Ratings v Burnley

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,773]

Krul 6.0: Wasn't to blame for either of the goals but a harsh critic would point out that he was beaten at the near post for both of them. Made some saves but nothing spectacular, so with nothing particularly positive or negative of note, he gets a bang average six.

Byram 5.0: He had a brilliant game last week against Sterling, but struggled today against Burnley. The second goal came down his flank and he never really seemed comfortable in defence or threatening going forward.

Amadou 5.0: A bit of a nightmare today after the Man City game, but as a centre back his game is more suited to playing against a quicker side who keep the ball on the ground as opposed to a physical, long ball side on a blustery day in a northern backwater. He couldn't deal with the physicality of Burnley's front two and, without having seen a full replay of the second goal, was out of position. Got caught out by a long ball in the second half and could've been given a second yellow for the resulting foul on another day, and also rode his luck with another late tackle five minutes from the end. Was probably needed in midfield where he's better suited.

Godfrey 5.5: Struggled initially and was at fault for the second goal: he had Wood under control when the ball came in but then lost him. He did grow into the game and looked more composed than Amadou, but was maybe a touch fortunate to not give away a penalty in the second half.

Lewis 5.5: Like the others, seemed a bit overawed by Burnley's physical presence early on, but threatened a few times when he got forward. Wasn't his best game but he put up more of a fight as the game wore on.

Tettey N/A

McLean 5.0: I'm finding it hard to find anything to say about his performance, which shows how little impact he had. Didn't really do much with or without the ball; the game seemed to pass him by. 

Buendia 5.5: Arguably the brightest of our forward players, but his creativity and threat tailed off as he grew frustrated. Looked the most likely to unlock the Burnley defence in the first half with some nice touches but ineffective as the game wore on.

Stiepermann 5.0: Against a physical team, you would've hoped that he'd use his size to counter them, but he didn't do it. Like the others, he looked brighter in the second half but offered little in the second.

Cantwell 5.5: Was always working hard and trying to get involved, but wasn't able to use the limited space to find a killer ball.

Pukki 5.0: Huge chance early in the game when he capitalised on a heavy touch from Tarkowski, but couldn't take it. Had that gone in, it may well have been a different game. Was unable to have any real impact in the game.

Subs:

Leitner 6.5: Probably our best player today. We settled down a bit more once he came on and his passing was generally very crisp, and he was unlucky with the strike that hit the post. Controlled the tempo of the game from a Norwich pint of view.

Drmic N/A

Roberts N/A

[Aggy 747]

I’ve only seen the goals on the sky sports highlights so can’t comment on these generally, but I think it would be a very very harsh critic who “points out Krul was beaten at the front post for both of them.” That would imply open play, where he should be covering the front post and a shot from wide squeezes in somehow between his body and the post. The first though is from a corner (where keepers hardly ever cover their front post as it’s much more sensible for them to be central and to have a man on the front post), and the second he isn’t beaten at the front post, it’s a cross and Wood’s connection fairly central is too close to/quick for him (and goes straight above Krul’s head rather than being beaten at the front post).

From the reports I’ve heard though the ratings sound about right.

[lake district canary 4,530]

Wood was clever and at corners started at the far post where Lewis was marking him, then ran along the goal line to get to the near post where he had a clear header. He did it at pretty much every corner and if we just had a put a player on both posts, he would not haver scored.

[Aggy 747]

I’d have to look at it again, but I’m not convinced anyone was marking Wood from the corner he scored from at any point. Agreed if someone is on the front post, no goal.

Edited September 21, 2019 by Aggy