hogesar 9,503 Posted January 19, 2020 I think this "worst performance of the season" stuff is way out of line with reality. We've simply been a bit lucky as fans with how well we have played in games this season, but we are a team BOTTOM of the league. Teams in our position at this point of the season in an incredibly must win game against a relegation rival would usually result in direct balls, midfield scraps and 50/50 possession. Instead we still created lots of really good chances with good flowing moves, controlled the game throughout with over 65% of the ball and 16 shots on goal. Let's not get complacent, that is very good for any team in the bottom 3 in reality. I dont deny we have played better and got nothing from games but as we've been a bit spoilt with the level of football we shouldnt forget that performance yesterday in the circumstances was still good. 12 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Peanuts 150 Posted January 19, 2020 It was one of those games where it felt pretty dismal watching from the stands but in the cold light of day the stats showed we dominated the game with more possession, more chances, higher xG etc. not to mention three points and a clean sheet, so difficult to complain too much. I thought Bournemouth were very well organised defensively and seemed happy to park the bus and let us play in front of them leading to a lot of frustrating side to side, back to the keeper stuff from us. This only got worse once they were down to ten men. Things opened up a bit when it was 10 v 10 and we hit the panic button a few times dropping deeper and deeper, but other than Wilson missing the ball from 6 yards I don't remember them really looking like scoring. As you say we've had plenty of games this season where we've played lovely football and lost so maybe it was about time we managed a scrappy one nil win. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ron obvious 1,473 Posted January 19, 2020 (edited) Agree with that, but I think everyone's (players & supporters) so nervous that we can't think straight. I now expect us to concede a goal every time the ball's near our penalty area & opposition keepers to play out of their skins against us, & if we do score for the goal to be overturned by VAR. We're drinking in the last chance saloon. It's all getting a bit much for a man of my advancing years. Will I stop watching? Hell no!  Edited January 19, 2020 by ron obvious Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kenny Foggo 1,105 Posted January 19, 2020 Think they dragged us down to their level to be honest. It was yet another game where we just could not convert really good chances.. poor game but 3 points...move on... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wcorkcanary 4,315 Posted January 19, 2020 2 minutes ago, ron obvious said:  Will I stop watching? Hell no! Now I'm too old to play, its what keeps me alive, can't say I wasnt anxious, the relief at final whistle was my mental reward for the damage done to my nervous system in the previous half hour. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cantiaci Canary 556 Posted January 19, 2020 Relegation. Dog. Fight. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Van wink 2,994 Posted January 19, 2020 Pretty good first half, Emi and Todd were a joy to watch, some great individual skills and very good link up work from Dudi. Lots of individual performances to enjoy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Capt. Pants 4,092 Posted January 19, 2020 We're as good as down. Just enjoy the games for what they and enjoy seeing our young players while you can. No need to stress over it now the damage was done long ago. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nono 19 Posted January 19, 2020 Nerves. Despite what some on here seem to think, the players are not infallible machines. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nono 19 Posted January 19, 2020 17 minutes ago, Capt. Pants said: We're as good as down. Just enjoy the games for what they and enjoy seeing our young players while you can. No need to stress over it now the damage was done long ago. My view is that opinion is not one of a true supporter. A draw a spurs, a win at Burnley, and results going our way, you still gonna be so flippin negative? We don't give up until we are down surely? 4 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rock bus 836 Posted January 19, 2020 it must have been very different actually at the game because from just watching match of the day it looked like we played really well! Lots of good passing, plenty of chances and all the possession. Also worth noting that our record in last 5 (LDDLW) isn’t that bad compared to many other teams and actually better  than Leicester. It’s a big IF but if VAR hadn’t robbed us of the second goal against Spurs we might all be feeling a lot more positive. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Van wink 2,994 Posted January 19, 2020 1 minute ago, rock bus said: it must have been very different actually at the game because from just watching match of the day it looked like we played really well! Lots of good passing, plenty of chances and all the possession. Also worth noting that our record in last 5 (LDDLW) isn’t that bad compared to many other teams and actually better  than Leicester. It’s a big IF but if VAR hadn’t robbed us of the second goal against Spurs we might all be feeling a lot more positive. There were some very good passages of play, unfortunately little end product so I suspect that is where most are coming from. I do agree though that we haven’t been playing too badly, Man U aside, we are  a pretty decent team and quite capable of a few results, the problem is that it needs three other teams to go down the pan at the same time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hardhouse44 261 Posted January 19, 2020 I thought we played alright. Thats the thing you need to win ugly when the occasion calls for it. I believe Godfrey is only the second player sent off under Farke in the last 2 seasons. And the first this season Now call me old fashioned but that isn’t a sign of a team getting stuck in. I am not advocating reckless challenges but firstly many of the sides who get out of trouble have a slight nasty side to them and many of the great sides from to past did. secondly pretty tippy tappy football nice as it is has us rooted firmly to the bottom of this league. I thought we showed a bit of bite yesterday and I for one want to see a whole lot more. i really don’t think it will detract from the nice stuff we do on the ball. What it will do is fire up the crowd and the players alike.  OTBC  Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lake district canary 4,519 Posted January 19, 2020 28 minutes ago, rock bus said: it must have been very different actually at the game because from just watching match of the day it looked like we played really well! Lots of good passing, plenty of chances and all the possession. I wasn't at the match watched it all online and it was the kind of game where we looked in total control, easy on the eye and full of good interplay and passing from start to finish. We looked a bit nervous in the second half though, the play out from the back was less secure and less confident, but still should have won the game more easily. The sending off of Godfrey just made it more nervy. But we won and that was the main thing. Â Â Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Indy 3,232 Posted January 19, 2020 1 hour ago, Capt. Pants said: We're as good as down. Just enjoy the games for what they and enjoy seeing our young players while you can. No need to stress over it now the damage was done long ago. As much as I agree, but we could beat or pick up a point against  a very poor form Spurs, then some people on here will get very excited again 😉 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rolf Harris 30 Posted January 19, 2020 Well people were screaming to win dirty and we have. There you go. Bet people would have been happy to concede to 1-1. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CDMullins 435 Posted January 19, 2020 (edited) We've had some games recently where we have been the better team, looked comfortable and been in front against teams we wouldnt be expected to beat. Arsenal, Spurs, Palace spring to mind, games where you'd take a point before and although we played well, lead and ended with only a point it didnt seem too dissapointing. Yesterday was opposite, performance, domination, stats didnt count, we just needed 3 points. We dragged it out, grinded it out and scraped 3 points, what is frustrating is that it took a collosal error from one of their defenders to win us the game. Other than the Pukki chance cant recall any more clear cut opportunites. Actually nice to see us win ugly after drawing/losing pretty for so long, Edited January 19, 2020 by CDMullins Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dr Greenthumb 742 Posted January 19, 2020 2 hours ago, hogesar said: I think this "worst performance of the season" stuff is way out of line with reality. We've simply been a bit lucky as fans with how well we have played in games this season, but we are a team BOTTOM of the league. Teams in our position at this point of the season in an incredibly must win game against a relegation rival would usually result in direct balls, midfield scraps and 50/50 possession. Instead we still created lots of really good chances with good flowing moves, controlled the game throughout with over 65% of the ball and 16 shots on goal. Let's not get complacent, that is very good for any team in the bottom 3 in reality. I dont deny we have played better and got nothing from games but as we've been a bit spoilt with the level of football we shouldnt forget that performance yesterday in the circumstances was still good. We’ve played better and lost, I’d rather see us grind it out, given how this season has gone Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Alex Moss 2,165 Posted January 19, 2020 25 minutes ago, Indy said: As much as I agree, but we could beat or pick up a point against  a very poor form Spurs, then some people on here will get very excited again 😉 And if that happens I will laugh, Indy. People like Lakey getting torn apart over their positivity, for not being ‘realistic’ (as if that matters when following your team!), as if he should have no right to feel that way towards the team he backs to the hilt, despite only being 8 points from safety when others are falling apart and have to come to Carrow Rd too. A win at Spurs and other results going our way will make them start to question their ‘realism’, just you wait... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GenerationA47 737 Posted January 19, 2020 50 minutes ago, Van wink said: There were some very good passages of play, unfortunately little end product so I suspect that is where most are coming from. Makes sense if you’re there in person, VW, and will be frustrating. However- what do we really expect now? I’d say in the wider context, that pattern is 100% predictable against a league full of teams all of whom, on paper, & as results have shown, have actually been a bit/lot better than us (VAR, injuries & bad luck aside) - at least tactically- for whatever reason. Particularly their defences. Even Bournemouth -apparently about our quality/consistency level at the moment- have done ok & stayed up for a number of seasons, so they obviously must have some nous about them.  They clearly aren’t great now but still managed damage limitation, using half the playbook of almost every PL manager vs Norwich - press us high, defend more solidly than us. Luckily as far as I can tell they failed to deploy the other half: killer set pieces and sheer physical power / height, so props to our game play for the former. The latter may be a reflection of their fabled more flowing footballing style, which axiomatically favours Norwich’s  strengths, since we’ve only been able to beat such teams (Plus Newcastle!)  Hoping that Duda is the missing link now, once he gets used to the pace/fitness demands... and also share people’s  enthusiasm for DF starting mixing things up with fresh legs after the 2/3 mark- as per your persuasive 60-minute thread. If we’re gonna go down, Let’s go out with a bang 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GenerationA47 737 Posted January 19, 2020 *correction to the above- Ok by definition Bmouth  didn’t defend more solidly than us! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chumino 57 Posted January 19, 2020 1 hour ago, rock bus said: it must have been very different actually at the game because from just watching match of the day it looked like we played really well! Lots of good passing, plenty of chances and all the possession. Also worth noting that our record in last 5 (LDDLW) isn’t that bad compared to many other teams and actually better  than Leicester. It’s a big IF but if VAR hadn’t robbed us of the second goal against Spurs we might all be feeling a lot more positive. They always pick out the best bits for TV or highlights. We ground out a result out of a scrappy poor performance which we'll all take of course. At least 3 good chances again that we failed to convert which would have killed the game off. We cannot afford to keep missing these-against better opposition we'd have lost again. We were playing a truly dire Bournemouth 10 men for much of the game. Ricardo guy had it spot on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vlad666 202 Posted January 19, 2020 I think we just got a bit comfortable in possession. Bournemouth didn’t press, especially when down to ten, and we seemed to settle in a slow tempo style. Felt to me like watching a pre season friendly. Also worth nothing there’s hardly and players with premiership experience prior to this season. Only krul, tettey and byram our of the starting line up with Hanley coming on as sub. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mason 47 1,351 Posted January 19, 2020 I think a lot of people are framing their expectations as 'a second half 11 v 10 against a struggling side and we're 1 up' which encourages you to forget a very efficient, domineering first half. It was actually quite a typical Norwich second half, the opposition stepped up and pressed harder and we kept dopily trying to pass through it. The key moment was Wilson's air shot 6 yards out- that's around the time we usually concede and it all falls apart, but today luck was with us. Simply put, we need to start influencing games from the bench. Sticking to 'our identity' is great and all but if you can guarantee we're just going to try 1 tactic no matter the situation then we get very easy to stop. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
East Rider 538 Posted January 19, 2020 The MOTD highlights did not in my opinion reflect the true nature of the game. We played okay at parts with Todd Cantwell, Emi and Duda looked very good throughout. However we were nervous and at times played within ourselves instead of going for the throat. We dug in and won but we will need to be more clinical against other teams or we have a long winter ahead Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
king canary 7,455 Posted January 19, 2020 It absolutely wasn't the worst performance of the season. The attacking play was generally pretty good, Duda fiitted in well and if Pukki could have finished it would habe been much more comfortable. However, we also rode our luck in the second half against a team down to 10 men, with zero confidence and the worst form in the league. So while I can see positives, I'm feeling loads better about our chances of staying up based on that performance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nutty nigel 7,352 Posted January 19, 2020 We were the better team from start to finish and thoroughly deserved to win according to Alan Shearer. Although I doubt he watched from start to finish I agree with his summary. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Graham Paddons Beard 2,352 Posted January 19, 2020 In the heat/ panic/ nervousness of the moment you expected Bournemouth to score at any time. In fact once you get home, take a deep breath, reflect and read the stats we were miles the better team. Even Shearer said so! I thought we were dreadful against Villa. Â One thing is for sure. Lose yesterday and we would have been 9 pts behind Bournemouth. This morning it is only three. This is the first six pointer we have won this season looking at the infamous mini relegation league. If we are to stay up, our other six wins have to largely come from the mini league participants. Â Â Â Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr Angry 1,512 Posted January 19, 2020 4 hours ago, hogesar said: I think this "worst performance of the season" stuff is way out of line with reality. I heard someone saying on the tram after the game last weekend that our performance against Man Utd was the worst since under Bryan Gunn! Some people don’t have any sense of perspective 🤪 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rock The Boat 1,290 Posted January 19, 2020 I think there is a statistic that we are now on a run of seven home games leading at half-time and this is the best run since 69/70 season. That indicates two things - that we are good enough to play at this level with the team we have and the way we play. But also suggests we are falling apart in the second half of games this season. The question why is that so? Could be fitness issues, change of tactics from the opposition, lack of concentration, nerves, poor game management or a combination of these. Seems to me, looking at games, is that we tend to drop off the intensity and energy for periods combined with a poor game management which invites pressure on us. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites