Technically, in the same way it was right not to get too down after last Saturdays’s defeat, we should really refrain from getting too excited about yesterday’s win on Wearside.
But sod that.
Away wins in the Premier League of that ilk don’t come along too often, regardless of the appetite of your opponents, especially when you’re a Norwich City supporter.
Yet for me, one of the best moments of yesterday came post-match. It was a given he would mention it, but Alex Neil’s reference to the ‘sloppy goal’ in almost his first breath when speaking with Chris Goreham told a little story all of its own.
Yes, it was disappointing to concede such a soft one but City’s dominance had been such that for most of us it was little more than a footnote on an otherwise perfect afternoon. But not for Alex. It niggled and will likely be pored over in tomorrow’s debrief.
And I love that.
He could have been forgiven, for once, for basking in the glow of a fine performance but no, the feeling of contentment was tinged with disappointment at missing out on a first clean sheet.
The days of Costa del Colney are well and truly over.
And there is still plenty of good stuff for Team Alex to get their teeth into tomorrow, not least the way – for the second week running – the midfield functioned so beautifully as a unit.
To have dominated possession at home on opening day, still buoyed my the bounce of Wembley, was one thing. To then do the same in the Stadium of Light when faced with opponents who were smarting from an opening day walloping is another.
The decision to omit Bradley Johnson was a brave one, especially given the influence the Barry Butler winner had on the route to Wembley, but was made minus the blink of an eye and sent out a signal that what’s gone before counts for diddly-squat.
And there was barely a dissenting voice – another factor that spoke volumes.
Johnno, for all his battling qualities, found life tough in the Premier League last time round and against Palace didn’t have his best game. Alex, in conversation with Chris Goreham, also noted that his form of pre-season hadn’t yet reached the level of April/May and so acted.
Yesterday’s midfield therefore operated without a natural ‘left foot’ but such was the performance of Jonny Howson – particularly in the first-half – it made no difference to its balance.
And with Alex Tettey at its base and Graham Dorrans fitting beautifully into the role of pass-master, the three of them afforded Wes and, wider on the right, Nathan Redmond the opportunity to ask questions of the Black Cats’ defence. Questions they were unable to answer.
The back-four too, over whom doubts were cast last weekend, responded well to the calls for change and, that ‘sloppy’ goal aside (which had more to do with an unsighted John Ruddy), coped comfortably with an attack that on paper at least looked dangerous. The two goals were a bonus.
If I had to be picky, I’d say that if Steven Whittaker intends to chip in with the odd goal – always useful for a full-back – he really needs to work on his knee-slide celebration. It was almost as embarrassing at Russ’ face when he turned to celebrate the first goal.
In truth, both turned in performances yesterday that belied some of the brickbats hurled in their respective directions last week and, for seven days at least, can be spared an intense scrutiny of their defensive qualities.
In the attacking third we looked a constant threat.
Wessi’s two ‘wall passes’ were things of beauty and the statisticians are already pointing out that he is well on his way to bettering the number of assists he achieved in his last Premier League season.
I was invited to chat (mumble and stutter) on a Sunderland podcast in the week and when asked of our threat, spoke of the importance of City getting Wes on the ball in dangerous areas. The wee man didn’t let me down.
The threat of Nathan Redmond has long been recognised, equally his occasional indifferent decision-making in the final third, yet since the arrival of Neil he appears to have progressed to the cusp of the next level.
Again in conversation with Master Goreham, the gaffer confirmed he’s been working hard with Redmond in training to see more of an end product. Four goals in his last four competitive Norwich games suggests to me that whatever is being said is sinking in.
Finally, it would be wrong to ignore the performance of Cameron Jerome. Faced with the not inconsiderable duo of Sebastián Coates and Younes Kaboul, he ran them ragged; his power and pace simply too much for either to cope with. Simply magnificent.
To compare his performance with the late cameo of Lewis Grabban, as some did, was a tad unfair though. At 3-0 up the points were won and Grabban’s role was a different one, namely to keep hold of the ball and take the sting out of the game. I thought he fulfilled his brief well.
So, still unbeaten on the road since the arrival of Alex Neil and our first three points of the season.
I could really get used to this.
The midfield worked well and Brady has fitted in quickly and seems he’s always been part of the squad! Redmond has started where he left off at Wembley and has found his scoring touch. Wes the little man that I so often have got frustrated with proves he’s still got that flair and the two assists were superb. We still need to be aware we are going to face some pacy strikers and this is where I start to worry, I’m sure AN will already be a step ahead and analysing who is needed and making those regulars fight for their place in the starting XI
Alex Neil is showing there’s no room for sentiment, Barry Butler trophy, or not. If you’re not doing the business, you’re dropped. This I like.
I said on here that I was confident of a victory, when others were apparently happy to take a point. The Sunderland defence was such a shambles at Leicester that a week of training couldn’t fix it, especially when arrogance, incompetence or necessity meant Advocaat stuck with the same back four.
We played some great football though. I particularly like the move at 0-0 when Dorrans clipped a lovely diagonal out to Wes, who took a sublime first touch and laid it back for a stunning low drive by Howson. That would’ve been a helluva goal! I’m glad Russ answered his detractors with that clinical finish. Really it could’ve been 6-0. Maybe it’s a good thing the scoreline was more respectable, apart from the all-important Friendship Trophy of course.
Sir Alex did allow himself a wee smile when asked about his away record. He seems relaxed and confident, as do the team, and we should be too. Our performances so far have been in a similar mould to Leicester’s. Their record over the last dozen games is incredible.
Cracking summary, Gary. Those two assists by Wes were both absolutely sumptuous. Great play by Whittaker initially but the way Sir Wesley anticipated him continuing his run and back-heeled it into his path, inch perfect, was manna from heaven.
A much fairer barometer will unfold next weekend v a well drilled Stoke, as best will in the world Sunderland were totally abject and disinterested. Largely their own ineptitude, but they couldn’t live with the intensity of Norwich’s slick passing.
This Premier League malarkey is actually quite fun, is it not? 😉
Last week, the sackings were being handed out. This week, it’s the knighthoods!
We showed how good we can be against a badly organised side low in confidence with the crowd on their backs. Very good cohesive team performance with 4-5 excellent individual efforts.
That’s fine and it’s good to be on the points board (and above Watford). But of course, there aren’t going to be much easier games than that from now on.
Good boost for the confidence on and off the pitch but Stoke is a totally different ball game (metaphorically).
I really hate to do this, but someone has to….
Gary’s first sentence “Technically…etc” is right. Those of us who argued against getting carried away by the opening day must also argue against getting carried away now.
Especially as Sunderland’s effort was – let’s be honest – as poor as you’ll ever see in the Premier League.
Having said that, we’re not wrong to be heartened by yesterday. Ian Wright, perhaps not the deepest thinker about football, still got it right in his fist comment: “You have to give Norwich credit – they’ve totally taken advantage of a team that were poor”.
We played excellent stuff, even though the opposition went AWOL in a way that Stoke certain won’t. Wes and Redmond a delight to watch, Dorrans showing (for the second week running) that he’s undoubtedly a top-flght player. And – whisper it quietly – Russell Martin didn’t put a foot wrong.
But let’s take stock after six games rather than two. If we’re still above Chelsea then….
Last time we were in the Premiership the fixture list wasn’t very kind to us. Not just the run of tough games in the last month but also that two clubs – Fulham and Sunderland – started abysmally, but we didn’t get to play them until they had at least partly sorted themselves out. And later we got man U on the post-Moyes rebound; 2 weeks earlier we may well have beaten them.
At least this time we have played Sunderland early – and taken full advantage.
Next away game is Southampton, who play two Europa League games before then (one away, only in Denmark though, shame it’s not Georgia or somewhere like that). Clubs playing in that league often struggle early in the season, so again timing may work to our advantage.
I have a hunch we have been equally lucky not playing Leicester. There’s always someone who makes an unexpectedly good start; by early October their bubble will have burst (hopefully!)
Let’s hope refereeing decisions also even themselves out over the season….
If we play like this every week I won’t really care if we win or lose. It looks like AN has the chops to give any side a good game, which is much better value for money than our last PL season. Bring it on!
Exactly right Jon, it is fun in the Premier League. Yes it’s harder to win games, but that makes it all the sweeter when we do. Can you believe there were City fans who were happy to stay in the Championship?! More entertaining they said. Ipsw*ch fans must be having a wail of a time after 14 seasons.
Premier League Pedant (9) – It’s normally “a whale of a time”. But in this case “wail” is most appropriate.
I was concerned during the week that City would find themselves on the end of a nasty backlash.
During the week I was pondering what changes AN would make to the side that lost to Palace. For me the obvious change was Jerome in for Grabban. But it was not obvious to me what changes could be made at the back and what AN could do with the left-side of midfield. One option I thought was to switch Whittaker to LB, advance Brady further up the pitch and then play Wisdom at RB. However, I also saw merit in trying to keep a settled back four even though they shipped 3 goals at home. The other part of the jigsaw was how to give Redmond a starting place given that his performance against Palace warranted that. One option, would have been to start Redmond on the left?
In the event AN had a neat solution, to shift Howson to the left to replace Johnson and start Redmond on the right, I was a bit concerned as to whether Howson would be any better in this role than Johnson.
I was also pleased to see Sunderland setting up in a conventional 4-4-2 formation, which I thought would be to our advantage as we had that extra man in midfield. In the event it all worked out rather well.
I quite like the balance of the team now, with players like Olsson and Mulumbu still to get in the side and evidence from the first two games I feel comfortable that we’ll be good enough to avoid the drop this season.
Yeah I’m trying not to get too carried away, but it’s very encouraging that we can play like that and still have quality players to come back in, and hopefully one or two new faces to add to the mix too. I wonder when we’ll see Brady and Redmond on each wing. Maybe when Olsson comes back. Exciting prospect.
@10 Really Stewart, what sort of person pulls people up on minor spelling transgressions?! Ha!