that. Next time he'll pick out Teemu or whoever. I guess I was one of the few who wasn't happy with the game, Kabak's run was a bright spot, though.