Well, at least I felt able to brave Match of the Day last night. That’s progress isn’t it?
Albeit I hadn’t banked on the incoherent, non-committal, ramblings of Roy Hodgson, even though his only comment on events at Carrow Road was to dismiss the chances of Mark Noble making the Euros.
Instead it was left to Alan Shearer to dissect City’s latest series of defensive calamities.
And there’s the story… again. A single point for the Canaries when three were agonisingly there for the taking.
As buoyed as we all were by a much-improved City performance, there’s no escaping that points are being shipped at a similar rate to goals. And with every passing game without a win the margin for error reduces.
When we beat Southampton the equation for safety was five wins from 18 games, which – at the time at least – appeared do-able. Now make that five from 12 and we’re well and truly into the realms of Fergie’s squeeky-bum territory.
Ironically, despite it feeling like a defeat, Newcastle’s ongoing tendency to implode when in the vicinity of ‘that London’ meant that we actually managed to lift ourselves out of the bottom three.
If being just one hour 45 minutes from the capital by train will be enough to strike fear into Geordie hearts will only be revealed on April 2 but the fact that they and their north-east neighbours have yet to make the trip to the Norfolk’s London overspill remains significant.
Regardless of what happens between now and early April, both games will be adorned with the ‘massive’ moniker from every angle. So too the trip to Swansea on March 5, the thought of which gives me the ‘Fergies’ as I write.
Whether it’s possible to, in the space of just a few weeks, plug the holes in a defence that’s never recovered from the inactivity of the summer transfer window remains a moot point but for City to survive it simply has to happen.
Since August our back four has been the bike tyre that constantly keeps getting punctured and patched up only for another thorn to strike a week later. It’s a cycle (sorry…) that perpetuates almost regardless of Alex’s chosen combination of defenders.
That we’ve had more right-backs than clean sheets speaks volumes.
But, of course, it’s not just about individual defenders. It’s also about how the team defends as a unit. And right now that’s not happening to the level needed to win Premier League points. Not even close.
For three players to get attracted to the ball when at the feet of the silky-skilled Andy Carroll, while leaving Dimitri Payet the freedom of the penalty area was asking for trouble. Ditto giving England non-starter Noble a free strike under no pressure whatsoever.
And then there was the horror and panic that appeared to set in when defending the pace and power of Victor Moses – the key component of the Irons’ comeback. It won’t have gone unnoticed in the north-east and South Wales.
In the words of MotD commentator, John Roder; “… that was all so easy for West Ham – the Norwich defending was non-existent.”
Whether or not it’s too late in the day to be scratching around for positives is up for debate but given there actually were some I’ll give it a go.
The return of John Ruddy was probably the right decision and he did offer a comforting presence, one that came with almost universal approval. I’ll avoid the obvious (lame) joke about his well-executed punch when clearing the penalty box in a late goalmouth scramble but suffice to say he’ll be a shoo-in for the Leicester game.
Nathan Redmond – him of the questionable decision making – did, despite his critics again being in full voice, have an impact on the game and offers natural width and thrust that is beyond the capabilities of Jonny Howson.
The Yorkshireman meanwhile looked more than at home in the centre of the pitch and was, for me, City’s man-of-the-match. His duel, alongside Gary O’Neil, with Song and Noble for control of the centre of the pitch was compelling and in that form Howson is right up there with Noble and Danny Drinkwater in the ‘English midfielder to be overlooked by Hodgson’ stakes.
Wes too, back in the ‘number 10’ role, proved again that only if played off the main striker and given plenty of the ball he can hurt teams.
Unfortunately the flip-side saw Steven Naismith handed the unenviable peripheral wide-left role – something Everton fans had warned us against – and although he did contribute to the second goal it meant there was still at least one square peg where a square peg shouldn’t be.
It was a compromise on the part of the manager in order to get his most attacking players on the pitch and, on this occasion, was one that nearly worked.
So, more defensive woes to agonise over and despite an attacking performance to almost be proud of it was another case of what might have been. The big worry now is over its potential impact on the belief and to squander a two-goal lead for the second time in three home games must leave some questioning where the next win is coming from.
But we’re out of the bottom three, have at last moved off 23 bloody points and are unlikely to see Hodgson darken the doors of BBC Salford ever again. So it’s not all bad.
“On the Ball City…”
You’re bang on about it feeling like a defeat Gary and I came away yesterday feeling very similar to the previous squandering of a two goal cushion. Same old same old with the right side of our defence non existent at crucial moments and AN persisting with players who just aren’t good enough or continuing with his square peg strategy. You call it compromise but I see it as poor team selection on his part and it’s going to get us relegated for sure, time for a change in my opinion!
What on earth must Patrick Bamford be thinking having swapped a bench at Selhurst Park for one at Carrow Road. I don’t have a problem with either Jerome or Mbokani but neither of them have torn up any trees this season so surely it’s got to worth giving the lad a go. Apologies for being so downbeat but all I can see at the moment is us limping towards the Championship with a manager who appears unable to change things.
Losing a 2 goal lead again at first seemed unfortunate, rotten luck but it’s actually just incompetent and is likely to happen again because of the WAY Norwich defend.
1. First West Ham goal very similar liverpools equaliser against us. We press way to high when winning the game with no defenders left in our half. The opponents break and then it’s a straight sprint between their FAST attackers and our SLOW defenders. Why do we invite that when we know our defenders are slow, whatever happened to parking the bus?
2. We have to man mark. Let me repeat that – we have to man mark. We have too many players ball watching and sucked towards the ball and runners are LEFT TOTALLY FREE. There must be a captain at the back ORGANISING, directing and running the defence and making sure opposing players are marked.
3. We have to close opposing shots down faster, braver. Simple basic skill of defending is you shut block shots come what may by throwing yourself towards the ball.
Norwich were not unlucky they were incompetence.
West Ham had 4 (repeat four) one on ones in the final quarter hour. That is absurdly high and due to our method of defending which is flawed and until it is changed it will keep happening.
So in summary:
Don’t play a high line and a ” clever”offside trap, park the bus and don’t leave space in behind us.
Man Mark players/track runners and don’t ball watch.
Make sure shots are blocked with players racing out to do so not standing statically.
Basics really.
While I share the view on Ruddy, and particularly Howson, the view on Redmond is misplaced. Watch the build-up to West Ham’s first goal. Redmond pulls out of a tackle on the edge of penalty area. Our defense is absolutely too weak for the premiership. However failing to defend as a team places the defence under intense pressure. Redmond is a passenger offensively and a liability defensively. Failing to make short passes to teammates, unable to beat a man with his ‘pace’ and not showing for his teammates makes me believe Redmond is out of his depth. His defensive frailties leave us exposed. As does Neil’s inexperience in persisting with him. Neil has to take responsibility for the defeat. He is defensively a poor coach and his substitutions leave a lot to be desired. Dorran’s for Hoolahan was the right substitution, just 18 minutes too late. Playing Bamford up top for Redmond, with Jerome filling in on the right would have shored up the right hand side that Moses exploited. Neil needs a experienced wingman. #neilineptdefensively.
Fickle fickle fickle, joke fans slagging off Alex Neil clear off and cheer on Man City where you can watch your side win every week. If we parked the bus we wouldn’t have scored the two goals in the first place. We played well it was a good game to watch why can’t we get behind the squad instead of slagging off. If we don’t win we’re the worst team ever if we do it’s because AN listened to you lot. Before the game most people were saying it was a good team selection then when we lose it was wrong selection any any fool can be wise after the event. I long for the day when I can write something positive to these blogs saying how marvellous our fans were getting behind the club. Actually i’m perhaps being a bit harsh I guess it’s only a few keyboard warriors i’m talking about who have probably never kicked a ball competitively in their lives or managed a football team but know it all. P.s not aimed at you Gary I enjoy reading your articles p.p.s yes I have played and managed.
Matt(3) – “Neil has to take responsibility for the defeat.” I know it might have felt like a defeat but we did draw the game!
While slating our players for letting 2 points slip, credit must go to the opposition manager and players for their fight back. They are a top 8 side who’ve won away at bigger clubs than us. Two draws against them on paper is a fine achievement but of course it should have been 6 points.
I’m highly anxious for our trip to Leicester but then I was last season when the team/club were in turmoil and we had to go to a rampant, table-topping Bournemouth. We found inspiration that day, so why not in 2 weeks time?
I hope Ryan Bennett is back in favour for that one.
I can’t work out if we were unlucky to drop the two points or lucky to get the one. I’m leaning towards the latter. We may have been two up, late in the game, but were we a bit lucky to be there, or a bit lucky that West Ham only scored two during the whole game?
I’m also in two minds about Redmond. I tend to think of the things he *could* do if he was firing on all cylinders, but when I think of the things he has actually done this season there aren’t too many I can think of.
The worst thing about the weekend was seeing how improved Sunderland look. If we could write off the bottom two teams (like many had) things would look a bit rosier, but, the Mackems have not only strengthened but had been building some form before that and now look a far better side than they were.