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Shack Attack

Naivety, Pride, Wes Hoolahan and Our Future

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I think that title covers everything I want to talk about from todays game so here goes.1) We need to wise up to the Premier League soon if we want to start getting some serious points on the board. So far we have played three matches and have yet to turn our decent performances into wins. A lot of this has been down to individual errors and these seem to be down to naivety. De Laet and Barnett farting around with the ball against Wigan and Stoke were obvious examples but today we saw something different. When Chelsea broke ahead of their second goal we had two players around Anelka (De Laet and Morison?) in the middle third before he slipped the ball to Ramires. One of those players needs to take him out and take a yellow card for the team. Watch the top teams play and you will notice that there always seems to be a different player on hand to make a cynical foul in the middle third and stop the opposition in their tracks. It''s almost as if it''s planned [;)].2) I''m angry about our loss today and I never though a narrow defeat at Stamford Bridge would bother me that much. It hurts because you never know if you will get that close to beating one of the big boys again. But I''m also extremely proud. We made Chelsea look distinctly second rate today and with the exception of the first ten minutes and the last fifteen there was nothing between the two teams. Keep this up (see point six) and we''ll be fine.3) I''m surprised that there is no thread discussing the withdrawl of Wes Hoolahan. In my opinion he was our best player in the first half and during the ten to fifteen minute spell where we created our best chances (25-35 mins around the time of the Martin shot and Holt header) he was almost untouchable. He started the second half slowly but there was always the chance that we would have another spell of possession where he would once again prove pivotal. He gave a real shake of the head when he came off and I don''t blame him. The fact that we scored very shortly after his substitution has probably caused some people to not question the decision.4) It''s difficult to work out how well we have started. We have improved game by game I think and today we have given a top four side a real test. But we still haven''t won. Chelsea away was always going to be tough but Wigan away and Stoke at home (with their terrible away record) were games we should have been looking to win. My thoughts are that we won''t be waiting too much longer for that first win but at the back of my mind is our last season in the top flight when we had a decent performance at Old Trafford despite losing and hard fought draws away at Newcastle and Spurs. We kept telling ourselves that we were playing well then but in the end our slow start cost us dearly.

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Where''s point 6?Rather cynically, we''d''ve been better off getting thumped today and away at Wigan but winning at home to Stoke.

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Re , your last point of how well we''re playing you could say 2 draws and a loss at Chelski is pretty good for a start in the prem , it''s just those 2 draws could , and should , have been wins.

I think like others have said we''re going to need a better chance v''s goals scored average. Morrison taking that extra touch today would have been put away by many in the prem but of course he''s price is different to those strikers as well.

Honestly , i dont see a massive difference between us and the bulk of the division so far , just the small things and i''m confident that that will be sorted before it''s too late by the one main thing that the 80% of the league hasn''t got .

Go PL.

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[quote user="Gerry Harrison"]Hoolahan was a doubt today because of injury. I would imagine was wasn''t fit enough to play the full 90 minutes.[/quote]

 

Its true but he show on his face that is quite unhappy and surprised to be substituted.

 

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Very good points I agree with naivety and believe that is where we need to learn fast, as with concentrating for the full game. We also need to be more direct and when the ball is at your feet take a pop, as with martins first half chance and morison''s in the sceond half.

Wes was disappointed, but sorry we have very capable players on the bench and you have to warrant your place throughout the whole 90.

Our future, well great performance without really thinking we were going to threaten the goal with more than possibly one goal, which is great against a team who I expect in the top four. But pressure is on with an in-experienced but capable goalkeeper for a must win against wba.

As mentioned the 13 game run of not winning last time was a terrible start. At the moment teams do not know much about us, but they will be game 8. So we need to get that win asap and then build in the bolton away game.

Our result and performance away at wigan was a shame, stoke may be costly and today may be costly in our second home although the performance was very very good. But as we rightly say the performance is good, but wins are what matter. Before you know it we will be a quarter of the way through this season and finding our feet in 10 games and performing well is not good enough.

You need to be proving yourself to be in the league by winning games. Our next two games are against teams that will be in the bottom half of the division at the end of the year. Next Saturday''s game we will def have to be very attacking, as I do believe west brom will score even if we play defensively. Bolton away is a great game for Lambert to plan a team capable of bringing a win there.

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Naivety - We are playing well but need to wise up defensively of we are to stay up!

 

Pride - The teams fighting spirit will do them well this season. If we improve and wise up then we can stay up!

 

Wes Hoolahan - One of the best players on the pitch. Will be a tremendous asset for the team this season WHEN we play the diamond formation.

 

Our Future - See above to see what we will or won''t do this season!

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grantroederdisaster I concur with those points.

I will also add to your naivety point, with our attacking intent. Have the confidence to put your foot through the ball. At the moment we are hesitating on opportunites

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Agree smooth!

 

We have had chances in the 3 games so far, more in the Wigan and Chelsea games.

 

We need to make more of these chances, although in fairness Morisons chance yesterday wasn''t straightforward!

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Only saw the second half, but agree with most of that, Shack.

Strikes me that Lambert is trying to engineer our survival through his managerial genius alone. He has bought a bunch of inexperienced players, some of whom may be good enough for the Prem, some of whom may not. In our three games so far he has played three different systems, using pretty much the whole squad in the process.

Is he trying to be too clever? Are our players good enough to sort out a different system for each game? I''m yet to be convinced.

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Excellent post SHACK and one that a few of those bleating all the hysterical nonsense should take a good look at.Top read for me... [Y]  You seem to be one of a few City fans who is looking at the game without yella blinkers on.Robert N.Lim''s point about "are our players good enough for Lambert to be adopting a totally new system nearly every single game" is also something I agree with massively.  We heard all the "we''re not scared of Chelsea" rubbish from Lambert in the press and then he went and adopted a back five with no pace upfront and resorted to long ball stuff yesterday.  Luckily for him Whitbread got injured and forced his hand in to making some positive changes because until that point it was backs to the wall and route one football for us.

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I have to say the route one though did work as we were picking up the ball in the final third with plenty of knock downs.

I am amazed actually with the quality we have had when the formation has changed game after game. It does show they are quick learners and that the management style is trusted and is working.

I think the issue is ''norwich can compete at this level'' is now answered. But we haven''t won yet and sorry that is all that matters and I know Lambert knows that. But we had it last time in the press with players giving their perosnal story about each team. I honestly don''t care. It is only about winning in this league.

Wise up quickly, execute every decision you do fully and show no naivety. Think this is a good thread with plenty of valid points.

I do think the 3-5-2 could have worked, I was very surprised but after the bosingwa goal, (where it didn''t work), we were much more comfortable and I wonder if other teams may adopt that formation against chelsea.

I don''t know if this international break is a good thing or a bad thing, to be honest. I feel we need the games coming thick and fast but at the same time 2 weeks to prepare for a game that I feel is a must win to get our season started is ideal.

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Oh and just a quick point on morison, his left foot attempt was the one where in good form he would have found the net.

It was a fine example like chrissy martins in the first half of taking a touch that he did not need to. You see it all the time in cup games or lower league games that the striker is not confident enough.

By taking that extra touch you invite the defender in (as terrry did), a bobble on the pitch or a bad touch hinder the goal scoring opportunity. Def should be one thing worked on in training to take that shot early.

But the free kick by johnson (who is by far and away better than fox, at the mo behind de laet as our best player) morison stretched to reach a ball with his right foot.

I felt that it looked like a forward who was aware that he had had a groin strain the week before. The ball could have been lobbed over to holty, shot on target. But I felt he was stretching and it was tough to do especially when coming back from injury.

Their was a player following in behind him who was in a better position to square the ball back across the 6 yard box but obviously the shout never came. But again this is a young team that are learning about the p. league and each other. They are learning quickly and that is what we need to be focussed on to win a must win against wba who are in need of the points too.

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[quote user="Robert N. LiM"]Only saw the second half, but agree with most of that, Shack. Strikes me that Lambert is trying to engineer our survival through his managerial genius alone. He has bought a bunch of inexperienced players, some of whom may be good enough for the Prem, some of whom may not. In our three games so far he has played three different systems, using pretty much the whole squad in the process. Is he trying to be too clever? Are our players good enough to sort out a different system for each game? I''m yet to be convinced.[/quote]

 

---

Having only seen snatches of the games these can only be general points, but:

 

1. You have to have a squad that is adaptable enough to play different systems, because one system doesn''t fit all. Different opponents play different systems, and have different strengths and weaknesses. What is the correct system for playing against Team A isn''t the right system against Team B. And what is correct at the start of a game might need to be changed later on.

 

2. Playing different systems confuses the future opposition. Having played three different systems in three games means Roy Hodgson, who is a meticulous planner, can''t be at all sure what formation he''ll face on Sunday week. WBA will have to be ready for all three, and even then we might pick a fourth system.

 

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If we haven''t learned from the first 3 games we''ll be in trouble! Shack''s post is spot on; whilst we haven''t exactly been ''nice little Norwich'', we really do need to wise-up. Making the occasional deliberate body-check well away from the penalty area to stop an opponent is part & parcel of what goes on.

 

We''re still too gentlemanly about the way we play; look at Stoke vs WBA yesterday. Their striker had high studs and went for what he considered to be a 50/50 ball with Ben Foster. Momentarily the keeper had two hands on the ball, but having a sufficiently high level of belief enabled that player to do his job. It put 3 points in the bank for Stoke - a team we could well have beaten! With a bit more conviction, maybe Morison & C Martin would have found the net by instinct rather than over-thinking the situation. They probably do it on auto-pilot at Colney.

 

Considering WBA have zero points, I dare say they will also be thinking about the need to get tougher for the next match...

 

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