Only in the final countdown will the value of yesterday’s point at Brentford become clear, but given the general paucity of performance and adversity that was overcome to earn it, it feels like it could be a significant moment.
On Saturday, against FLDC, they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, but given the way events at Griffin Park panned out, this has to be viewed as a point gained, especially with Leeds and West Brom both losing. The real beneficiaries of yesterday were Sheffield United… unfortunately.
But, as Daniel Farke no doubt impresses upon his men on a daily basis, time spent analysing and agonising over the results of others is futile, and what’s simply needed (although it’s far from simple) is to ride out this difficult spell while still picking up points.
And that’s exactly what they’re doing.
Minus some of our big-hitters, two more of whom were forced to depart the fray yesterday, Farke’s resources are being stretched to the limit, yet still, somehow from somewhere, this bunch find the mental resolve to dig out results from the unlikeliest of scenarios.
As always, the post-match analysis could be a list of ‘what ifs’ – and there is no denying it could have been a very different half-time team talk for Farke if referee Gavin Ward’s vision had not been obscured when Teemu Pukki was poleaxed in the box at 0-0 – but it’s undeniable that for the opening 45 City looked leggy, jaded and off the pace.
By contrast, Brentford looked sharp, lively and progressive, and like a side whose form is on an upward curve – which is what they are. Neutral observers who were unaware of the respective backstories would have had the Bees, not the Canaries, pencilled in as promotion hopefuls.
There were mitigating factors of course for City’s struggle, but not all of them out of their control. The tired legs and sluggishness were the result of the heavy load over the Festive period, but Farke decided to give those who succumbed to that late horror show against Derby the chance to right the wrongs.
It was a brave, considered call that almost backfired, but still, I applaud the sentiment, in particular his decision to *not* remove Christoph Zimmermann from the firing line in preference to the fit-again Grant Hanley, but instead offer him an immediate chance to rebuild his shattered confidence.
Many questioned it – and after a hesitant opening half hour it was a valid concern – but the German grew into the game and emerged the better for it. Had he have been left to stew on the bench, or even back in Norwich, his mindset today at Colney would have been very different. Some called it a mistake; I call it good man management.
Yet the decision to make no changes may have ultimately contributed to the muscle injuries sustained by Marco Stiepermann and Alex Tettey, but with a threadbare squad Team Farke – sports scientists et al – have an unenviable balancing act to achieve: to not upset the rhythm and to pick up points, while trying to keep the squad fresh and energised.
It was a tough call, but ultimately City ended the half minus Stiepermann, with three of the back four on a yellow and having been under the cosh for long spells. To have gone in just a goal down and with still eleven men on the pitch was, as it transpired, something of a bonus.
The goal conceded needs little explanation other than to say it was the third goal in two games that came as a result of a corner. Much has been made of City’s variation on zonal marking but, personally, I have no problem with it if – big if – it’s executed properly.
From my probably overly simplistic viewpoint, it necessitates the defenders on the edge of the six-yard box defending their zones’ while the next bank of players – from the six-yard box to the penalty area – blocking off the runners, preventing them getting ‘the run’ on the zonal markers. Clearly, at least one element of this didn’t work yesterday and it looked horribly simple for the Bees to go ahead.
It just needs to be done better. Colney and corner routines will definitely be a thing over this next week or two.
But, having gone behind, it was the reaction to it that was most impressive, particularly after Farke had had half-time to clear the fuddled minds and tweak the formation to make City a more potent force. And while the second period didn’t see City at their fluent best, it was a vast improvement on what had gone before.
Urged on by the Yellow Army behind Bentley’s goal, it was a question of probing and probing until an opening was eventually forthcoming, and when it arrived, Timm Klose’s deflected header was just about what City deserved. Just about.
Still there was the threat of Brentford’s lively attack to quell – both before and after the equaliser – and can we now lay to rest the daft ‘Tim Krul isn’t good enough’ narrative after those two absolutely breathtaking second-half saves? Both were right out of the top drawer and were worth a goal at the other end.
That Dennis Sbreny nearly snatched it for City, with a left-footed shot he dragged inches wide, was a testament to this group’s desire and belief in going for the win, but defeat would have been harsh on Brentford.
So, a point, we edge closer to Leeds, and now have an FA Cup weekend over which player rotation can be used without the risk of compromising a promotion push.
2018 wasn’t so bad, was it? Okay, the nerves may be a bit shredded, but if day one of 2019 is anything to go by, then we’d better get used to it.
Never Mind the Danger
The shame is that the thing that stops us being top of the league is probably a floodlight failure…..oh well, second is ok and the point at Brentford looks like being one won rather than two lost.
The team is clearly exhausted and, like the previous international breaks, the FA Cup weekend could work in our favour.
As an aside, a win in the FA cup against Pompey would apparently delay our home match fixture with Sheff Utd. Which, as things are with injuries, could be vitally important. otbc!
Yes, and they play Barnet at Bramhall Lane so you would think at least one of us will make the 4th round.
I didn’t know that.
Anything that upsets that charming man Wilder & his cohorts is fine by me!
And if Sheffield United beat Barnet, the game would also have to be rearranged, regardless of our result against Pompey
Good piece Gary, this is certainly a tough time and any point is welcome. Bearing in mind our ever growing list of injuries I’m a bit mystified as to why we would choose this point in time to offload Matt Jarvis for the rest of the season. We’ve got him fit and now we’re not going to get the benefit of his undoubted skills, I was really hoping that he might have a part to play in our quest for promotion. I have my doubts as to whether Walsall can afford all of his wages so is he another one (like Naismith at Hearts) that we’re paying for but getting no return from. In Naismiths case, I don’t think he ever really wanted to be here so maybe it’s best that he’s not around the place but I don’t think that’s the case with Jarvis. Surely a shorter term loan could have been sorted out giving us the possibility of a recall if needed, I understand that Matt needs some games and I wish him well but he’s been capped for England and we need all the good players we can muster at this time. Any thoughts on this?
Hi Bob
Gary might well have a different view but I would offer these thoughts.
Naismith was one of several Alex Neil mistakes – Wildschut was another – and I absolutely agree with your take on him.
With apologies to Walsall fans I think we have given Matt Jarvis an opportunity to earn one final contract – elsewhere, but certainly not with us. He’s 32 now and through absolutely no fault of his own his injury record is, frankly, abysmal.
He could come back for a couple of games and break down again which is obviously a risk Daniel Farke is not prepared to take.
As for the money I guess Stuart Webber takes the view that any grab-back on his wages is better than nothing. Same as with Naismith in that situation.
Our Connor Southwell wrote an excellent article on MFW recently in which he suggested that Jarvis should not be maligned through being a magnet for injuries, and almost all of our readers and writers agreed with Connor. I know I did.
The League One experience may serve Matt well – our Championship squad are complete modern athletes and the intensity would have surely proved too much for him.
I wish him all the best.
Totally agree Martin. Jarvis also has an interest in a football academy so there’s no harm in keeping on good terms with him if that’s what he’s going to concentrate on when he finally ahs to retire.
As for “one of several Alex Neill mistakes” I’m sure that along with Hughton’s RvW disaster this is the major reason we have restructured to bring in someone like Webber.
Interestingly both RvW and Naismith’s signings were very much welcomed by the majority of fans at the time as the sort of “ambitious” signings we should be making.
I’m with you, Martin, on the Matt Jarvis loan, I just typed a comment on this and when I got to the end I realised it basically said same as what you had put!!
I think I read somewhere that Naismith agreed to take a wage reduction to make the Hearts loan happen???
Hi John
There’s a lot of “samey” around at the moment which actually is great as it proves what a tight-knitted community us NCFC supporters really are.
As I’ve said elsewhere I had to chop out a reasonable chunk of tomorrow’s article and replace it with something else, purely so Gary and our readers didn’t think I was copying him. It’s just how it goes sometimes.
It’s great that we’re all pulling together just now, and whatever happens at the end of the season none of us can say we haven’t had full value for both our time and our money.
Fair points Martin, you may well be right that the drop down a division will be less of a strain on his body. I certainly agreed with Connor and hope my comments didn’t come across as maligning Matt in any way, no fault of his that he’s been dogged with injuries. My views are formed from a purely selfish NCFC point of view, Matt Jarvis is a seriously talented player and I just hope that we’re not throwing the baby out with the bath water as the saying goes. As stated in my first reply, I also wish him well.
I’m with the club on this one, if they can get part of his wages for 2-3 weeks before his next injury breakdown, it’s all money in the coffers. I have my doubts he’ll even make to the pitch for Walsall. I hope for Jarvis he can play and stay fit till the end of the season. But all previous evidence points to him being back in Colney sickbay before the average new year resolution is broken.
Bah!
I was surprised to see Jarvis shipped out, I would have preffered to seehim on a month’s loan and then bring him back to use, would hev been like a new signing.
I do think that Farke has over played , some players Tettey, Cantwell Steiperman even Pukki all were running mostly on fumes. There was cover for them all . But still we won a point and almost knicked it. If you can do that while not performing, shows a good team.
Krul has again silenced the moaners, I would like to see a few of them aknowledge his world class saves, that won us a point as much as Klose’s header.
I reckon there are more than a few limbs needing a good rest , hope to see a sprinkling of U23’s mixed in with a few fringe players on saturday . It will be a godsend to get McClean and Thompson back, they will be chomping to get going.
Blimey Lad if that comment isn’t a spoiler for my article tomorrow!
I had to knock out at least three paras from it as Gary had already said (almost exactly) the same thing in the same way.
So many of us feel exactly the same at the moment and that can only be good for the collective spirit.
Although we’d all love the season to end right now that can’t happen.
Let’s await the further spins of the Wheel of Fortune (metaphorical and financial).
Hi Gary
A great analyse of yesterday’s red button game.
I was thinking that maybe the comment by DF might have been mentioned (“My feeling is we were more or less not allowed to win’) a very snide remark at the Ref.
Over all city were extremely leggy and slow out of the blocks, the decision to stsy with the same players will have surprised many but as with you he had to show his confidence in them.
A point one but someone please explain Rhodes handball that pukki put away surely it was ball to hand.
Just a point or three :-
1. If we must have zonal marking, why do the zones not include putting a player on the line on the near post, leaving the keeper to cover the rest. If we had done that, Brentford wouldn’t have got that goal (but Klose wouldn’t have scored if they’d done the same!)
2. although Tettey wasn’t having a bad game, we seemed to get a lot more out of Trybul when he dropped into the defensive midfield role, rather than playing in the number 10 position.
3. Tim Krul certainly proved his worth, and loosing Stiepermannshowed just how much he brings to the side.
This was always going to be a tough period, but nobody in the top 7 is unbeaten in their last 5 games. Below that though Hull, Birmingham, QPR and Bristol City are so inevitably it’s all going to be very tight for a while.
Much is made of our defensive frailties – well again we’re not alone. There’s only really Pullisborough who are where they are through keeping it tight.
To have lost Lewis, Buendia and Leitner at the same time has been a massive blow, the latter two especially given their ability to run the show. Let’s hope that McLean is now fit and that Stiepermann and Tettey are only temporarily inconvenienced. The way the back four are picking up bookings there could be a suspension or two in the offing too.
I see WBA are reinforcing their defence with a PL loanee. I think they will win the league. If we can hold on to second I’ll be both surprised and delighted. Realistically 3rd or 4th seems the mostly likely slot for us.
Perhaps I’m just grumpy going back to work, but it seems to me that this great ‘fitness’ we’re meant to have only really works if the players aren’t injured. It’s well known that fatigue is a contributor to injury and it seems that some of these may have been avoidable with some simple rotation. The injury list is full of familiar faces.
It’s not like we’re doggedly sticking with a winning team (or defensively solid one) despite their obvious tiredness, we’ve won one in five. Plus we have people on the bench, many (or most) being Webber / Farke signings. Passlack, Hanley, Pinto, Trybull, Rhodes, Srebny and Marshall could all do jobs.
We’ve also sent Raggett and Franke out on loan. I’m not suggesting I’m a big Franke-o-phile and he’d revolutionize the team, but these are players purchased by this regime. How many defenders are we going to buy and not play?
We’ve still got an exceptionally good gap between us and 7th, but it’s disappointing how third has caught up over Christmas.
The pinkun just reminded me that Husband was a Webber/Farke signing..
Another defender we don’t play (for obvious reasons).