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ricardo

Ricardo's proper report v Villa

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Well I''m back from the function and despite a small alcohol intake and the soothing company of old friends the disappointment from this afternoon still cuts pretty deep. I think most people got the midfield that they had been asking for and you couldn''t complain that Cities approach to the game was anything other than positive. Personally I was very surprised to see no Tetty or no Johno and it didn''t take very long to see what was missing as Villa nearly scored twice in the opening minutes.On the positive side City responded well with a nice move down the left only to spoil it when Nathan Redmond leaned back almost to the horizontal before skying miles over when well placed. In any event it should all have been irrelevant as City gained a soft penalty for handball only to squander it by allowing an out of form Snoddy to miss it. I turned to my son and said "you can already see where this is going can''t you? and he answered with a resigned nod of the head. It was absolutely unforgivable and when RVW bundled Redmonds cross over the bar from almost point blank range I knew that this was going to be the kind of game I''ve seen so many times before over the years. Benteke''s injury gave renewed hope and when he was off the field getting treatment RVW was only a couple of feet wide from Snoddy''s cutbackBenteke''s early departure should have been a plus for City but with the way things were going you could almost guarantee that it would be his replacement who would score. On 30 minutes he did, as City were undone down the right and despite Ruddy''s brave stop the second effort went in. From then on until the break City laboured. to get the ball forward while Villa sprung neatly on the counter at every opportunity.There were no changes at the half and little change in the pattern of play until about the hour mark when City finally managed to pen Villa back. There were some decent moves with Martin and Snoddy combining well but on to many occasion the final ball didn''t find a yellow shirt. Villa seemed content to shut up shop for the final half hour and although Hooper and Pilks came on for Redmond and Elmander a combination of good blocking and poor choice of pass kept chances at a premium. Leroy Fer really should have laid it on a plate for Pilks or RVW but his first time pass was just too strong and too close to the goal. Then with time running away Guzan denied Hooper from almost under the bar and that was virtually that.Three points I would like to make. There is more to winning a game than the all out attacking approach that many on here seem to favour and secondly that scoring first is a huge thing in this league. Missing gift penalties is always going to come back and bite you in the ar$e. Snoddy is going through a bad patch and the harder he try''s the worse it gets. Thirdly, I know Johno is a handy scapegoat but we would have been nowhere near as open had he or Tetty played.MOM? who knows, perhaps John Ruddy or Leroy Fer if you want an outfielder. So its a very early crisis and unless we bring something back from Stoke next week the Supporters Forum on Oct 8th could well see blood on the carpet. Hopefully it won''t be mine.[:(]

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Good report as usual Rickyyyyyy

 

Would you have made the same substitutions or would you have subbed Snodgrass. For me Snodgrass looked twice as likely to make something happen than Redmond did. He''s just going through a spell where his end product turns to crap. But bravely playing through it and not hiding.

 

Fer looks the real deal but haven''t seen anyone look like a central midfield partner for him. Howson did ok today but they weren''t a unit. I''m hoping that Tettey/Fer will be that partnership.

 

 

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Don''t think this was the midfield most people wanted, in all honesty, Ricardo. Many, like yourself it seems, would have preferred the inclusion of Tettey, and Howson in place of Elmander, personally.

There''s also the argument for Pilkington over Redmond, allowing the youngster to run at tired legs late on.

Agree with the penalty and goal point. We really must convert when we get these opportunities.

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[quote user="nutty nigel"]

Good report as usual Rickyyyyyy

 

Would you have made the same substitutions or would you have subbed Snodgrass. For me Snodgrass looked twice as likely to make something happen than Redmond did. He''s just going through a spell where his end product turns to crap. But bravely playing through it and not hiding.

 

Fer looks the real deal but haven''t seen anyone look like a central midfield partner for him. Howson did ok today but they weren''t a unit. I''m hoping that Tettey/Fer will be that partnership.

 

 

[/quote]I agree with that Nigel, some people like to find a new scapegoat every week. I can understand why he grabbed at the chance of taking the penalty but if RVW was the designated taker then CH has an ar$e to kick. Personally I thought the subs were the right ones but as I''ve said before I would have started with Pilks and Johno or Tetty.Booing when Redmond came off was pathetic. He was very ineffective today. It happens with young players.

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[quote user="RUDOLPH HUCKER"]That RVW header you described. It his Ricky''s chest but I thought it hit the Villa defenders arm just before. But I saw a TV reply.[/quote]I haven''t seen a replay and I am 100 yds away so can only report what I see myself. It looked like it hit part of his body and flew over.

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Agree with Nutty re Snodgrass. He was continually in the game and involved with most moves in the secondhalf. Unfortunately too many crosses were gifts for the keeper to collect and Snoddy seemed unable to adjust. Lambert had obviously done his homework on Redmond and the lad was never given any space and was largely ineffective. Pilkington when he came on never really came in to the game.

I actually liked the attacking line up and to me Fer and Howson had good games. Yes, we missed the maruading Johnson as a defensive midfielder, but you cannot have it both ways. It was a poor penalty and bearing in mind the manner in which Snoddy strikes a ball, most people would have predicted where he would place it. Sadly it was at a nice height for the keeper.

We did not really have any luck in their penalty box, partly because the final ball on many occasions lacked quality. The lack of any forward play in the last game certainly does not help the confidence of the main forwards, and this clearly shows.

Finally dare I say it. RVW does not look Premiership Quality on performances to date. Hope he show us what he can do with some better service.

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Anyone seen the penalty incident back? Was it actually a pen?

It was pretty much right infront of me and my initial reaction was that it was extremely soft, in fact not many people around me actually appealed.

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They were trying to mark Redmond out of the game with at least 2 on him, that was why Snoddy had so much ball, but IMO never looked like delivering anything of quality.

Therefore Redmond was actually the more influential player and should have stayed on and switched to the right!

Redmond was allowing others to play!

Snake

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l recorded the game and the Pen was harsh!

It clearly hit his arm but not deliberate and his arm was not far away from his body Mr B!

Snake

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Good report - at the moment I don''t ever feel we are going to score. We never seem to get any momentum, to get the crowd going.

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VMT snake! ...just because Redmond wasn''t up to his usual stellar standards of influence in today''s game, he seems to be being slated. Snoddy was very very poor today, showing for the ball (as he did for the pen) but in very unintelligent ways. His lack of urgency (out of possession) on the side that Villa were attacking most productively, was criminal. If anyone is in any doubt of this, listen to CH''s post match interview.If I were Pilks, I''d take up that offer at Stoke atm.

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[quote user="snake-eyes"]They were trying to mark Redmond out of the game with at least 2 on him, that was why Snoddy had so much ball, but IMO never looked like delivering anything of quality.

Therefore Redmond was actually the more influential player and should have stayed on and switched to the right!

Redmond was allowing others to play!

Snake[/quote]Don''t be silly Snake, Villa were double teaming both wingers. I like young Redmond but he wasn''t good today.

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Pilks was more effective when he came on. But to be fair this is turning into a slating players debate and as i said before the problem as I see it is we''re not an effective unit. Fer and Howson both did ok today but weren''t a unit. Elmander didn''t look part of any fluid unit. To single out the wide players is a bit unfair. And the reason Snodgrass is getting berated is for his end product. We didn''t see an end product from Elmander or redmond did we?

 

 

 

 

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There are hints of misunderstanding in this thread regarding the subject of the fans ire.Just to clear something up at the point of our double substitution. The Norwich fans boo''d twice: the first time when they thought RvW was being subbed - it stopped when it was realised that he was just receiving directions. The second time , followed by chants of YOU DON''T KNOW WHAT YOU''RE DOING, when Redmond (and not Snodgrass) was subbed off ...listen to CH post match if in doubt.

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That lack of attacking effectively as a unit is the thing that most of us were concerned might roll over from last season to this Nutty. How do you think he can fix that?

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[quote user="nutty nigel"]

Pilks was more effective when he came on. But to be fair this is turning into a slating players debate and as i said before the problem as I see it is we''re not an effective unit. Fer and Howson both did ok today but weren''t a unit. Elmander didn''t look part of any fluid unit. To single out the wide players is a bit unfair. And the reason Snodgrass is getting berated is for his end product. We didn''t see an end product from Elmander or redmond did we?

 

 

 

 

[/quote]Couldn''t disagree more. It became clear as the game played out that when RvW went wide, Elmander was the focal point in the box. He wasn''t really being deployed as a number 10. Wasn''t so much Snoddy''s end product that was pissing the people off around me, more his general game.

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I actually thought Fer and Howson looked okay as a midfield two. Certainly looked capable of keeping the ball in the middle of the park much better. And that''s coming from a massive BJ fan. That''s Bradley Johnson, by the way [;)].
Don''t understand Elmanders role as a number 10. Especially not today. In my opinion Hoolahan should play there. Certainly there was an argument for bringing him on today but losing a subsitution on Bassong probably didn''t help - and with everyone screaming to see another striker on it seemed unlikely from the off that Hoolahan would get some game time today.
Elmander is not going to unlock defenses - he''s a useful physical presence but not someone we should be playing from the start in a number 10 role, in my opinion.

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[quote user="Mr Brownstone"]That lack of attacking effectively as a unit is the thing that most of us were concerned might roll over from last season to this Nutty. How do you think he can fix that?[/quote]

 

Really? I thought it was Holty and his red card waiting to happen!

 

Seriously if you read this thread. Redmond was ok, Snodgrass was ok, Elmander was ok, the central midfield were good. We played well as a unit. And all the problems we''d identified last season. AND.. to cap it all... we were all at the same game[:)]

 

 

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Snoddy just tweeted that the lads are all gutted about the game but are disappointed that the fans are questioning the passion and Commitment.I don''t doubt it Snoddy, you are going through a bad patch but still have the guts to keep trying and that''[Y]s good enough for me.

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Sorry Nigel.But Snodgrass wasnt ok. Apart from the whole penalty debacle, he had an absolute mare with crossing and passing the ball with speed when this was required. Distinctly out of form, no matter how much he wanted the ball, is not ok in my books, but I dont blame him for this.Equally, Elmander was not ok. It is patently obvious that he is a CF and not an AM. If he is intended to play as AM, the CH needs to sort this out. If we has meant to be playing as a CF, I think most fans would have preferred Hooper.Redmond was just about ok, but he is still way too greedy and needs to learn how to draw defenders and pass rather than shoot all the time.Our midfield was a huge improvement on the last few games, but as you know, I worry about Howson''s robustness. He got brushed off the ball tooe asily many times today. I would like to see Howsom play further forward and Tettey given a game, but for some reason like Wes, Tettey seems to have fallen out of favour with CH.

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[quote user="nutty nigel"]

[quote user="Mr Brownstone"]That lack of attacking effectively as a unit is the thing that most of us were concerned might roll over from last season to this Nutty. How do you think he can fix that?[/quote]

 

Really? I thought it was Holty and his red card waiting to happen!

 

Seriously if you read this thread. Redmond was ok, Snodgrass was ok, Elmander was ok, the central midfield were good. We played well as a unit. And all the problems we''d identified last season. AND.. to cap it all... we were all at the same game[:)]

 

 

[/quote]Had the penalty gone in we would be discussing an entirely different game. Most of the criticism today is merely disappointment at the result. Villa certainly weren''t better than us but rode their luck, got their goal and thanks to good fortune and a brilliant save from Guzan they claimed all three points.The way some are going on you would think they played us off the park.

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Ricardo,Agreed re Villa, but the crying shame is that they were utterly there for the taking in what could be a crucial match come end of the season. If we had scored an equaliser, I would have bet on a winner following shortly afterwards, but this never looked likley. We simply didnt show eneough urgency when it really mattered.

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Now it''s urgency! A little more urgency and everything would be ok.

 

I think me and Rickyyyyy are to old to understand the game. We never had football manager to teach us. I reckon with a little urgency and persevering with Redmond and Elmander we''d have won by 3 or 4.

 

 

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It''s nice to have such informed and constructive criticism Ricardo!

 

Yes they did double team the other wing on occassion (so do most teams when defending wingers), but Redmond was clearly being shut down quick with at least 2 and on occasion 3 in very close proximity!

 

Snodgrass was getting more joy down the right because, Redmond managed to get the ball square or backwards then the play switched quickly. At this point Snoddy only had the fullback  on him as the right midfielder had ''tucked in''. This was the good play Norwich did today, but unfortunately the final ball and delivery left alot to be desired.

 

Why do you attack other posters Ricardo, just because they see a game differently from you? I know you love writing your reports, but what makes your opinion so special and make you believe you are always right? As I posted earlier I recorded the game and rewatched it when I got home so as to clarify my thoughts and opinions.  I stand by them!  Redmond was definately identified as the greater threat before the game and Villa clearly tried to nullify him.  Snoddy definately had more freedom than Redmond!

 

Please watch the game again with open eyes! I am sure you will see what I mean! Whether you agree with it is another matter!

 

Snake

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