Ricardo's report v Reading

[ricardo 7,345]

I've been nervy all day again and it didn't help when I arrived at the swimming pool and some amateur combo were attempting to blast out "Yellow Submarine". I didn't know whether to take it as an omen or not but it definitely struck the wrong note🎷🎵

The crowd were in good voice as you would expect and right from the off the boys were swinging the ball about with a bit of style. Reading were sitting back with everyone behind the ball and consequently all the early possession was with the home side. When the first chance fell, Pukki couldn't quite get enough on cross from the right after good work by Cantwell and Aarons. The visitors looked a much tighter outfit than QPR and despite having hardly any ball they managed to restrict the Canaries to very little in the opening stages. 

Hernandez finally tested Martinez with a typical run inside and a low shot to the near post which the Reading keeper did well to push for a corner. A breakthrough looked like coming at any time but the overworked Reading defence stuck manfully to the task as frustratingly half chances came and went. Hernandez then found spce near the penalty spot when Pukki cut the ball back but he didn't get ptoper contact and Martinez was able to spring to his right and make the save.

As we came up to the half hour mark a loose pass from Stiepermann allowed the visitors space down the left and a quick ball in found Meite  running onto it and hitting a first time effort from about six yards that flew past Krul before he could move. It was a typical bit of smash and grab and for the first time I began to think we might be in for one of those nights.

For the remainder of the half City surged forward with an expectant crowd roaring them on but nothing would fall our way. Stiepermann tried to volley a bouncing ball from the edge of the area but again Martinez was equal to it. Then Pukki got on the end of a centre fizzed in hard and low from the right but somehow the ball ended up in the side netting. Cantwell then had a go at a rebounding ball as a corner was scrambled away but once more the ball bobbled a foot over the bar. Reading were defending for their lives as we came up to half time and City oh so nearly drew level. Pukki got a foot on Aarons cross but not quite enough as the ball sailed a foot wide of the far post with the keeper beaten.

It was a bit of a sombre half time as we discussed possible changes. I thought Cantwell had done o.k. but it was impossible not to say that we weren't missing Emi. In any event a quick slurp of Jamesons put me back in fighting mode as the crowd got back in full song when the boys ran out.

It was all one way traffic from the off with City trying to work openings down either flank. Trybull hammered in a thirty yarder that appeared to clip the outside of the post but a corner was given and the pressure ended with Aarons slamming one just wide of the other post. Then it really should have been all square as a ball came in from Lewis which Pukki powerfully headed goalwards only for Martinez to react quickly and turn it over the bar.

There was a rare burst down the left form Reading and it was Miete again who this time thankfully pulled his effort wide. City were committing more and more men forward and Zimmerman had to be at his best a couple of times to prevent breaks going clear. Time began to tick away very quickly and Farke reacted just before seventy minutes by swapping Cantwell for Rhodes. City were now virtually camped outside the Reading area as corners were scrambled clear and shots were blocked. Hernandez almost caught Martinez out with a low shot but it went the wrong side of the post and yet another corner came to nothing. Now Farke moved again and Vrancic came on for Lewis with under ten to play.

As we moved into the last five minutes I for one would have certainly taken a point and when Godfrey powerted forward onto the end of a return pass before rocketing a shot into the top corner, I doubt if I was alone in feeling a surge of relief. The crowd were going insane as City set about getting another and there was total mayhem in our stand when two minutes later Zimmerman's header arrowed inside Martinez's right post. It has been a long time since I've heard Carrow Road that loud and now surely the points were ours.

Klose came on for Pukki as we moved into six minutes added and City looked well in control. Rhodes might have aced it a couple of minutes later but somehow headed straight at the keeper from point blank range. As we entered the last knockings Reading came forward down the right and unaccountably a player was left unmarked to lift a ball from about twenty yards past eberyone and into the corner for an unlikely equakliser. Oh dear.

Dreadfully disappointing at the time but on sober reflection after the ride home, I would certainly have taken that point with five minutes to go. Over the last couple of games we've still gained a point on Leeds and held the gap to Sheff Utd. Five to go and still more than a couple of games clear, a bit unfortunate tonight but we look well capable of doing this IMO. The Yellow Submarine was depth charged but it never looked like sinking.

Zimbo my MOM. Absolutely superb tonight.

 

Edited April 10, 2019 by ricardo

[Van wink 2,994]

"Over the last couple of games we've still gained a point on Leeds and held the gap to Sheff Utd"

Yep thats the bottom line, two more games ticked off and a further improvement in our position.

Thanks for the report, where do you hide the Jamesons?

[ricardo 7,345]

5 minutes ago, Van wink said:

"Over the last couple of games we've still gained a point on Leeds and held the gap to Sheff Utd"

Yep thats the bottom line, two more games ticked off and a further improvement in our position.

Thanks for the report, where do you hide the Jamesons?

😋

[Branston Pickle 3,635]

Great report as usual - ultimately, you can’t win them all and a point keeps us 2+ games from everyone which is ok by me.

The main annoyance has to be that the Reading time-wasting ended up saving them a point, but such is life.

[norfolkbroadslim 223]

Agree about Zimbo MOTM

[westcoastcanary 173]

MOM? Stiepermann, by some distance. Buendia's absence meant more rested on Marco's shoulders and the big man put in a great performance. 

People will no doubt point to his giving the ball away leading to the first Reading goal. But the real error was the complete absence of defensive cover guarding against just such a loss of possession when trying to penetrate a packed defence. DF told us what sort of tactics we were going to face; did he forget to tell the team?  

[splendidrush 700]

19 minutes ago, westcoastcanary said:

MOM? Stiepermann, by some distance. Buendia's absence meant more rested on Marco's shoulders and the big man put in a great performance. 

 

You're gonna clash with canarydan on this one 😬

[Making Plans 936]

If a player makes 2 basic mistakes that both result in the opposition scoring I don't see how he could even be considered for MOTM

[sgncfc 1,221]

1 hour ago, splendidrush said:

You're gonna clash with canarydan on this one 😬

And everybody else who watched the game.....Stieperman was nowhere near MOM

[vlad666 203]

I thought steiperman was very poor. He played with such a relaxed attitude and held on to the ball far too long on occasions. He’s allowed a poor game as he’s been excellent lately. On a side note that’s the poorest I’ve seen Lewis play. Never seen him misplace so many passes. 

[splendidrush 700]

8 minutes ago, sgncfc said:

And everybody else who watched the game.....Stieperman was nowhere near MOM

.... nor was he solely to blame for us not winning.... though you wouldn't know it.

[Alfie54 76]

4 minutes ago, vlad666 said:

I thought steiperman was very poor. He played with such a relaxed attitude and held on to the ball far too long on occasions. He’s allowed a poor game as he’s been excellent lately. On a side note that’s the poorest I’ve seen Lewis play. Never seen him misplace so many passes. 

Completely agree on both players

[sonyc 5,491]

3 minutes ago, Alfie54 said:

Completely agree on both players

And me too. Superb as both have been all season they were not at their best last night. Onel too and Pukki uncharacteristically less sharp. They are 'allowed' to of course.

Having watched Marco closely for quite some time, he does unusual, quite brilliant and then frustrating things all in one game. He is a strange player really and a conundrum. With my more critical eyes, I never feel I can rely on him fully in possession. Yet in the context of this great season, he has certainly been a plus.

[ricardo 7,345]

To be honest it was one of those false results that lower teams often pick up towards the end of a season. I was reminded of our  2-2 draw at Wolves last season.

We were far superior and they had something to hold onto after the breakaway goal. Six or seven more points will be enough.

[Peanuts 150]

It felt like one of those nights where nothing was going to go for us. Taking the positives, I'm not sure how many teams would have kept going and got not one but two goals in the last few minutes and that's been a trademark of this team all season. Unfortunately so has switching off at the back and gifting the opposition a goal.

As to Stiepermann holding onto the ball too long, he's been doing that all season it's just not normally an issue because he contributes so much else. He also does stuff like the goal against Hull where I was shouting at him to pass it and about to curse him for once again holding onto the ball too long and then he goes and sticks it in the net!

[Drazen Muzinic 1,444]

This match reminded me of a couple of games in 14/15 at home versus Charlton and Wigan. We battered them but lost both 0-1. Both opponents were woeful and went down at the end of the season I think.

 

It happens. We got a point. Still a gap to third and three more wins should be the focus now.

[Drazen Muzinic 1,444]

1 hour ago, Alfie54 said:

Completely agree on both players

Said this on another thread but Lewis was missing Hernandez down the left - he was roaming last night so Jamal sometimes had no forward outlet.

[Badger 2,405]

Thanks Ricardo

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

Spot on as usual Ricardo.

Do you have a hip flask? I take one to golf. I put Spiced Rum in mine.

I thought Zimmermann and Godfrey were good so agree with MOTM. Those boys up front for Reading had pace and with us pushing forward from full back so much, they used the space wisely. I suppose its ironic that one of them might not have been playing if Oliveira was. Our CB's get stick at times but they have to concentrate all the time with Max and Jamal playing like wingers.

Cantwell tried his best and he came in for some niggly tackles at times because of his size. But I think DF might have to change the system slightly and give Vrancic a role on Sunday.

I am sorry but I can't see how Westie gives it to Stiepermann. His contribution was less than normal but I don't think he came to terms that he wasn't getting the ball as often as he would from Buendia. No-ones fault but Buendia for that. I don't blame him for the mistakes. He was trying to play the ball for the first and it didn't come off. C'est la vie.

I thought the crowd sounded tremendous and I wonder why they can't be like that more often. But it is a good sign when the crowd gets behind a team that is losing.

The fans at Carrow Road with two games to go have been served up with 78 goals. I know we wish there weren't so many against but boy you have had your moneys worth and more this season. Can we get to 100 goals and 100 points? Who would have thought?

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

Older guys may remember the 1971-72 season when with a couple of home games to go we had Brizzle at home and were cruising 2-0 when they scored two late goals to pull us back. But none of us thought that was the end of it. We were on a high and were convinced. And we were noisy.

We had three of our last four games away but thanks to Duncs goals we prevailed.

The same will happen now. We will prevail. We are good. We are very good. We are the best.

[ROBFLECK 132]

Agree with MoM, Zimmermann was impressive...Vrancic came on and showed what we needed... I still don't get why he wasn't allowed to start...

[Yellow Fever 3,747]

I would agree it's just one of those games where the result didn't reflect the overall game. Dare I suggest once or twice even this season we've been the beneficiary of a late goal or two....... and then there was the floodlight saga . Leeds very recently had a similar experience!

We were off colour a bit in several places - I wanted Vrancic or Leitner back - these plus Buendi have been the beating heart of our play. We were missing that playmaker with an eye for a pass. The fact that our goals came from the centre backs tends to illuminate that fact. 

No complaints about Todd but I think everybody including Farke didn't (with hind-sight) make the best decisions yesterday. It happens but what do I know. Let's put it right against Wigan - no harm done anyway.

[Trevor Hockey's Beard 526]

Credit should be given to Reading for being good at stopping us being good. When we had the ball someone at the back was constantly shouting "Up, up, up" to play a high line, and without Emi there wasn't the same capacity to thread the ball through to a runner to beat their offside plan.

Reading worked really hard at closing and pressing - looking like us at times - and they didn't leave a gap between defence and midfield so there wasn't the space for Stieperman to do his thing. 

In the first half Onel was playing alongside Timmu, which reduced our threat down the left, while they gave us space down the right, probably feeling that Todd was less of a threat.

Reading weren't pretty, but they had a game-plan and it worked. They were also fit - we looked tired at times.

I felt that McLean was poor - how he got MoM at the game I do not know. I kept hoping for him to be subbed with Mario or Moritz; we certainly needed someone with a bit more creativity.

[westcoastcanary 173]

8 hours ago, keelansgrandad said:

I am sorry but I can't see how Westie gives it to Stiepermann.

Well, let's think about this. There was no Buendia, on whom so much of our creativity is said to depend. And yet our cumulative xG for the match was 2.1, which is actually our average xG over the last 10 games, in 9 of which Emi has played. Now you tell me, if Marco had a poor game, how come our chance creation was little different from when Emi plays? And bear in mind, according to comments on here and other threads, Cantwell "tried his best" but his best was so poor he should be replaced by Vrancic on Sunday, neither Onel nor Pukki was up to their usual standard, Jamal couldn't get a ball into the box for peanuts, and McLean getting the official MOM is a mystery. That's six of the eleven on the field putting in sub-standard performances! I guess we should be thankful that in Krul, Godfrey, Zimmermann, Trybull and Aarons we had five players of such creativity in the final third that our xG was as high as it averges when Emi is playing.  (Head shaking emoticon)

[First Wazzock 902]

I thought we looked tired and nothing seemed to come off for us - lots of huffing and puffing but very little blowing the house down.

FWIW my MOM was Trybull he was everywhere!

 

[Sussexyellow 55]

8 hours ago, keelansgrandad said:

Older guys may remember the 1971-72 season when with a couple of home games to go we had Brizzle at home and were cruising 2-0 when they scored two late goals to pull us back. But none of us thought that was the end of it. We were on a high and were convinced. And we were noisy.

We had three of our last four games away but thanks to Duncs goals we prevailed.

The same will happen now. We will prevail. We are good. We are very good. We are the best.

KG I walked out of Carrow Rd last night with deja vu as to how I felt that night against Bristol City. I would have hoped nearly half a century on that it hurt less and as Daniel would say I was more calmed down, well I can say it hurt only marginally less.

But now I can reflect that it did work out just fine in 72, and my logical parts recognise that we have got through another round of games with no damage but that said to lose 2 points on their last attack still hurts.

But that is why we love NCFC, we never signed up for an easy ride.

OTBC

[westcoastcanary 173]

On 11/04/2019 at 09:42, sgncfc said:

And everybody else who watched the game.....Stieperman was nowhere near MOM

For your information sgnfc, just in case you think I didn't "watch" the game, I did, every minute of it. And among the others watching were the professional observers who compile the Opta data used by, among others, whoscored.com. And if you care to look at whoscored.com's ratings for the match, well, well, surprise, surprise, Marco has the highest score and is their MOM too! Marco scores just a little above the official match MOM McLean, the reason being that, while Marco didn't get the highest scores on any of the metrics used other than the number of dribbles made, he scored consistently high on all of them and his cumulative contribution to the game measured by those metrics was higher than any other player on the field. 

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

Well, let's think about this. There was no Buendia, on whom so much of our creativity is said to depend. And yet our cumulative xG for the match was 2.1, which is actually our average xG over the last 10 games, in 9 of which Emi has played.

Each to their own but I am not a fan of stats other than the score and the league table. I don't rely on anything other than my own eyes, thoughts and opinion but can be persuaded by others to change my mind.

It seems to me that those of you who rely on stats are less of an mind to be persuaded otherwise.

[westcoastcanary 173]

4 hours ago, keelansgrandad said:

Well, let's think about this. There was no Buendia, on whom so much of our creativity is said to depend. And yet our cumulative xG for the match was 2.1, which is actually our average xG over the last 10 games, in 9 of which Emi has played.

Each to their own but I am not a fan of stats other than the score and the league table. I don't rely on anything other than my own eyes, thoughts and opinion but can be persuaded by others to change my mind.

It seems to me that those of you who rely on stats are less of an mind to be persuaded otherwise.

Speaking for myself KG, I don't "rely on" stats. I too use my "eyes, thought and opinion" and take note of the opinions of others. Where I find I differ from many posters is that I, like you, don't regard my eyes, thought and opinion" as the final arbiter. What I try to do is reach a "verdict" which makes sense in terms of ALL the data available to me, whether that be provided by my own eyes, media reports, stats, or the opinions of those whose opinion experience tells me I can trust. With regard to your final comment, I would be more inclined to be persuaded if those putting forward a different view gave any hint at all that it is possible to be at Carrow Road and NOT have a good understanding of what happened on the pitch!

Several posters have simply dismissed Stiepermann's performance against Reading as so poor that it was ludicrous for me to suggest he might actually have been MOM. No reasons given, just what they thought from the use of their "eyes, thought and opinion". So I posted about the xG for the match, and whoscored.com's ratings, simply to see if any of those who wrote Marco off as poor could be persuaded to reconsider. Has anyone reconsidered? No! All perfectly happy to ignore counter-evidence or the opinions of others, totally secure in the absolute certainty derived from their own "watching"!