Our best result under Lambert's stewardship.
Its a pretty big statement to make, bearing in mind some of the stunning results we've had in the past couple of years, but Saturday's win at fortress Liberty Stadium, for me, was the best. Not just for the result, but for the performance which was outstanding.
Once again, our magician of a manager got his tactics bang on - we dominated the hosts for long spells and anything but victory would have been a travesty. It was even better than our win at Leicester last season, which had been a stand out performance; better even than the derby-day demolition, which was helped by the appalling inability of our rivals on the day; better than the result at Anfield. This was an excellent, excellent result. It probably also shows how far our promotion buddies have come too that I can claim this to be the best win despite all the mega clubs in the top flight!
Swansea have received many plaudits from pundits this season for their style and performances and quite rightly - to beat them, and far more convincingly than the final scoreline suggested, was no mean feat, especially when you consider how many injuries at the back we have! Drury, bless him, is coming to the end of his days but still performs admirably, Ward hadn't played since the end of last season, Martin again excelled out of position... it makes you wonder how well we will play when we can finally get our first team on the pitch!
Which is why I'm writing this article. Do we have a first team? How many of us Norwich fans could pick the Swansea starting line up to face us on Saturday? Barring injuries, I'd say we could pretty much do so. Now try and name the City starting eleven...
Nobody can do it!!
This gives us a great edge. It keeps players on their toes, it keeps rival managers guessing, it gives our manager enormous options both before and during a game. And lets be honest, we aren't carrying any players here. Every single player that comes in does an equally good job to the player they replace. I can't have been the only one concerned that there would be four or five who may struggle at this level if called upon. I've been proven wrong. Naturally players will begin to drift out and be replaced over the next few months but every player at our club deserves credit for how they have applied themselves to our situation.
I feel our squad depth is the main reason we have done so well this year. We have so many players that can perform different roles and play different styles. We are so adaptable to any situation - its an astonishing array of formations and game plans we can call upon. We are so difficult to read - and if a team does read what we are doing, Lambert just changes it and the players are able to carry it off! Remarkable.
I've been saying for a while that we are a better side than Swansea. They make prettier patterns and are a pleasure to watch - not that we aren't capable ourselves of playing that way - but we are a different beast and a harder team to play against; a harder team to beat. Citeh and United are both exhilarating to watch, but they also know when to mix it up and its an important facet to any successful team to be able to change their style when necessary. We are as good as anyone in this league at doing this.
Saturday was the most proud I've felt of my club since the days of Mike Walker. Perhaps it was seeing the club in 8th place, perhaps it was seeing us a mere 4 points away from Liverpool - a team, whose manager, having spent £100m more than us, mean they have spent £25m per point to be ahead of us, or perhaps it was seeing us effectively reach a points total which i doubt will be surpassed by any of the bottom 5 this term.
It doesn't really matter what reason it was that made me feel so proud - it would literally be impossible to not be proud of our club at the moment. And I can see them getting better and better and better...
Its a pretty big statement to make, bearing in mind some of the stunning results we've had in the past couple of years, but Saturday's win at fortress Liberty Stadium, for me, was the best. Not just for the result, but for the performance which was outstanding.
Once again, our magician of a manager got his tactics bang on - we dominated the hosts for long spells and anything but victory would have been a travesty. It was even better than our win at Leicester last season, which had been a stand out performance; better even than the derby-day demolition, which was helped by the appalling inability of our rivals on the day; better than the result at Anfield. This was an excellent, excellent result. It probably also shows how far our promotion buddies have come too that I can claim this to be the best win despite all the mega clubs in the top flight!
Swansea have received many plaudits from pundits this season for their style and performances and quite rightly - to beat them, and far more convincingly than the final scoreline suggested, was no mean feat, especially when you consider how many injuries at the back we have! Drury, bless him, is coming to the end of his days but still performs admirably, Ward hadn't played since the end of last season, Martin again excelled out of position... it makes you wonder how well we will play when we can finally get our first team on the pitch!
Which is why I'm writing this article. Do we have a first team? How many of us Norwich fans could pick the Swansea starting line up to face us on Saturday? Barring injuries, I'd say we could pretty much do so. Now try and name the City starting eleven...
Nobody can do it!!
This gives us a great edge. It keeps players on their toes, it keeps rival managers guessing, it gives our manager enormous options both before and during a game. And lets be honest, we aren't carrying any players here. Every single player that comes in does an equally good job to the player they replace. I can't have been the only one concerned that there would be four or five who may struggle at this level if called upon. I've been proven wrong. Naturally players will begin to drift out and be replaced over the next few months but every player at our club deserves credit for how they have applied themselves to our situation.
I feel our squad depth is the main reason we have done so well this year. We have so many players that can perform different roles and play different styles. We are so adaptable to any situation - its an astonishing array of formations and game plans we can call upon. We are so difficult to read - and if a team does read what we are doing, Lambert just changes it and the players are able to carry it off! Remarkable.
I've been saying for a while that we are a better side than Swansea. They make prettier patterns and are a pleasure to watch - not that we aren't capable ourselves of playing that way - but we are a different beast and a harder team to play against; a harder team to beat. Citeh and United are both exhilarating to watch, but they also know when to mix it up and its an important facet to any successful team to be able to change their style when necessary. We are as good as anyone in this league at doing this.
Saturday was the most proud I've felt of my club since the days of Mike Walker. Perhaps it was seeing the club in 8th place, perhaps it was seeing us a mere 4 points away from Liverpool - a team, whose manager, having spent £100m more than us, mean they have spent £25m per point to be ahead of us, or perhaps it was seeing us effectively reach a points total which i doubt will be surpassed by any of the bottom 5 this term.
It doesn't really matter what reason it was that made me feel so proud - it would literally be impossible to not be proud of our club at the moment. And I can see them getting better and better and better...
, it really is high time to be a Norwich City fan. I remember telling people that I supported NCFC a few years ago and getting laughed at for it, where are those people now? Thank you to Mr Mcnally & Mr Lambert for restoring pride to our great club OTBC
true!
Superman. Spot on once again. Only thing I would add is that the sort of versatility our squad demonstrates requires real intelligence and an understanding of what positions other than their favoured position require. A great example was Bennett filling in at right back and Naughton at CB against Bolton. Fantastic.
(Select according to taste!)
