Ricardo's report v Leeds

[ricardo 7,444]

Thankfully the wild and wet weather of yesterday had moderated somewhat by this morning and we were just left with a grey damp day with the odd shower. The sort of day that I always looked forward to during my playing years, damp underfoot and no sun to dazzle you. Fortunately I managed to get a lift down to the ground but only just made it with two minutes to spare thanks to the heavy traffic on Chaplefield Road.

Seeing the same back four run out didn't fill me with confidence but to their credit City started well and forced an early corner on their right. Sara's cross was inch perfect and Duffy glanced a perfectly placed header into the net before Meslier could move. It was a great start and City looked well worth it as they continued to come forward in the opening quarter and the Leeds keeper twice had to be alert as Idah and Gibbs almost latched onto passes through the centre.

The visitors didn't really seem to get going until midway through the half and then fashioned three acceptable chances within a few minutes. Gianoullis and Onell failed to clear the danger on the City left but Summerville could only strike a low shot beyond Gunns far post when well placed. Then Gunn was in just the right place as another shot came in centrally but when City lost possession on the edge of the Leeds box a swift counter and two missed tackles left Kamara with just the City keeper to beat. Thankfully his low struck effort was a yard wide when it seemed easier to score. There was some nice flowing moves from both sides but the visitors defenders seemed quicker to recover position than the home defenders. This was evidenced when a cut through ball from Kenny got Idah away through the centre but he was quickly closed down from both sides just as he got the shot off. Gunn had taken a knock earlier and unfortunately had to limp off after the half hour as Long came on and looked fairly competent in his early work, catching a hard cross from the right. It seems that all the keepers are schooled in this tip tap stuff from the back but I do wish they would mix it up a bit at times.

City looked dangerous from crosses and Duffy had the ball in the net again only for it to be ruled out, presumeably for an offence on the keeper. It didn't seem much to me but there you go. With half time looming it might easily have been two for City when Sara hit a low angled shot the beat Meslier but it ran about a foot wide of the far post. The Brazillian was not to be denied however when a couple of minutes later after good work by Hernandez, he shimmied right and left inside the box and found enough space between defenders to strike a powerful shot that gave the Leeds keeper no chance.

It had been a lively half with both sides creating chances, the difference being that we had taken ours while Leeds had fluffed theirs. Normally I would have been fairly confident of three points from this position but as I said last week, this defence doesn't fill me with confidence and for some reason I had a feeling that this could quickly turn round if we weren't careful.

As the second half began City won a free kick out wide left and when the cross came in it hit Kenny and deflect just wide with the keeper nowhere. Then Leeds began to dominate, although  but City seemed solid enough and even fashioned a couple of half chances on forays forward. I said to the lad that we needed a third goal to get anything from this because the game just had the feel about it and I am sure long term supporters will know exactly what I mean by that.

Wagner swapped the tiring Hernandez on the hour and within a couple of minutes disaster struck as City lost possession and a sweeping ball to the right was just kept in play by DanJames and the cut back unluckily went in off Duffy to reduce the lead. To be honest you couldn't say that Leeds didn't deserve it. A few minutes later Sara almost restored the advantage with a well struck free kick that Meslier did well to dive across and push round the post but it was Leeds on top now and I think we could all see what was coming. Long produced a fine diving save at his near post at the expense of a corner as the visitors probed down their left but the City defence was at sixes and sevens when the corner was pulled back to the edge of the box where Summerville had time and space to curl a shot off Long's left post and into the net for the equaliser. Disappointing but it had felt inevitable for a long time.

Wagner brough on Forshaw, Hwang and Fassnscht for Rowe, Gibbs and Idah with ten minutes left but everyone could see that this game was only going one way and it did in typical Norwich City fashion. A City free kick into the Leeds box found nobody and Summerville was allowed to run the lenght of the pitch unchallenged to beat Long with ease. To his credit Kenny almost got back to tackle but the rest of the defence were probably still in the Leeds half. I turned to the boy and said,"had enough"?, he nodded and we left.

Sara the class in the home side, Rowe, one or two nice flashes, Kenny did his best and deserved more, as for the rest, they won't win anything conceeding goals at the present rate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 21, 2023 by ricardo

[yellowrider120 797]

1 hour ago, ricardo said:

Thankfully the wild and wet weather of yesterday had moderated somewhat by this morning and we were just left with a grey damp day with the odd shower. The sort of day that I always looked forward to during my playing years, damp underfoot and no sun to dazzle you. Fortunately I managed to get a lift down to the ground but only just made it with two minutes to spare thanks to the heavy traffic on Chaplefield Road.

Seeing the same back four run out didn't fill me with confidence but to their credit City started well and forced an early corner on their right. Sara's cross was inch perfect and Duffy glanced a perfectly placed header into the net before Meslier could move. It was a great start and City looked well worth it as they continued to come forward in the opening quarter and the Leeds keeper twice had to be alert as Idah and Gibbs almost latched onto passes through the centre.

The visitors didn't really seem to get going until midway through the half and then fashioned three acceptable chances within a few minutes. Gianoullis and Onell failed to clear the danger on the City left but Summerville could only strike a low shot beyond Gunns far post when well placed. Then Gunn was in just the right place as another shot came in centrally but when City lost possession on the edge of the Leeds box a swift counter and two missed tackles left Kamara with just the City keeper to beat. Thankfully his low struck effort was a yard wide when it seemed easier to score. There was some nice flowing moves from both sides but the visitors defenders seemed quicker to recover position than the home defenders. This was evidenced when a cut through ball from Kenny got Idah away through the centre but he was quickly closed down from both sides just as he got the shot off. Gunn had taken a knock earlier and unfortunately had to limp off after the half hour as Long came on and looked fairly competent in his early work, catching a hard cross from the right. It seems that all the keepers are schooled in this tip tap stuff from the back but I do wish they would mix it up a bit at times.

City looked dangerous from crosses and Duffy had the ball in the net again only for it to be ruled out, presumeably for an offence on the keeper. It didn't seem much to me but there you go. With half time looming it might easily have been two for City when Sara hit a low angled shot the beat Meslier but it ran about a foot wide of the far post. The Brazillian was not to be denied however when a couple of minutes later after good work by Hernandez, he shimmied right and left inside the box and found enough space between defenders to strike a powerful shot that gave the Leeds keeper no chance.

It had been a lively half with both sides creating chances, the difference being that we had taken ours while Leeds had fluffed theirs. Normally I would have been fairly confident of three points from this position but as I said last week, this defence doesn't fill me with confidence and for some reason I had a feeling that this could quickly turn round if we weren't careful.

As the second half began City won a free kick out wide left and when the cross came in it hit Kenny and deflect just wide with the keeper nowhere. Then Leeds began to dominate, although  but City seemed solid enough and even fashioned a couple of half chances on forays forward. I said to the lad that we needed a third goal to get anything from this because the game just had the feel about it and I am sure long term supporters will know exactly what I mean by that.

Wagner swapped the tiring Hernandez on the hour and within a couple of minutes disaster struck as City lost possession and a sweeping ball to the right was just kept in play by DanJames and the cut back unluckily went in off Duffy to reduce the lead. To be honest you couldn't say that Leeds didn't deserve it. A few minutes later Sara almost restored the advantage with a well struck free kick that Meslier did well to dive across and push round the post but it was Leeds on top now and I think we could all see what was coming. Long produced a fine diving save at his near post at the expense of a corner as the visitors probed down their left but the City defence was at sixes and sevens when the corner was pulled back to the edge of the box where Summerville had time and space to curl a shot off Long's left post and into the net for the equaliser. Disappointing but it had felt inevitable for a long time.

Wagner brough on Forshaw, Hwang and Fassnscht for Rowe, Gibbs and Idah with ten minutes left but everyone could see that this game was only going one way and it did in typical Norwich City fashion. A City free kick into the Leeds box found nobody and Summerville was allowed to run the lenght of the pitch unchallenged to beat Long with ease. To his credit Kenny almost got back to tackle but the rest of the defence were probably still in the Leeds half. I turned to the boy and said,"had enough"?, he nodded and we left.

Sara the class in the home side, Rowe, one or two nice flashes, Kenny did his best and deserved more, as for the rest, they won't win anything conceeding goals at the present rate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That Summerville was absolutely outstanding. Scored two brilliant goals and should have had more. In fact Leeds should have scored two or three in the first half. they missed huge chances. From the moment they pulled one back with that scrappy, fortunate OG there was only one winner. 

[Myra Hawtree 127]

It was on the cards as soon as Leeds scored.  Terrible free kick that allowed them to break away for the winner.

Too many unnecessary substitutions who added nothing.

[ricardo 7,444]

9 minutes ago, Myra Hawtree said:

It was on the cards as soon as Leeds scored.  Terrible free kick that allowed them to break away for the winner.

Too many unnecessary substitutions who added nothing.

We could see it coming couldn't we Myra.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

26 minutes ago, Myra Hawtree said:

It was on the cards as soon as Leeds scored.  Terrible free kick that allowed them to break away for the winner.

Too many unnecessary substitutions who added nothing.

Somebody posted it was because we tired. Why is it always us who tire or have two games a week? I would like to hear from the EFL why they aren't treating the other 23 teams in our league as badly.

[norfolkngood 1,095]

11 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

Somebody posted it was because we tired. Why is it always us who tire or have two games a week? I would like to hear from the EFL why they aren't treating the other 23 teams in our league as badly.

yet Gray who played for Leeds has played something silly like 5 times in 14 days or something they said on radio yet Farke picked him and he lasted long than Rowe ,

our Players do not look super fit to me 

[littleyellowbirdie 2,613]

20 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

Somebody posted it was because we tired. Why is it always us who tire or have two games a week? I would like to hear from the EFL why they aren't treating the other 23 teams in our league as badly.

I don't know, but I blame the manager for them tiring. As soon as we change him, they'll be like Duracell bunnies and a whole bench of supersubs will appear from nowhere to boot.

Edited October 21, 2023 by littleyellowbirdie

[Hairy Canary 714]

Excellent report as always Ricardo. Always enjoy them, thanks!

I wish sometimes we would look to change our playing style to manage the game rather than make wholesale substitutions. Ok to bring Foreshaw on but also why not stop pushing both full backs forward with quite such abandon when we are two up and drop Gibbs a bit deeper to help in the centre of the park. We were so open to the counter it seemed obvious that sooner or later we would get caught. 
 

[ricardo 7,444]

22 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

Somebody posted it was because we tired. Why is it always us who tire or have two games a week? I would like to hear from the EFL why they aren't treating the other 23 teams in our league as badly.

Not really a matter of tiring. They were simply better than us and I doubt anyone was surprised how it turned out after they got their first goal. I was just hoping we would at least hold out for a point but it never really looked on.

[Creedence Clearwater Couto 1,312]

Sadly, I see a more convincing defeat coming Tuesday. 

Wagner needs to shake it up and get Nunez and Sainz in the starting 11, and Sara further forward. Our three most talented and creative players - Wagner needs to get a tune and fast!

[nutty nigel 7,656]

13 minutes ago, ricardo said:

Not really a matter of tiring. They were simply better than us and I doubt anyone was surprised how it turned out after they got their first goal. I was just hoping we would at least hold out for a point but it never really looked on.

I think so. But we were naive to think we would be the team to get a third. The crowd wouldn't have like it but we should have done evrything we could to keep the 2-2. They scored from our free kick and we had no defence to try and stop them.

[DraytonBoy 167]

Idah had a chance to make it 3-1 but missed again, had it gone in then much of the conversation on here might have been different. 

[nutty nigel 7,656]

8 minutes ago, DraytonBoy said:

Idah had a chance to make it 3-1 but missed again, had it gone in then much of the conversation on here might have been different. 

Was that the one when he was offside?

[littleyellowbirdie 2,613]

43 minutes ago, ricardo said:

They were simply better than us.

Do you think management is the decisive factor in them being simply better than us?

[DraytonBoy 167]

5 minutes ago, nutty nigel said:

Was that the one when he was offside?

Was he given offside, I must have missed the lino's flag?

[yellowrider120 797]

8 minutes ago, nutty nigel said:

Was that the one when he was offside?

Correct. Mind you he didn't know that when he fluffed the chance. Pity as I thought he otherwise had a very decent game and should never have been benched.

[rock bus 875]

2 minutes ago, yellowrider120 said:

Correct. Mind you he didn't know that when he fluffed the chance. Pity as I thought he otherwise had a very decent game and should never have been benched.

Fact he didn’t finish it tells you all you need to know.

i thought he was useless again and didn’t cause them any problems, which is the least a striker should do. 
sooner we admit he is rubbish and drop him from the squad the better

Edited October 21, 2023 by rock bus

[nutty nigel 7,656]

Just now, yellowrider120 said:

Correct. Mind you he didn't know that when he fluffed the chance. Pity as I thought he otherwise had a very decent game and should never have been benched.

He did and taking him off was plain daft. He occupies defenders. I expect Leeds defenders were ecstatic. They would have chosen him to be replaced.

[Big Vince 325]

2 hours ago, Hairy Canary said:

Excellent report as always Ricardo. Always enjoy them, thanks!

I wish sometimes we would look to change our playing style to manage the game rather than make wholesale substitutions. Ok to bring Foreshaw on but also why not stop pushing both full backs forward with quite such abandon when we are two up and drop Gibbs a bit deeper to help in the centre of the park. We were so open to the counter it seemed obvious that sooner or later we would get caught. 
 

I will never agree with this modern way of using full backs as wingers. Full backs should always do their defensive duties first and foremost. Norwich City cannot afford the luxury of pushing their full backs so far forward because the other defenders are not good enough and there are no defensive midfielders at all. There is no ballast in the midfield and good teams run through us like a hot knife through butter.

[The Bunny 314]

3 hours ago, littleyellowbirdie said:

I don't know, but I blame the manager for them tiring. As soon as we change him, they'll be like Duracell bunnies and a whole bench of supersubs will appear from nowhere to boot.

I don't buy the "they were tired" excuse, but I do find it intriguing that you seem to think the manager has no influence on players tiring towards the end of a game. Fitness, possession, game management are all factors there. What exactly do you think a manager does?

[Big Vince 325]

3 hours ago, The Bunny said:

I don't buy the "they were tired" excuse, but I do find it intriguing that you seem to think the manager has no influence on players tiring towards the end of a game. Fitness, possession, game management are all factors there. What exactly do you think a manager does?

Why were they tired after just having two weeks off? I thought Wagner said his pre season training meant that his players fitness would never be in doubt and that they would run and run forever??

[Parma Ham's gone mouldy 2,246]

I listened to Daniel Farke’s post match interview. I didn’t listen to David Wagner’s.

Parma

[cambridgeshire canary 6,865]

11 hours ago, keelansgrandad said:

Somebody posted it was because we tired. Why is it always us who tire or have two games a week? I would like to hear from the EFL why they aren't treating the other 23 teams in our league as badly.

And there was Wagner saying we were the fittest team in the league. Yeah, ok so why are half are team injured and why do we always end up bottling it during the second half?

Edited October 22, 2023 by cambridgeshire canary

[ricardo 7,444]

27 minutes ago, Parma Ham's gone mouldy said:

I listened to Daniel Farke’s post match interview. I didn’t listen to David Wagner’s.

Parma

Very sensible.

[king canary 7,702]

8 hours ago, The Bunny said:

I don't buy the "they were tired" excuse, but I do find it intriguing that you seem to think the manager has no influence on players tiring towards the end of a game. Fitness, possession, game management are all factors there. What exactly do you think a manager does?

Yes, I've never seen the players lack of fitness wheeled out in defence of a manager who has had a whole preseason to work with the squad. 

[Helsinki canary 244]

Many commented about lack of stamina amongst key players sitting around me yesterday. John Rowe seems to fade around the 60-65min mark every game and has to be subbed off - he is one of our main attacking threats and once he is off we have no one to replace with the same skill and pace. Overall the team lacks depth and hence the failings when players get subbed. So much for being the fittest team in the league……and fully agree we are totally open through the middle and our two CBs are not good enough to play without a CDM in front if them - game plan and management tactics are alot to blame for our demise

[yellowrider120 797]

11 hours ago, nutty nigel said:

He did and taking him off was plain daft. He occupies defenders. I expect Leeds defenders were ecstatic. They would have chosen him to be replaced.

Nail on Head Edward!

[Parma Ham's gone mouldy 2,246]

8 hours ago, ricardo said:

Very sensible.

Ok so I relented and listened. 

A curious football-speak mix of Lego movie ‘everything is awesome’ and ‘well, what can you expect? Other teams have better players than us..’

It all rather feels like holding patterns wherever you look….

Parma 

[Parma Ham's gone mouldy 2,246]

Just now, Parma Ham's gone mouldy said:

Ok so I relented and listened. 

A curious football-speak mix of Lego movie ‘everything is awesome’ and ‘well, what can you expect? Other teams have better players than us..’

It all rather feels like holding patterns wherever you look….

Parma 

Though not holding midfielders. Obvs. 

Parma

[Monty13 2,268]

8 hours ago, king canary said:

Yes, I've never seen the players lack of fitness wheeled out in defence of a manager who has had a whole preseason to work with the squad. 

 

16 hours ago, The Bunny said:

I don't buy the "they were tired" excuse, but I do find it intriguing that you seem to think the manager has no influence on players tiring towards the end of a game. Fitness, possession, game management are all factors there. What exactly do you think a manager does?

Exactly. Surely the head coaches role is to get the most out of the players at his disposal?

I’m not sure in what way is he doing that the last few weeks.

We’ve looked poor pretty much since Sargent got injured and have shown an almost complete inability to work the issue presented by his absence.