Ricardo's report v Brentford

[ricardo 7,846]

Mild and damp in Norwich tonight so no need for the thermals. We strolled up wondering if the last home match was a signal that the tide had turned but I have to say that we both agreed that it was a hope rather than an expectation.City started in a rather lethargic manner and were almost brought up short in the 2nd minute when a sweeping Bee''s move caused indecision in the home box. A hurried clearance only returned the ball to the opposition and a 25 yarder looked goal bound until bouncing to safety off Gunn''s left hand post. Having recovered from that early let off City began to come forward but the build up was slow and danger easily smothered. Watkins was putting in plenty of effort but with all the ball control of a brick wall he couldn''t buy a pass with a pocket full of Bitcoins. By the twenty minute mark there had been lots of intricate play in midfield but nothing that resembled a chance or even a speculative shot. Olliviera and Pritchard almost forced a mistake out of the Brentford defence but when the ball went wide Pinto had frustratingly strayed into an offside position.I judged it time to nip out for a pee and almost missed a Brentford goal. I didn''t see it but apparently a break down the right ended with a far post cross and Gunn had to leap to his left to push away a header. The crowd got really quiet after this as Brentford pressed high and City were now often taking a dozen passes to reach the halfway line.It finally triggered a City response when a corner was won on the right and when the ball was pulled back to the edge of the area, a bouncing shot looked on target and from my end there seemed to be an almighty scramble with a header and a shot cleared from very near the line. Then Oliviera kept the pressure on and was foiled by the keeper at the near post before finally a cross came in from the right that Klose glanced inches wide of the post.That turned out to be our best and only chance of the first half and there is no denying that Brentford had looked the more likely to score as indeed they did ten minutes before the break. The visitors swept up field with pace and precision and as the City defence slipped and slithered, Vibe was on hand to shoot them into a deserved lead.It got worse five minutes later when City were wide open again through the middle and the same player held off two defenders to curl the ball round Gunn. Dear oh dear, its becoming too predictable to even get very much depressed by it and inevitably there was a good round of booing at the whistle.Hanley, who had taken a knock in the build up to the first goal didn''t make a reappearance and Zimmerman took his place. As expected there was a decent response from the players as play resumed with a Pritchard cross shot going wide and an Oliviera shot miles over. There was plenty of effort but attacks invariably floundered on the edge of the  Brentford area as Madders and Pritchard tried to worm a way through.Oliviera managed a couple of headers on target from decent build up but neither really tested the keeper. Intricate play either broke down on the eighteen yard line else somebody drifted offside. The only occassion it worked was when Klose put Vrancic in only for his chip to come back off the bar and he may well have been offside anyway. The Brentford defence bent a few times but never broke and it was Gunn who saw the most action with one particularly good stop from a Canos shot.Murphy and Lewis came on in a last desperate throw of the dice but it didn''t look like working until in the final minute Zimmerman made a run on the right and when a ball came across, Oliviera had time to control and rap a consolation goal into the corner of the net. In the few minutes added there was a huff and a puff but nothing that remotely looked like being an equaliser.So yet another home defeat in what must be the worst home record in any opening half of the season in living memory. You look at this team on paper and wonder at the ineptitude that has made them look so thoroughly second best to some of the most mediocre teams in this division.I still think we are too good to go down but week by week I become less certain.There was laughter when the gate was announced at almost 27k and a lot of booing at the final whistle.

[Faded Jaded Semi Plastic SOB 1,201]

Spot on Ricardo, made the same comment about Watkins, "Cannot trap a ball, cannot pass, apart from that he is alright"......

[Creative Midfielder 2,189]

Excellent report as usual - much of it was depressingly familiar but what worried me the most was that some of our most talented players were the most disappointing. Thought Ivo had an unusually poor game, Nelson yet another very poor game and, even Maddison and Pritchard despite putting in the effort seemed to take the wrong option nearly every time they looked like creating something - they both have great talent but I think they also showed tonight how far off the finished article they are. Farke may be right about Madison - he looked like a youngster who desparately needs a rest, which rather begs the question why we didn''t see Tettey or Trybull.

[Capt. Pants 4,798]

There was booing. There was abuse hurled at players. We want Delia out chants. Sack the Board. We Should Have Gone Shopping chant. Apart from that it was full of Christmas spirit.Dire, absolutely dire.

[ron obvious 1,671]

Many thanks again ricardo.

Too depressed to add much. Not helped by my burgeoning yuletide cold. Doh.

[ricardo 7,846]

[quote user="ron obvious"]Many thanks again ricardo.

Too depressed to add much. Not helped by my burgeoning yuletide cold. Doh.[/quote]Best wishes for a recovery Ron, I''ve managed to dodge it so far but the sciatica was agony on the stroll (limp) home.Mrs Ricardo gave me a rub with the Bio-Freeze[:D]

[Van wink 2,994]

“Mrs Ricardo gave me a rub with the Bio-FreezeBig Smile [:D]”

I trust that helped stiffen you up 😉

[ricardo 7,846]

[quote user="Van wink"]“Mrs Ricardo gave me a rub with the Bio-FreezeBig Smile [:D]”

I trust that helped stiffen you up 😉[/quote]Healing hands mate[Y][:D][;)]

[Sussexyellow 55]

Thanks for the report as ever, always look for them when I miss a game. Does not sound like I missed much.

Too good to go down - I am less convinced. The slide is beginning to look irreversible without managerial change and I do not see that happening. As I said on another thread we can not afford to replace Farke nor can we afford not to. A conundrum that the board will tackle by following the do nothing option.

[Guest]

An previously arranged meeting meant I couldn''t watch the game on Ifollow.

Thanks for enlightening us Ricardo. Is Sciatica an Italian Striker we are after?

I agree that we are too good to go down or unlikely to is now not so relevant or certain.

Remember 1995 when we were sixth at Xmas? I recall Vinnie Jones predicting we would go down and he was right.

And there is a familiar ring to this season now. Nobody getting upset within the club, that we know of anyway, and apathy from supporters that bad results with poor football (and no change in the style that sees us losing 7 out of 10) is just the way it is, leads me to worry that the slide is gaining momentum.

Two teams apparently worse off than us coming up. If there is no improvement, real improvement that signals progress is being made or lessons learnt, then I really will be worried.

[ricardo 7,846]

SussexThey are waiting and hoping.In my experience you can sometimes wait a very long time for a turning point and there was no sign of one last night. People keep talking about a long term plan but from what I''ve seen on the pitch this season I cannot discern a plan. Virtually every game takes the same pattern, fiddle about for half the opening period, go behind and then spend the rest of the game flattering to deceive.It''s been obvious for months now that we are watching a lower mid table team who really ought to get enough points to be safe but might not.

[......and Smith must score. 1,526]

Thanks for the report Ricardo. Informative as always.Got caught up in the aftermath of that fatal A47 crash so a long old drive to end up watching that dross. We often say we lose the will to live watching Norwich but some poor soul won''t be seeing Cristmas which gives it all a bit of perspective.I''m really at a loss to see where we go from here....

[Diane 500]

Doubt that anyone can defend that performance, it can only get better can''t it??

[ricardo 7,846]

Diane

Experience tells us that it could easily get a lot worse.

We both know that waiting for a turning point can sometimes take years.

Yes it will eventually get better and good times will return. What concerns me that if it takes as long as some of the other dark periods, I might not be here to witness it.

[AJ 1,330]

Ricardo, as always, thanks for a brilliant report on last nights unfortunate dross!

Defend? Norwich? Obviously not on last nights showing. Two goals from identical moves where a player was left unmarked. Ricardo, you description of "held off two defenders" is perhaps giving Pinto and Hanley far too much credit, he simply ghosted between them without any fuss. Defensively, probably the worst 10 minutes I have ever seen! Conceding two identical goals at this level boggles the mind.

I hope you are wrong Ricardo, but it does kind of feel like a long period of mediocrity in the Championship is what the future is going to look like for quite a while.

[Badger 2,743]

Thanks Ricardo. I''ve been going for 50 years now and I cannot remember a worse run of home form in any division we''ve been in. I''m deeply suspicious of simple solutions because if things were simple everybody would get promoted, but I can''t remember a time when we got less return from our best players.I don''t know how you see it, but we have had some bad times - most recently under Roeder - but imo, our squad today is stronger (on paper) than it was on those occasions. Can you think of a time when we have underperformed so badly?

[ricardo 7,846]

No Badger

Hence my comment about a special kind of ineptitude that can make what on paper is a decent side look so ordinary even against very moderate opposition.

[Van wink 2,994]

They may have been moderate opposition but must surely have been outstanding at playing the “ the off side” trap 😀

[ricardo 7,846]

Certainly better than we were at combating it.

[SwindonCanary 457]

With the atmosphere in the ground yesterday, I hate to see it at Millwall if we lose to Burton & Brum !        

[Bill 1,788]

Here''s an ideaPlay football.I know that''s unfashionable on here among the mumbo jumbo merchants who will have that football has ''changed''. It has not.So there is no need to ''press, iron or even crush.Mark tighter, and close down quicker. Time and time again our players are caught in no man''s land, with the opposition having space to move and pass. We are not moving off the ball enough so when we do have possession all we do is bounce it back and forth like a pin ball, as if the number of passes has some meaning.When you have the ball attack, not keep passing sideways, backwards simply to keep possession. All that does is allow the opposition to ''funnel'' back and crowd their penalty box. Forcing us t tip tap around looking for an opening.Be prepared to lose the ball in their third, take risks but attack direct. Despite what www.saddo.com will tell you there are no extra points for ''artistic impression''. You either score or you don''t.We are not, they are