That we came away from Carrow Road feeling disappointed at not picking up a point speaks volumes.
So too that Frank Lampard’s Chelsea celebrated at the end as if the league title had just been clinched.
As deserved as their three points were, they’d been in a game and they knew it, and for all of those reasons, we should continue to feel proud.
Equally, no-one can deny City came up just short – something not wholly unexpected against a side who came third last season and who won the Europa League.
We were all guilty of getting a little giddy after the Newcastle game and the feeling that ‘anything is possible’ was irresistible after last Saturday’s performance, but it only took two and a bit minutes for Tammy Abrahams to remind us that this was to be a very different type of afternoon.
To coin a phrase, it’s not games like these that will define our season. Any points collected against the so-called top six are bonus points, and in the brutal world of Premier League survival there are 26 games that have to be targeted in which to collect the 40-ish points required.
That Chelsea had started slowly in terms of getting points on the board had, in some ways. lulled us into a false sense of security but as Andy Jacobs reminded me in our pre-match chat, their performance levels, other than the second half against Leicester when the fatigue of the Super Cup Final in Istanbul had kicked in, had been good.
In fact, what he also said, and which didn’t make the finished piece, was that if Chelsea had had Teemu Pukki up top they’d have won a couple of games by now. Well now, to our cost, they’ve found their Pukki.
And even without the now-departed Eden Hazard, this is an Abramovich-funded club of exotic proportions and the quality they possess in every single area of the pitch is on a different plane to anything we encountered last season. Only Liverpool and Man City come close in terms of financial outlay.
So for little ol’ Norwich to go toe-to-toe with them and end up the width of a crossbar away from earning a point is a decent effort in my book, and offers a more-than-decent platform to build on for the remaining 35 games.
For City to be under the pump for long spells was not really a surprise, neither was the fact we were unable to keep and recycle the ball with the ease we did against Newcastle. In fact, the most disappointing aspect of the whole afternoon was nothing to do with the performance but instead the reaction to it.
The crowd’s immediate response upon Martin Atkinson’s final whistle was stirring. Most appreciated the fact it was a sterling but ultimately fruitless effort that had stayed true to the new way in terms of method, style and application.
And then Canary Call happened.
A bloke called Gary (I know) was, when I turned on the radio, lamenting the fact the club had not splashed the cash in the summer and was generally getting uppity over the fact we hadn’t smashed a Chelsea side who were apparently “there for the taking”.
Worse was to come when resident expert Greg Downs – who in fairness disagreed with the “there for the taking” line – doubled-down on the lack of summer spending, citing the negligence of not signing another centre-back to bolster a squad that conceded 57 goals last season.
Well, Mr Downs – I have news. We scored 93 at the other end. And part of that reason is that we played an attacking brand of football that necessitated getting our full-backs high up the pitch. We didn’t concede 57 goals because we have poor centre-backs, we conceded them because of the way we play.
Plonk Virgil van Dyck and Harry Maguire in the heart of our defence and still they’ll be occasionally exposed. It’s how we do it, and it’s worked quite well for us so far.
That’s not to say our centre-backs don’t make errors, and there’s no doubting that Grant Hanley got his feet and his body position in a bit of a muddle when Abraham’s clever movement created the shooting chance for Chelsea’s third goal, but it was also a classic case of a lack of bodies as they hit City on the counter. The price we pay sometimes for how we play.
But it was a rare blemish on an otherwise fairly solid afternoon for Hanley and while it’s only right to point out the costly errors – like Max Aarons’ wayward pass that led to Mason Mount’s goal – there’s no benefit in players being called out after just three games, especially when two of them have been against the Champions League and Europa League champions.
I don’t expect the Hanley/Ben Godfrey partnership to endure for the whole season when Tom Klose and Christoph Zimmermann both reach full fitness, but his whole-hearted approach has my backing for as long as he wears the shirt.
Others too, in the wake of defeat, came under the microscope and I again found myself defending Marco Stiepermann who, with Hanley, is in danger of becoming the latest holder of the Russell Martin trophy.
That he and Tom Trybull and Emi Buendia – who incidentally was involved in both goals yesterday – have not been able to make the same impact against European champions as they did against Championship opposition is no surprise surely?
The players are operating in a different playing field now. The intensity is such that mistakes will be made. “Get him off” every time an error is made helps no-one.
On the plus side of course is we scored twice and refused to allow the strutting kings of the King’s Road too much time to parade their exotic plumage. Pukki scored again because that’s what Pukki does, but it was a special moment for Todd Cantwell, whose progress continues apace. Well done lad. Be proud.
So, no points but pride aplenty and still nothing to suggest this lot are not here for the long haul.
Morning Mr G, nothing to be down about, if someone had told me in July we would stand toe to toe with Chelski and take them to the wire I would have possibly laughed. However I did always feel they were going to score when they got near our box. Far better centre backs have struggled at this level so, criticism of Grant Hanley, he was a terrace hero not so long back
As for Macro, In truth he has not hit the ground really running, he looked a little off the pace, but after a couple of more games he will nail it. However given that I would have possibly let Roberts lose on them, not Srbeny. Not a downer on the German, just not seen a lot from him to suggest he is a better option. more a case of needs must.
I didn’t think Emi was firing that full bore, Farke said as much, yet he has assists in 3 games isn’t at all bad, look out Premier league when he does hit top gear.
My biggest grumble came from TV (cough Expert cough) Chris Sutton, what is his problem, never heard an ex canary so down on his old club. Everything Var got right, he disagreed. Marco clearance in the box should have been a penalty when he caught a player with a slight touch on the knee…. Abrahams was fouled near the touch in the build up to our first. , Godfrey stamped on a player in getting the ball for free kick. Abrahams was fouled on the touchline in the lead up to our first. Macro should have been sent off. And their disallowed goal, he blamed Krul saying he should be stronger, even when resident ref made the point he had two hands on the ball.
So another case of tv pundit favoring the big club to sound good on the box. another case of ignore the noise… Cities Newsnow page is full of praise for Master Lampard and his team.. Hardly anything about us. , despite the fact we exposed a weakness in the European champions defence, Then we take Europa Champions to the wire and put two past them, really a draw would have been a much fairer result.
Expected nothing else.. avoided MotD ..
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If you think Sutton is down on City, you haven’t heard Danny Mills ever! There is one ungrateful little so and so. He got his big chance playing for us, but never seems to acknowledge it – a bit like Andy Townsend.
You should have watched MOTD – lots of love for FL’s Chelsie, but still acknowledged that we had played well. Not only that, on first, ahead of Liverpool v Arsenal!
I for one am not downhearted – bring on the rest of them!
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I have heard DannyWho Mills But like many supposed pundits I try and avoid. I could not help with Sutton he was co commentator on BT yesterday. I cannot stand the crew they have on there. having watched the full game I decided replaying Lost was a better bet for me and the TV .
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Totally agree with your fine summary,I couldn’t take my usual place in the lower Barclay as I had my prostate out on Tuesday,so had to rely on radio Norfolk,I like Chris Gorham and think he does I really good job but Greg Downs, oh dear oh dear, considering the amount of work he gets on radio Norfolk you would like to think he has grasped some idea of the clubs new philosophy, his negative ” expert comments” throughout the game really annoyed. Get Mark Rivers on he is pro city and that’s fine in my option on your local station.
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Nice work Gary.
A few thoughts:
Stieperdude: his defensive headers were called upon more than once to save our bacon! Link up play – outstanding. He does look as if he does not have the inner belief of last year, still caught in the Premier League headlights, give him time and that sweet left boot will come into play.
Defence: I do worry about the wing backs defensively and the lack of pace Hanley has to cover Max, no such worries down the left but Jamal needs to spend some time with Todd learning some new trickery to get around defenders or use more pass and move, fast. Oh, Ben GOD from now on, he is fast moving into Deity status.
2nd half, no control of the ball – need a solution – we had one, right defending, strong tackling in numbers. Only issue is they countered our counter.
Could go on but the midfield and Teemu were fantastic and gave as good, if not better, than they got from Chelsea. Their defence definitely looked the difference.
I was disheartened briefly but on reflection, as you say, proud of the lads. Oh and Canary Call, whilst fabulous entertainment, should not be taken as a thermometer reading of all the fans. I have come to realise it’s just the natural reaction of the Canary follower to moan, shout hoof it long, and Get it out, but they soon cheer the lads on.
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I’ve been on Canary Call a couple of times as a ‘gud ole Norfolk boy’ just to lighten things up a bit, you do have to treat that call in as a moaners safety valve and a bit of sillyness. Most fans expected us to lose but knew the lads would give their their best to the very end. The land of milk and honey that is the Prem may top up the coffers but it’s a hard road to travel, there’s no pleasure in losing. Still we are where we are and there will be good days. OTBC.
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Hanley is improving and was better than Aarons and Lewis this time out. Klose would not be an improvement for me. He would not be any better with fast, tricksy players running at him with ball at feet. With our wing backs constrained and our midfield edged out, especially during the second half, Norwich did wonderfully well. You felt that either defence could be breached at any time. Godfrey became so frustrated that he eventually decided to show the wing backs how to do it. I thought that header was in….Godfrey for Captain soon me thinks. He was the Norwich leader today. These aren’t quite coping….i will have to do it myself….and he so nearly did!
Very exciting because Norwich have potential for improvement yet. This was all about levels that Norwich are still striving to reach. Made up for Cantwell. Chelsea won handily in the end and saw the match out using age-old, tried and trusted tricks that frustrated Farke. Tricks that Farke will learn to use when the situation is reversed. The experience and learning goes on. West Ham will be mighty tough, but Norwich will come again and give it their all. OTBC
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I was at the match and was again very proud of our boys. It was disappointing not to get a point, but our season won’t be defined by games against teams like Chelsea. I switched off Canary Call – Greg Downes annoyed me so much. I remember very well him saying that we weren’t good enough to get promoted when we first went top last season. He is so dismissive of our defence but we stood strong against wave after wave of Chelsea attacks in the second half, only getting caught out on the counter. Every match is a learning curve for our young team, and how marvellous was it for Todd to get off the mark in the Prem! OTBC
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A good synopsis of events yesterday Mr Gowers. A first half played at astonishing pace in sub tropical temperatures, the star of the show was undoubtedly Ross Berkeley. City clearly punching above our weight with players who are yet to come to terms with the additional quality that we are facing in these early games, everything I have seen to date suggests that we will learn those lessons quickly. I agree the Emi still looks a little star struck but is still chipping in with some really good creative touches for the “goat”. Lewis looked a little off the pace yesterday but late in the second half we went to three at the back with Aaron’s switched to play in front of Lewis. I liked the look of that and wonder whether that could be a tactic used more in the future. It would be interesting to hear people’s thoughts on that. Finally a question I raised on a previous article was “ who or what triggers the high press”.
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What is going on with Patrick Roberts?
From what I read he looked good in pre-season and he’s clearly a talented lad. Yet even with Hernandez and Drmic injured he can’t get on the bench ahead of Srbeny. His loan in Italy last year doesn’t look to have been very successful, and so far he’s not played a minute for us. Presumably he will play at Crawley on Tuesday,
Is there just a hint that we’ve another David Bentley on our hands, or does he just not quite fit our system?
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Keith;
I suspect given his huge potential Herr Farke didn’t want to become somewhat reliant on him early in the season – given that he is not able to play in the first game after the international break….which could then disrupt the team ethos. I think that post September 14th he will become an integral part of the team in the way Emi Buendia did last season.
O T B C
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I thought we put in another decent performance and I still feel that we will pick up more points than at least 3 teams this season. What was interesting was how we did not see players drop back to cover for our attacking full backs which I would assume is a mark of how creative a club like Chelsea would be in terms of pace and occupying the players who would otherwise drop back. Although Chris Goreham is a decent commentator (listen to him when you are actually at a match and you will see his anticipation is very accurate), I avoid Radio Norfolk like the plague, Canary Call is such a disappointment as they line up “characters” rather than fans with something to say even if you disagree. Therefore I was not aware of the comments by Downs, I can understand the wish to invest but we have to pay for last season first and maybe investment in the squad will come further down the line but as a reminder Ipswich sold Mings for £8m, 4 years later and a mere 17 PL appearances plus a few injury and discipline problems he is worth over £20m maybe this is why we looked to the loan market rather than the purchase market. As for Sutton, I am not sure why some fans have an issue with him, I recorded the match and listened to a few elements, it suggests someone who played as a striker wanting to see more decisions going their way. He nailed his colours to the Norwich mast last season. I think there is a feeling amongst a certain subsection of our support that he says things with do not agree with the party line, for instance in 2016 he pointed out that despite being clear of relegation we needed to start picking up points at home again, cue outrage from our fans but he was right as we gained 1 point out of 33. At the time he sounded frustrated and angry and demonstrated the feelings that most fans have.. I will keep an ear open for his general comments about us, I would expect them to be generally positive
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You have to admire the Chelsea gameplan which in the first half was press in midfield and it forced mistakes that lead to goals. We worked it out and went to to toe. In the second half they extended that press higher up the field which made it difficult to play Farkeball. And still lead to thankfully unpunished mistakes. The field tended to get narrower too meaning the full backs couldn’t assist as much as normal.
I felt that sometimes we tried to be too elaborate which hindered rather than helped forward progress.. I never felt we felt comfortable in that 2nd half even though we hit the bar. We weren’t able to get the ball to Pukki with much consistency
The defenders lay their bodies on the line several times.
Its unfair to pick on Hanley he mostly was no worse than any of the other defending at times. Steiperman hasn’t matched that level of attacking flair that made him dangerous, yet.. though in all that we scored twice and 6 goals in 3 games might normally mean a higher table position!
The other thing I noticed was the size of the Chelsea squad. Abraham is tall Barkley like is prize fighter. No wonder Trybull Buendia and Leitner often had problems both getting the ball and dribbling past the Chelsea midfielders.. losing the ball or giving it away was an unwelcome feature of yesterday and against a team like them it proved to cost us
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For the avoidance of doubt, that ‘Gary’ wasn’t me either.
City could probably count themselves unlucky that Pedro was injured pre-match because his replacement, Ross Barkley, proved immense.
As for City’s performance, more than happy with the approach to the game. This progressive, attack minded philosophy is likely to bring as many points as plaudits, even if some so called experts still seem stuck in the 1980’s.
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Greg Downs is a legend. Who are you. If City had obtained another centre-back then the results at both Liverpool and Chelsea could have been different. Godfrey has been excellent but we knew we had two injured centre-backs. As Farke says – details matter – not blind faith.
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He is indeed a legend, Tony. Loved him as a cavaliering left-back. It’s okay to disagree with his punditry though, right?
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Actually Gary and indeed Tony I think “legend” flatters Greg Downes a little.
Hucks, Holty, Wes, Keelan, Martin Peters? sure. They are true Canary legends and so are several others.
Downes? nah.
Not to me anyway.
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Given all the negativity surrounding City after defeat to the 2 teams which won Europe’s top trophies last season, how many of these so called experts actually know where we were at this time in 2018??
The progress has been remarkable and amazing.
To have so many young players performing in a team whose coach has the inner belief to carry on playing the way we were 12 months ago is little short of fantastic.
Personally, when the fixtures were announced, I would have been well pleased with 3 points from the first 3 games.
Oh, and Ben Godfrey……what a performance yesterday, and how unfortunate that header didn’t go in. We/he might then have got some praise from MoTD.
O T B C
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I think yesterday was a good lesson in concentration. Quality teams like Chelsea do not let up and will immediately take advantages of any lapses.
Krul was berating the team on several occasions to concentrate on the job in hand and this is where his experience is invaluable.
After what has happened it’s difficult to fault Farke but I do think he leaves it too late when making substitutions. Ten minutes doesn’t allow players time to get up to speed and as a consequence are less effective.
I thought Godfrey was immense yesterday and I hope we retain his services for the entire season. Is there a better young central defender in the league?
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Re the moaners. They were utterly outnumbered amongst the 27K (- the away support) who rose as one @ the final whistle. My only quibble yesterday was the Chelsea players going down all over the place 2nd half. Pathetic (but it worked for them). Certainly not sporting
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Klose injured again now.
Downs was right!
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