In view of what was being said a little while back I thought a review of the last eight games was in order.So many people were declaring us rubbish,so here is my analysis. Man U - Lost 2-1 in the last minute of the game.Good performance,great goal. Stoke - Lost by the only goal to a bad decision. Wigan - 1-1 draw to a team that has beaten United and should (at least) have held Chelsea. Newcastle - Single goal loss away to the league's form team of the season. Wolves - 2-1 Win Fulham - 2-1 defeat without our star player. Everton - 1-1 draw to a team that beat Sunderland 4-0 the week after. Spurs - No comment required So,next time the Prophets of Doom come calling..........
It does reflect the progress we have made. Unfortunately some people will take that as a norm and expect better each time.
i believe the last 8 games is as close to 'a wobble' that we've ever come under lambert, but when you consider the standard of the opponents and the final results, its pretty daft to suggest it was a wobble at all. 8 points from 8 games. a point a game will just about secure survival nine times out of ten!
I've got to say, from what I've seen you've stepped it up a gear in the last two games. I don't really think you've played that well all season and I did expect you to be cannon fodder next season but that has all changed.
the fact we sit 10th and heven't played that well (apparently) suggests we are cannon fodder next season? your mind works in mysterious ways yorkie...
When you consider the recent good form of Newcastle, Everton and to a certain extent, Fulham, 8 points from the last 8 games is, I consider, a good haul.
also, not that you could tell from match of the day, but our match at fulham was one-way traffic - a match we dominated for long spells and had we not started the match so slowly, i believe it would have resulted in a very comfortable away win against a very good side. everton were 2nd in the form guide too and we were the better side. we could have taken a point from a drab match in newcastle and lost to a wonder strike, although wigan were mighty impressive we had good chances ourselves to win the match, stoke was an awful match decided by a poor decision and we really battered united at times and a draw was the least we deserved, so even on a relatively average/poor run of results we've had opportunities to double our point tally in those 8 games! it seems we aren't playing as shabbily as yorkie would like to believe...
I read it slightly different superman. Yorkie says he thought we would be canon fodder next season, then he says that his thoughts have changed. He also says that we haven't played all that well. Well, if we're honest, we haven't played that well all season. We've played bloody well in some games, ok in others, and badly in others. Everyone is entitled to their view on here. And don't forget, if Yorkie didn't post his views on here, where would half of our members get their signatures from?
Up to a point I have thought we have not played that well but when I say that I mean for large chunks of the each game with the exception of the Man Utd & Tottenham games. Both those games we played very well and perhaps our two best performances of the season. Most of the time it seems we have spells for 10-15 minutes where we look like we could take the opponents to the cleaners but then let them back in to the game or are looking to get back in to the game. Stoke City - Just one of those games perhaps. Not an easy place to go and get anything but the performance was poor. Wigan - Respect for Wigan and the way they have started to play a lovely passing and attacking game again. They made us look pretty poor at times. Newcastle - Toon were not sensational that day but had a very good goal scorer which made a difference. Wolves - We won but made hard work of it. Fulham - Battered for the early part of the game but once the changes were made the tide turned but we still couldn't get a point out of the game. Maybe we would have with Holt playing but that we can only speculate on. Everton - Good game to watch and could have gone either way. That was a better performance that the other above. The main point of mine being, it is rare that we actually play well enough for 90 minutes. This is why I am critical of the constant changes to the team every game. For our next game we need to start with the same team that started at Tottenham, if we don't and we get dominated I will again be critical of PL's team selection. As far as slumps go it wasn't too bad considering the opponents we played in that run, a run that was always looking tough on paper with the exception of perhaps Wigan who have been poor all season but seem to have a new lease of life in recent weeks.
my point would be, how many teams play well for 90 minutes in any match, let alone over the course of a whole season? its never, ever happened that a team can be that consistent. over the course of the season we have played well. there have been more good performances than poor ones.
Don't get me wrong Supers, I do not expect the same high level of performance as shown in games such as Spurs week in and week out and I agree, no team can perform to that level every week but I get very frustrated when we blow hot and cold from one week to the next and even sometimes from one half of a match to the next.
well thats just one of those things with football! i've never watched any norwich team be able to produce their best for more than three or four games in a row. in fact, i've never seen any team do that i don't think! its all about being consistent and for me, the only area i've been a little disappointed with this season is that too often we make a slow start and hand the initiative to our opponents. apart from that, there isn't too much to worry about performance wise. they've been very consistent all season.
Are you being serious?? Just because that team was the one to beat Spurs doesn't mean it's the team that Lambert will pick to face Man City, sorry to break this to you but football doesn't quite work like that
I would love to know when we last played the same team two games running. This is part of the reason why we have been successful since Lambert took over. Nobody has a flippin clue who is going to play.
It's only recently that has changed, last 3 or 4 years perhaps? We will agree to disagree I am not saying categorically will work but there is nothing wrong with actually trying it out - it might work for two on the bounce. Just for once I want to see PL stick with a winning team and see if they play the same way for two consecutive games instead of of him trying to guess what formation and players to use to try and overcome Man City. Don't see what is wrong with that to be honest.
Pretty much what Thai said. Earlier on in the season it was three banks of players but the football was all very stiff. Ruddy kept you in a lot of games and there were very often whole halves of football where you managed a solitary shot. That has changed and now back to front it's flowing.
yep, i'm of Thai's view too, also to reward that starting 11 who played so well on Monday. it's worth a shot - if it doesn't work, then change it. We certainly need Bradley J again against the Mancs for a bit of steel. let's hope it's not 3 centre backs again
It's not the concept of playing the same team two matches running I have a problem with necessarily (although I certainly don't think we need to just for the sake of it, it's a squad game these days and are you suggesting Fox and Hoolahan have no further part to play this year?) it's Thai's suggestion of getting on Lambert's back and being critical of him if he mixes it up again that I find rather odd.
I'm in favour of retaining a side that is doing well but as Sid said, it won't happen. Managers tinker to suit the opposition rather than the opposition worrying about us these days. Whether its the squad mentality or what I don't know but every team does it.
