1-0 wins courtesy of one moment of genius followed by rather more moments of undiluted brawn are rapidly becoming our thing; something that I’m fairly sure wasn’t on Daniel Farke’s CV when he arrived.
Yet wins at the Riverside, Bramall Lane, Portman Road, Ashton Gate and now Griffin Park have all been dug out in that very style. And in four of those five games, one James Maddison has been the one to provide the moment of genius.
That we had a very special talent on our hands was obvious from the day we signed him from Coventry City. A quick check on YouTube revealed this little blond lad who was six inches shorter than anyone else on the pitch but did things with a football most of us (and most of his opponents) can only dream about.
Along that very same path, some talented youngsters fall by the wayside, many in fact, but not Madderz. That precocious lad who made mincemeat out of his mates is now doing that very same thing to seasoned Championship professionals.
All too often we hear ‘no end product’ levelled at young players; plenty of tricks and flicks but an incommensurate number of goals and assists. Not with Madderz. He’s delivering right now by the bucketload; every dropped shoulder, every twist and turn and every goal adding to his already soaring value.
With only three days to go in the January window it now appears conceivable that he will still be here on Wednesday morning – although still time for a late buy and loan-back I guess – and how wonderful will it be if we can squeeze another three and a bit months out of this extraordinary young man.
Not since the days of Eadie, Sutton and Bellamy have we had such hot property on our hands and I’d even argue that Madderz has it within him to usurp the three of them in terms of how far he can go. That he’s a special talent is obvious; less so quite how much he ‘gets’ Norwich City and its supporters.
Unlike others who have departed the Fine City in haste – some in the very recent past – Maddison gives off the air of someone who actually likes being here and who has embraced everything the club and the fans stand for. And for all the swagger and flair he shows on the pitch, everything he does off it screams ‘humble’ and ‘grounded’. When he goes it will be with our best wishes.
Yet there was far more to admire yesterday than Maddison’s stunning strike, even if most of it had more to do with guts, bottle and desire than silky skills.
With Ivo Pinto falling victim to a getting-out-of-the-car injury, the right wing-back stripes were handed to Harrison Reed and, in the midst of a few question marks around his suitability to the role of Alex Tettey’s right hand man, the Southampton loanee turned in, in adversity, one of his best City performances.
Understandably, from a positional sense he wasn’t always on point and that a few too many crosses came in from the Brentford left in a nervy first-half spell was clear, but he dug in, listened to those around him and ended up being the very epitome of another away performance of organisation and steel.
The back three were simply magnificent in their efforts to repel the buoyant Bees and, with Angus only really being called into serious action late on, it was a rearguard action of composure and confidence. Despite soaking up long spells of home pressure it was void of too many dramas and largely free of the shredded nerves that have accompanied some of the other away wins. There is now a belief and an expectation of clean sheets.
I’ve made clear my reservations around a back three – ‘often vacates too much space out wide’ blah de blah – but yesterday that extra body in the box when the flak was flying was invaluable. I lost count of the number of times a flying Klose, Zimmermann or Hanley blocked and tackled, and despite having 22 shots, the Bees only troubled Angus six times. Ratios like that don’t happen by accident.
Another surprising hero emerged… a Portuguese one who has built himself a reputation for being a bit selfish and stroppy. One who has been accused in the past of not putting in a shift. Yet a new side of Nelson Oliveira was on show yesterday; the chaser of lost causes, the battler, the take-one-for-the-team kind of guy. And fair play.
The presence of one Dennis Srbeny on the bench may, of course, had something to do with it, but regardless of its source, more performances of a similar ilk will hopefully yield a reward or two in the form of some goals.
As it transpired only Moritz Leitner of our three German additions made it into the fray but the presence alone of those new faces will have played their part in yesterday’s win, with there now being a renewed vigour and freshness around the place, in addition to the increased competition for places.
Oddly, still some found cause for complaint – frustrated apparently at City’s lack of “grip” on yesterday’s game – but this was a very decent Brentford outfit who are extremely well drilled and were unbeaten at Griffin Park in 14 games. Those who scoff at wins in that context are detached from the reality of where Norwich City is as a football club right now.
Yesterday’s win also brought about the added bonus of pulling level on points with that lot; again not something to be scoffed at given the significant points advantage they’ve enjoyed (and gloated over) for most of the season.
However, with Boro up next at Carrow Road an altogether different challenge awaits, and while Farke has proven yet again that he’s learned how to set up a side to grind out wins away from Carrow Road on a consistent basis, the big question marks over being sufficiently creative at home remain.
Only when that particular circle has been squared can we look up the table with any serious intent, but with those three German shots in the arm arriving this week, perhaps, just perhaps, all is not yet lost.
In the odd, helter-skelter word of the Championship some strange things happen.
Top piece Gary.
As you suggest, you’ll never please some fans.
While fully appreciative of our defensive resolve, I was also certainly frustrated by City’s lack of “grip”at times. Too often we were offering up possession far to cheaply to Brentford, just inviting further pressure back on ourselves. Of course, it was a minor irritant in the context of much that was good in yesterday’s game – but is something we should be looking to improve upon. OTBC.
Ball retention has to be better Gaz … agree with that.
Merson summed it up on Sky – in the first half, he couldn’t understand why we weren’t in the playoffs, but the way we gave the ball away in the second half, he knew why we we’re where we are in mid-table. He was however, very complimentary about our defensive qualities.
Having last season complained about the goals we gave away, Daniel Farke seems to have resolved that issue. I hope that with his continued effort we’ll get back to banging them in at the other end. Maybe Sir Bennie’s arrival will help that!
I certainly agree that our possession could have been better in the second half, but I also always felt that we were in control of the game, because despite their possession Brentford actually created virtually nothing.
Absolutely agree. The best teams in this division have the ability to soak up lots of pressure, especially away from home, and counter attack with pace and then score at the top end when it really matters. 29 goals for in 29 games illustrates perfectly where we’re lacking this season.
I’m all for winning 1-0 away, it’s one of my favourite results. Yesterday’s win was one of the best of the season; Brentford were unbeaten at home since the first game of the season and on form and beat us convincingly at Carrow Road.
I’m looking forward to seeing the new recruits, none of whom I know anything about- I wonder how long it will be till we sign someone I do know about.
Anyway, onwards and hopefully upwards
Fine words Gary, I echo the sentiment regarding Maddison. The laughable suggestion that he could be on his way to West Ham for 12 million quid is as insulting as it is pure London speculation. I read that Fulham have told West Ham that the price for cairney is 40 million. Fair play to them.
This most bizarre season continues apace with yet another most un-Norwich city like away triumph, full of defensive resolve, potent forward play and obdurate determination and sheer bloody mindedness. Stark contrast to the efforts at home this season which offer few if any of those traits, particularly the attacking intent and potency.
The three centre halves are the holy trinity – Farke has recognised the strength in that position and utilised it to good effect. Klose has always been a supe player in my eyes, even during last season when many saw him as a weak link, including the manager, we got our money’s worth with Hanley, granite hard, no nonsense with a good cv. As for Zimmermann, how on earth was this man playing fourth tier football last season? Facets of his game previously unseen are surfacing as he grows into his role.
It is hard to comprehend how poor we look at home in comparison. Is it simply the extra room afforded Maddison by an opponent driven forward by a home crowd? What element is missing at carrow road that would make us as formidable as on our travels? The slow starts, the ponderous play, the sloppy passing – if only Farke could eliminate it from our play. Starting next Saturday please mr Farke.
“What element is missing at carrow road that would make us as formidable as on our travels? The slow starts, the ponderous play, the sloppy passing ”
Or the way the opposition set up?
It’s very tempting to assume everything that goes on in a game is entirely within our own control, simply because we are only really interested in what the team in yellow are doing.
Never forget that there are two teams out there, and most of the others in this division have experienced managers who can coax good performances out of journeymen players – and that includes sides like Burton and Bolton.
Still, whatever the answer is, Farke needs to find it, soon.
Much as after the Bristol game everyone’s obviously delighted with another hard-earned away win.
I think people are probably happy with the way we’ve gone about the transfer window too – I certainly am. All the moves in either direction seem to have been thought through and put in place without waiting until the last minute.
But Farke is not going to get the unconditional backing of the majority of fans i.e. the 20+k who go to Carrow Rd every other week, until he finds away of entertaining them, or at least winning more than 1 in 3 there. We are currently 19th on home games, 5th away. If Boro , come along next week, when we won’t have had a midweek cup match to wear us out, and still dominate the game, we’ll have gone backwards again.
A good, solid result and one that can be built on, but again relied on another moment of brilliance from James Maddison. Quite where we would be without him the season doesn’t bear thinking about. The goal was sheer class and hasn’t done any harm to his increasing value.
The concern is for me and many others is where are the goals going to come from when he leaves, especially as Farke’s system has negated the reliance on a striker. Progressive? Possibly, but goals have to come from somewhere when he is gone – which hopefully will not be in the next couple of days – but the lad deserves to play on the best stage and has outgrown his surroundings in the short space of time he has been here. It will be very interesting to see what the board does with his transfer fee as it will be quite substantial.
An excellent result and a decent performance. If the three amigos we’ve brought in can step up then maybe, just maybe, a playoff place isn’t impossible. But our current attacking threat is poor. Even with Nelson’s improved work rate yesterday, we didn’t overly threaten considering how much we were in their half.
The second half we weathered the storm well, but were lucky they were completely incompetent at taking freekicks.
Also – Can anyone confirm that Farke is trying to say “determine” in his interviews?
Hi Gary
Very good read and summary of the game, even with Dean Smith saying that Brentford controlled the game from start to finish.
From what I read Leitner when he came on for the second half improved the ball retention, I know at present it is only a loan move but do we have a buying clause just incase he proves himself in the championship.
Hope Srbeny will get some game time this weekend scored 9 in 15 and setup 8 in 15 assists so maybe after getting a bit more familiar with the city set up he could turn cities home record this season round.
Onel Hernandez was surprised at all the build up he got then not a few minutes in the game maybe not match fit.
Anyway lets see if the powers that be can pull another player out of the gat before Wednesday? ???????
I agree with most of what you say here Gary it was indeed a sterling effort and the three centre backs were exceptional. My only disagreement with you is over Oliveira. Yes he did chase a few balls down the channels but too many times he just walks away when the ball is lost. Josh had an indifferent game but he appeared left and right chasing to get the ball. My view is that far from providing the attacking threat we need Oliveira does exactly the opposite. Too many good moves end when he receives the ball. If we want to maximise our attacking options from the likes of Murphy and others then we need a central striker who is a team player as well as a goalscoring threat.