“It certainly wasn’t one of our best performances of the season, but we created the best chances in the game and kept it tight at the back.”
Not for the first time, Alex Neil sums up in one sentence what I’ll struggle to do in 800 words but not before he had given us another shining example of how quickly he is adapting to the mantle of Premier League manager.
Much has been spoken and written of the steep learning curve needed and the brutal environment in which the learning takes place but following on from his so nearly successful three-at-the-back experiment at Man City, Neil again made some big, bold calls that, this time, paid handsome dividends.
The decision to cede possession and territory against a Swansea side that thrives on it was one that undoubtedly goes against his better nature. And it was brave because the wriggle- room in such an approach is virtually nil – as he pointed out afterwards.
All-out attack and lose and at least you ‘went for it’. Set up to defend and lose, then you ‘get what you deserve’. Ask Chris Hughton.
But we are all learning too. Learning that Neil has some and when the big decisions are needed he won’t shirk them. And learning that his faith in his players is undiminished despite October being miserable.
Yet it was with a certain irony that City did to Swansea precisely what Leicester and West Brom did to them in their ‘mensis horribilis’. In those two home games the Canaries possession stats were 66 and 61 per cent respectively – yesterday Swansea enjoyed 67. On all three occasions those high percentages counted for nothing.
And the Swans took their Canary impression one step further. From all their possession they did not muster a single shot on target, giving John Ruddy the sort of afternoon he needed after those fraught last few minutes at the Etihad.
[As an aside, is it just me who gets embarrassed by the ironic Y’Army cheers when Ruddy holds on to one? Perhaps I’m just getting old and soft but fail to see how said ‘cheers’ do anything but further undermine his already fragile confidence].
But anyway, despite a fairly turgid first 70 minutes, there was still enough in the last 20+ minutes to stir the old place into life, in no small part due to the introduction of Dieumerci Mbokani.
Cameron Jerome’s goal and performance in Manchester was clearly deserving of a start and, as ever, his afternoon of tireless and selfless running was in the ‘put in a good shift’ envelope, but to be the lone striker in a team that is not throwing numbers forward is a thankless task. His early sight of goal – when he headed over from Robbie Brady’s free-kick – was to be the only one.
Mbokani’s version of the lone striker role is different and his natural inclination to hold the ball up and bring in the advanced midfield runners – as opposed to a desire to run the channels – tends to leave him less isolated. It also helps to enter the fray when the game is finally getting a little stretched.
But, regardless, the impact of the Congolese international was instant.
Tempo and energy were added to the forward thrusts of those in yellow and the goal, when it arrived, was from the unlikely source of a well-worked set piece – quite possibly the first of the season. It also followed efforts from Gary O’Neil and Brady that had threatened to give City the lead.
Deserved or otherwise – Garry Monk typically thought otherwise – the relief around Carrow Road when Jonny Howson’s header found the corner of Fabianski’s net was palpable and from thereon-in the biggest danger to the lead was from the whistle of Mark Clattenberg rather than the boot of Bafétimbi Gomis.
If offered evens on the man in black giving a Swansea penalty I would have taken it.
But it didn’t happen and in fairness Andre Wisdom, Ryan Bennett, Seb Bassong and Martin Olsson gave a more than passable impersonation of a solid back-four from minutes 1 to 94, ably supported by a keeper whose biggest challenge of the afternoon was one of concentration.
In front of them the shield offered by skipper Tettey and the excellent O’Neil did much to ensure much of the Swansea passing was invariably sideways and, something we have become familiar with ourselves, a little laboured.
Jonjo Shelvey was impressive in possession but did nothing to hurt us. Jefferson Montero was anonymous (with credit to Wisdom). Gomis never once saw the white of Ruddy’s eyes. A clean sheet. Job done.
Whether yesterday’s triumph of Hughtonism is a sign of things to come will remain, for now, a matter for conjecture in the bowels of Colney.
Equally, whether Team Neil has the necessary pace and dynamism at its disposal to play the counter-attacking game regularly is another question – and yesterday’s late withdrawal of Nathan Redmond will have been a blow – but one suspects they will continue with their horses for courses approach to City’s fight against relegation.
Either way, yesterday’s set-up is certainly one that can be added to the repertoire and wheeled out again when the time is right. And with some of the big boys – and Chelsea – hovering into view after the international break that could be more than useful.
But for now let’s enjoy the win. In this league they are devilishly hard to come by and when they arrive should be lauded accordingly. By everyone. Players and supporters alike.
“Never mind the danger…”
Solid performance, clean sheet, big 3 points in the bag. Been a while since we could say any of those things. Swansea were poor, but the main thing for the future is that AN again showed he can effectively change the way his team plays. Very encouraging.
Can anyone explain that incident near the end, when Clattenburg stopped play for an injured Swan? Swansea were attacking down our left touchline at the time, so he restarts the play in a central position 10 yards outside our box (?) with a drop ball, which none of our players decide to challenge for. Bizarre.
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RE drop-ball: Looked as if City (Tettey?) were supposed to honour the tradition of giving the ball back to the opposition – preferably in the Swansea half – but dithered, at which point the Swans ‘nicked’ it. Might be wrong. Either way, chaos would have ensued if they had scored as a result. Thankfully we didn’t find out!
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Re ironic cheers – is it just me that gets annoyed by the “How s*** must you be, we’re winning at home” chant too?
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Expertly summarised Gary but can I suggest a couple of alternative headlines?
‘Cagey Canaries Strangle Struggling Swans’
or
‘Neil’s Canaries one – Monk’s Swans nun’
Neil clearly has been reading from ‘the book of Pulis’ – hope it doesn’t become a best seller but mission was accomplished.
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Mike(2) – apparently this is what passes as ‘gallows humour’ or so we were informed on here last week. For it to still happen when we are winning a game is a new low.
Similarly, still having a pop at the club captain after yesterday’s game as some have done beggars belief.
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Good summary as always Gary and I’m with you on ironic cheering of players that are struggling for form. I’ve always thought that anybody who boos one of his own team’s players is not a fan at all.
Give Ruddy his due, he never hides away when he makes a mistake and anyone with a semblance of a memory knows without doubt what the big man is capable of! OTBC
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Neil has more tactical knowledge and experience than people recognise; he spent much of his playing career preparing himself for coaching and management and you can bet he will have absorbed a great deal of what was going on around him, wherever he played and whoever he played for.
Where Neil is different to previous managers, even Lambert, is that he seems able to prepare the players in new tactics very quickly and thoroughly. When some of his predecessors made changes at short notice the players looked lost. Actually in Grant’s case they looked lost however long he had!
That suggests perhaps that one day Alex Neil could be a very successful international manager – the classic situation where you have little time to work with people and make them gel.
By the way, I doubt if it’s Ruddy’s own confidence that’s fragile, only the confidence of some fans in him.
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Keith – Fair point re Ruddy’s confidence. Probably true. Said sarcastic cheering still made me cringe though.
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Despite what some may think, I thought City played well yesterday. It may not have been pleasing on the eye, but they had a plan and stuck to it. The fact that Swansea didn’t muster a single shot on target supports my view.
I think the confusion may have arisen on the drop ball because one of the Swansea players didn’t seem to want us to simply “kick it back”. He was talking away Clattenburg and standing as if he was after a competitive drop ball, just like they used to be.
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Hey, whatever the pros and cons of the way we got the win yesterday, and the petty vendettas against certain players even when they’re out of the side, surely we can all join together and celebrate the misery being endured by QPR and Fulham?
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Good analysis, Gary.
Despite the Swans’ possession, John Ruddy didn’t have a save to make. No doubt many will praise our defenders, but for me the biggest reason was the work of Alex Tettey and Gary O’Neil in front of them – tireless, unspectacular, but highly effective.
Alex Neil has come up with very different, but equally clever, plans for the past two games. Execution let him down at the Etihad; yesterday it was spot on.
Now for the possible realisation of a true fantasy: Norwich win at Stamford Bridge, prompting the sacking of Jose Mourinho….
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I’m not sure if the cheers when Ruddy claimed a cross were ALL ironic. Some people were just trying to get behind him I think. Funny though, after all the Ruddy or Rudd chat during the week, as it turned out we could have stuck a corner flag in goal and still won the game!
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AN has certainly shown his mettle. After the loss against West Brom I was expecting a lacklustre cup performance and a heavy defeat at Man City. But AN was able to pick his troops up after that West Brom game and see them put in a decent performance and then almost steal a cheeky point at the Etihad.
This was a masterstroke and demonstrates that the players can also switch styles of play.
I’ve not seen Norwich look so comfortable this season.
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