Wide men

[Dazz19]

This is a conversation my dad and I have had a number of times after leaving Carrow Road and today it seems to have happened again today at Stoke. Since Lambert has come in and transformed the squad from a bunch of hapless individuals into one of the best Norwich sides for many a year there has been one persistent Achilles heel.

Wingers.

Not ours, the oppositions.

Even way back in League one, if a team had a decent wide man, we struggled to combat it. Back then we were playing the diamond and Lambert was working with a squad he inherited rather than one he built so you could forgive it a bit as it was more a case of finding a formation to fit the team rather than the other way around, and besides it wasn't so much of an issue as were were that much better than pretty much every other team that we usually just battered them into submission.

Last season though it happened again, this time after Lambert had brought in players he wanted and started to tinker a bit with formations instead of sticking with the diamond. Look at the teams we struggled against:
Swansea (Dyer, Sinclair)
Cardiff (Whittingham)
Palace (Zaha)
Leeds (Snodgrass)
Reading (Kebe)

This season its the same again. Yes its another step up in quality, but we're also not sticking rigidly to the diamond any more and adapting the formation and players to suit the opposition. Today Stoke played Etherington and Pennant and we were under the cosh for large parts of the game. Gareth Bale ran us ragged, we struggled against McLean at Sunderland and Hoilett and Jarvis gave us trouble for Blackburn and Wolves.

So why is it when the team has evolved and adapted so successfully to everything that has been thrown at it in the last three years have we struggled so much with this aspect of the game? Our defence and midfield is a million miles away from what we were fielding three years ago with only Martin and Hoolahan surviving and yet for some reason if the opposition sticks a decent winger on the pitch we look like we've gone back to having Jon Otsemobor at full back with Matty Pattison backing him up.

 

[tipsycanary]

I understand your point but I feel it is more that we struggle with players who run at our defence rather than playing teams who have wingers. It just happens that these kind of players play on the wings. On of the biggest differences as you move through the leagues is the increase in pace and more skillfull players with the ball at their feet. I do feel that our team, particularly the defence could do with a bit more pace, e.g. R.Martin certainly struggles with pace playing at RB. Also playing a diamond it can give less protection to the fullbacks.

All this being said we have defended brilliantly against some tricky winners.

OTBC

 

[Rubik's Tube]

This is a good point, altho I agree with tipsycanary that the problem is players running at us anywhere accross the defence. Bale is a classic example- a top class winger but Redknapp played him through the middle where he tore us to shreds. I seem to remember Fulham's skilful strikers causing chaos too.

It must be something to do with the fact we are better as a team than we are as individuals. Most teams (esp in the prem) rely on good individuals. When someone runs at our defence it is a simple test of quality between two individuals.

 

[Northamptonncfc]

It's mostly down to the defence this season and the awful luck we've had with injuries my first defence would consist of Tierney, Whitbread, Ayala and Naughton I don't think all four of them have ever been on the pitch together, it's one of those areas on the pitch where you need some familiarity with those playing around you, if you commit for a challenge you need to know that player beside you has your back if your beaten.

I'd also say and this is not meant as a dig at Bradley Johnson but if we had a holding midfielder with a bit more pace then perhaps we'd have someone to run across and harass their wide men on counter attacks which allows the defence get's it's shape back. To me it's one of the most important foundations to a team usually which separate a great from an average team.