Pure Farkeball

[Petriix 2,834]

On the face of it, a 2-0 away win against a bottom-half side is nothing exceptional. We've won plenty of these types of game this season. Two goals is about right if you were going to guess before the start.

But that's not the whole story. Norwich had two thirds of the possession and made 720 passes at over 90% accuracy. A ruthless, efficient and professional dismantling of a fairly decent opposition.

We moved the ball around with precision and style. The movement off the ball created options and opportunities which were carved out repeatedly. Then, once the lead was secure, we toyed with them; passing it forwards then back, retaining possession and control. 

Without the ball, we were disciplined and compact. Difficult to break down. The only sniff of danger came from some rather generous refereeing and one decent corner. There were no lapses in concentration. No runs went untracked. The workrate was relentless.

It doesn't matter how good the individual players are, or how thorough the plan. The execution requires hard work and diligence. Farke demands this and the players are delivering. We looked like champions tonight.

[TIL 1010 4,722]

[Petriix 2,834]

14 minutes ago, TIL 1010 said:

Love it!

[Alfie54 76]

Thought we looked particularly sharp tonight, passing much crisper and quicker and looked in complete control, be good for Dowell’s confidence a goal and a good performance 

[horsefly 4,287]

47 minutes ago, TIL 1010 said:

And I bet Farke would still manage to make a nine-letter word out of the letters.

[nutty nigel 7,509]

[Bill 1,788]

17 minutes ago, horsefly said:

And I bet Farke would still manage to make a nine-letter word out of the letters.

if he had a bad stutter

[Thirsty Lizard 3,155]

1 hour ago, Petriix said:

 

But that's not the whole story. Norwich had two thirds of the possession and made 720 passes at over 90% accuracy. A ruthless, efficient and professional dismantling of a fairly decent opposition.

We moved the ball around with precision and style. The movement off the ball created options and opportunities which were carved out repeatedly. Then, once the lead was secure, we toyed with them; passing it forwards then back, retaining possession and control. 

Without the ball, we were disciplined and compact. Difficult to break down. The only sniff of danger came from some rather generous refereeing and one decent corner. There were no lapses in concentration. No runs went untracked. The workrate was relentless.

It doesn't matter how good the individual players are, or how thorough the plan. The execution requires hard work and diligence. Farke demands this and the players are delivering. We looked like champions tonight.

The pitch tonight looked decidedly better than most of the ones we've played on recently and I think that helped. 

[Petriix 2,834]

Just now, Thirsty Lizard said:

The pitch tonight looked decidedly better than most of the ones we've played on recently and I think that helped. 

It seemed a little patchy in places, but the ball did appear to be behaving itself. The conditions were generally more conducive to our passing game but I thought there was an edge of additional sharpness about how we used the ball tonight. Maybe there's a bit of positive feedback in that the better surface inspired more confidence which then made it easier still.

[Thirsty Lizard 3,155]

34 minutes ago, Petriix said:

It seemed a little patchy in places, but the ball did appear to be behaving itself. The conditions were generally more conducive to our passing game but I thought there was an edge of additional sharpness about how we used the ball tonight. Maybe there's a bit of positive feedback in that the better surface inspired more confidence which then made it easier still.

I dare you to start a thread saying that we're a sharper side with more edge to our play when Buendia  isn't in the team........... 😉 

I mean it's probably not a coincidence that our best performance of the season came when he was out of the side..................

 

[Chelm Canary 404]

What a pleasure to watch. 

This isn't the sort of football we should get used to and it won't get any better than this. 

We have some of best talent in the country. 

I'd be surprised if we struggle next season. 

 

 

 

[Tired 102]

16 minutes ago, Chelm Canary said:

What a pleasure to watch. 

This isn't the sort of football we should get used to and it won't get any better than this. 

Yup, sometimes I forget that Farke (and Farkeball) won't be here forever and we should make the most of enjoying it while we can.

Not only is he a fantastic coach, but he always comes across as a humble and respectful human being. We're lucky to have him.

[Yellow and Green 334]

22 minutes ago, Chelm Canary said:

What a pleasure to watch. 

This isn't the sort of football we should get used to and it won't get any better than this. 

We have some of best talent in the country. 

I'd be surprised if we struggle next season. 

 

 

 

The only way it can get better is if we can do it against better opposition in the PL. 

Performance wise, we did OK last time. Teams are just bigger, quicker and more intelligent and we just didn't have enough. 

A few key signings and I think we'll stay up.

[Petriix 2,834]

45 minutes ago, Thirsty Lizard said:

I dare you to start a thread saying that we're a sharper side with more edge to our play when Buendia  isn't in the team........... 😉 

I mean it's probably not a coincidence that our best performance of the season came when he was out of the side..................

 

You jest, but there's an ironic truth to your suggestion insofar as Dowell and Rupp are both competing for positions that are contested. They know that they've got to deliver or they won't keep their places so that brings an edge to their game. Emi knows he's undroppable so won't necessarily work as hard.

[dylanisabaddog 4,868]

6 hours ago, Petriix said:

You jest, but there's an ironic truth to your suggestion insofar as Dowell and Rupp are both competing for positions that are contested. They know that they've got to deliver or they won't keep their places so that brings an edge to their game. Emi knows he's undroppable so won't necessarily work as hard.

Really?!  According to the statistics Emi puts in more tackles than anyone else in the team 

[ROBFLECK 132]

7 hours ago, Chelm Canary said:

What a pleasure to watch. 

This isn't the sort of football we should get used to and it won't get any better than this. 

We have some of best talent in the country. 

I'd be surprised if we struggle next season. 

 

 

 

Be carefull what you say... PL is a whole different proposition, like we experienced last time. I hope we have learnt from that experience. But I am so glad we didn't make rash decisions and kept the squad in tact and kept our manager!

I hope you are right naturally..

[Capt. Pants 4,195]

7 hours ago, Chelm Canary said:

What a pleasure to watch. 

This isn't the sort of football we should get used to and it won't get any better than this. 

We have some of best talent in the country. 

I'd be surprised if we struggle next season. 

 

 

 

Not sure about the best talent in the country until we measure them against Premier League teams.

Last night everything clicked, especially first half and we looked like a Premier League team playing in the Chump. 

Next season we will be up against some of the best players in the world let alone the country. It will be difficult and we will struggle at times, but if we strengthen where necessary, I'm confident there will be 3 worse teams than us.

 

[Petriix 2,834]

49 minutes ago, dylanisabaddog said:

Really?!  According to the statistics Emi puts in more tackles than anyone else in the team 

I just mean there's an element of truth to the idea that the understudy can sometimes outshine the master: not that Buendia doesn't work hard enough, just that Dowell might realise that he has to do something incredible to force his way into the team.

[ged in the onion bag 854]

21 minutes ago, Petriix said:

I just mean there's an element of truth to the idea that the understudy can sometimes outshine the master: not that Buendia doesn't work hard enough, just that Dowell might realise that he has to do something incredible to force his way into the team.

Get the point but using Emi as your example is flawed.   He puts in a shift always and doesn't need the competition to be at his best.    When Vrancic was in that role, he didn't put in that kind of a shift which is probably why it has become our problem position.   Come Saturday, it will be a simple choice of who fits the No.10 role best Rupp or Dowell?    Suspect Dowell will get the nod with Rupp on the bench!   

Personally would like to see us experiment with Buendia at No. 10. with Dowell and Cantwell as the other options.    Next season the question will be how we can get our front 3 more advanced.    Last time, Emi and Todd spent far too much time deep helping out the full backs, thus out of position when we went forward...    

[Creative Midfielder 1,985]

11 hours ago, Petriix said:

On the face of it, a 2-0 away win against a bottom-half side is nothing exceptional. We've won plenty of these types of game this season. Two goals is about right if you were going to guess before the start.

But that's not the whole story. Norwich had two thirds of the possession and made 720 passes at over 90% accuracy. A ruthless, efficient and professional dismantling of a fairly decent opposition.

We moved the ball around with precision and style. The movement off the ball created options and opportunities which were carved out repeatedly. Then, once the lead was secure, we toyed with them; passing it forwards then back, retaining possession and control. 

Without the ball, we were disciplined and compact. Difficult to break down. The only sniff of danger came from some rather generous refereeing and one decent corner. There were no lapses in concentration. No runs went untracked. The workrate was relentless.

It doesn't matter how good the individual players are, or how thorough the plan. The execution requires hard work and diligence. Farke demands this and the players are delivering. We looked like champions tonight.

Can't disagree with any of that, it was in many respects an extremely impressive performance but I still can't help hankering a little bit for more of the swashbuckling drama of the side of two years ago - the start was brilliant and the result was never in doubt but by the end of the game IMO it was quite an anti-climax that we were still sitting on a 2-0 lead instead of winning the game by four or five.

This year's team may be better technically and they certainly seem to have mastered the art of game management but they aren't as exciting or entertaining as two years ago, although to be fair the absence of any crowd is obviously major factor in that as well.

But still would like to see us put 4 past somebody this season, we are certainly good to enough to do it.  

[Yellow Fever 3,747]

16 minutes ago, Creative Midfielder said:

Can't disagree with any of that, it was in many respects an extremely impressive performance but I still can't help hankering a little bit for more of the swashbuckling drama of the side of two years ago - the start was brilliant and the result was never in doubt but by the end of the game IMO it was quite an anti-climax that we were still sitting on a 2-0 lead instead of winning the game by four or five.

This year's team may be better technically and they certainly seem to have mastered the art of game management but they aren't as exciting or entertaining as two years ago, although to be fair the absence of any crowd is obviously major factor in that as well.

But still would like to see us put 4 past somebody this season, we are certainly good to enough to do it.  

Watford ?

[AJ 1,218]

A top performance no doubt, our first half was one of the best I've seen under Farke, we literally looked a division apart. All this especially with the news of Buendia being missing before the game, as we all know how that normally goes...

However, being entirely honest you have to be a bit disappointed to only score 2 goals from 22 efforts. We're certainly going to have to be much more ruthless next season.

[Creative Midfielder 1,985]

15 minutes ago, Yellow Fever said:

Watford ?

😀 That would be perfect and immensely satisfying.

[Thirsty Lizard 3,155]

1 hour ago, Creative Midfielder said:

Can't disagree with any of that, it was in many respects an extremely impressive performance but I still can't help hankering a little bit for more of the swashbuckling drama of the side of two years ago - the start was brilliant and the result was never in doubt but by the end of the game IMO it was quite an anti-climax that we were still sitting on a 2-0 lead instead of winning the game by four or five.

This year's team may be better technically and they certainly seem to have mastered the art of game management but they aren't as exciting or entertaining as two years ago, although to be fair the absence of any crowd is obviously major factor in that as well.

But still would like to see us put 4 past somebody this season, we are certainly good to enough to do it.  

Weren't you watching when we beat Stoke 4-1?

[Creative Midfielder 1,985]

1 minute ago, Thirsty Lizard said:

Weren't you watching when we beat Stoke 4-1?

Oopphs, can't remember why not now but sadly I don't think I was.

[Midlands Yellow 3,937]

9 hours ago, Petriix said:

You jest, but there's an ironic truth to your suggestion insofar as Dowell and Rupp are both competing for positions that are contested. They know that they've got to deliver or they won't keep their places so that brings an edge to their game. Emi knows he's undroppable so won't necessarily work as hard.

That tackle against Wednesday that set up Cantwell’s goal was pure laziness. 

[PurpleCanary 5,554]

We have scored 20 goals in this winning run of nine games. Eighteen have come from open play, with one penalty and one from a corner. But now we have Dowell rather than Buendia to take the corners that latter opportunity for goal-scoring may improve for us, while at the sale time not so frequently handing the opposition chances on the counter-attack.🤓

 

[Yellow Fever 3,747]

15 minutes ago, PurpleCanary said:

We have scored 20 goals in this winning run of nine games. Eighteen have come from open play, with one penalty and one from a corner. But now we have Dowell rather than Buendia to take the corners that latter opportunity for goal-scoring may improve for us, while at the sale time not so frequently handing the opposition chances on the counter-attack.🤓

 

I appreciate the comment may be a bit tongue in cheek but wat you allude to, and what I agree with is that we as a team are far more than the sum of it's parts, and particularly as expressed last night more than any one player.

It's the same reason I smile when people wax absurdly lyrically on Cantwell, Pukki (or Buendia) as undropable, They all have their flaws and need to fight for their place as per anybody else. Undropable ? No (but long may their excellent form continue 😉 ).  

[Petriix 2,834]

1 hour ago, Midlands Yellow said:

That tackle against Wednesday that set up Cantwell’s goal was pure laziness. 

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying; and he's clearly got his priorities all wrong if he puts the birth of his child over the club. He should have taken a leaf out of the Russel Martin book and played anyway. He'll never get back into the team until he sorts that attitude out!

[Nuff Said 5,089]