Prematch lubrication in the Compleat Angler was welcomed after the long tedious journey to Norfolk,at least it wasn't another of sky's lunchtime kick offs to really ingratiate the away fan. The hammering at the Etihad earlier in the season was still fresh in the minds of the Norwich supporters we shared a beer with and to a man they were expecting a similar outcome. From the outset Norwich looked like a team who wanted to prove a point and had the better of the early exchanges,the dangerous Redmond giving Clichy a torrid time and but for a better end product I felt Norwich could well have been in front. The ascendency didn't last and Man City grew into the game,with the lively Jovetic and Silva causing most problems but Ruddy was by and large well protected by Bassong in particular prepared to put his body on the line and Tettey working his socks off in front of the back four. Second half was mainly in Norwich's half of the field but we never really looked like breaching the canaries defences and with the talented Fer at the centre of the creativity,it looked like Norwich were just as likely to pinch it on the break and came very close to doing just that in the closing stages. Alas a point apiece,not really what either side wanted but probably of far more value to Noriwich Credit must go to Hughton who's tactics were spot on,although it's fair to say we really had an off day Hope to be making the journey back to Norfolk next season and this point kick starts a run of form Don't think we will be champions come May,far too many tough aways yet to come Regards PPLF
Thanks ppfl for an, as always, balanced and unbiased view of the game as you saw it and for pretty much all of it I agree with! Don't write your chances off yet, it's a marathon, not a sprint! Every team will have a dip in form at some point!
Not the first time this season that I felt the players just thought they needed to turn up. Tempo was far too slow and it's no coincidence that it also happened when we played at Stoke Sunderland villa Cardiff and Blackburn in the cup
Much has been made of the enforced absence of Aguero and Fernandinho through injury. And, with respect, both are great players and you're clearly missing them. But when you consider that either one of them cost more than the entire Norwich team, then you can understand why the home fans were cheering so much at the final whistle. NCFC battled hard to more or less make it a level playing field - when it clearly isn't in financial terms whereby one heroically earned point felt like the equivalent of three (I hope that makes sense - I know what I mean!!)
Thank you for confirming that - I suggested this very thing as was leapt on in no time, as if I was belittling the Norwich performance.
Thanks PPLF Though I would say we were very happy with a point, this is a huge confidence boost and although we could have nicked it, before the game a point would have been the dream!
PPLF is no more correct than you when he says they "really had an off day". The only reason he says is it because they didn't manage to win the game. If he had said "we badly missed Aguero and Fernandinho", or if he said "Pellegrini got his tactics wrong by having Yaya Toure stay deep and playing Clichy instead of Kolarov", that would be fair enough. They didn't "have an off day"; the side they put out simply proved incapable of breaching our sterling defence.
Fair result in the end,neither keeper would've needed a shower What's happened to garrido,he seems to have fallen down the pecking order
The point being BB, is that you automatically took my comment as an outright attack on the Norwich performance, when it was not. My comment was accurate, when I said that was not the same all conquering Man City team that we have seen in the past. Had it been that same side, there is no way we would have lived with them, even playing the way we did today. If you say anything to the contrary then I would suggest you are nothing more than a wum, or just blissfully ignorant of what goes on outside of Carrow Road. My comments were not intended to suggest Norwich were not up to the job, on the day they were, as they can only beat what is served up. Thankfully what we faced lacked a lot of what has made them such a potent force in recent seasons
What you say is true up to a point The common denominator whenever we've given teams a hiding is that the opposition in every single case has sat off us and started slowly allowing us to start with a really high tempo pinning teams on the back foot. The fact that Norwich,compared quite starkly with the Etihad performance,was that you pressed the space and closed down quickly from the outset,not allowing us the base we like to start with. If you think back to the Norwich win at the Etihad at the back end of the previous season then the most important factor was the work rate in midfield which enabled Norwich to dominate large spells of the game Stopping man city build the tempo is a crucial part of taking points off us
PP - having said that, when MC were pressing forward, why in your opinion, was there rarely/never more than one MC player in the box? That does not appear to have a great deal to do with what Norwich (or any other opponent) were doing. The hallmark of Man City in recent seasons has been the blistering pace, and movement, of which very little of this was seen. As you have said, this has happened a few times at away games this season, but why do you believe that is?
Hard to say what the problem was whether it was tactically misguided or not Having to play Dzeko and Negredo when neither are fully fit hasn't helped but why yaya was practically playing sweeper can only have come from the management I'd have thought
Thought the noise from the home support as impressive yesterday Hughton can't moan about the support his teams get considering the table position
