Ouch.
That one hurt. Big time.
It wasn’t just the defeat that took the wind from the sails – eleven defeats in 16 games says we’re more than adept at tasting defeat – but it was the manner of that second-half capitulation that cut deep.
‘December 8’ had been swirling around my mind for several weeks. I was fearful that Wilder’s mob would turn up and make painfully clear the strides that he and they have taken since last season while highlighting our own lack of progress.
But the win at Everton and a good performance against Arsenal, coupled with the Blades not winning in four, had allayed my fears slightly; so too after I’d done the pre-match Q&A for MFW with a United fan who was slightly less cock-a-hoop than normal.
But those fears were well-founded. Said Blades fan will be cock-a-hoop this morning.
That second half was everything I feared and more but was made all the more crushing after a first-half in which City were undoubtedly the better side, and played some really good stuff. The Blades, despite the excellent movement of Mousset and McGoldrick (sorry), were kept at arm’s length and were second best.
Alex Tettey’s goal was no more than City deserved and with a little more care and precision with the final ball, City could and probably should have gone in at the interval with a bigger lead. But they didn’t.
What followed was horrible.
Wilder clearly delved into his box of hairdryers and teacups and sent them airborne in the small confines of the away dressing room. And the response was emphatic.
No major changes to tactics. No significant changes in shape. But a massive increase in intensity and hunger, with emphasis on getting in City’s faces and deploying a high press that, in particular, would put pressure on Ben Godfrey and Christoph Zimmermann while in possession.
And when the Blades had possession themselves, there was a noticeable increase in tempo. The ball was shifted with more purpose and speed. With the ball out wide, it was back to their go-to method… to create a yard of space and whip in quality crosses.
No rocket science involved. City must have known it was coming, yet appeared totally ill-equipped to deal with it when it did.
From a Norwich perspective, starts to the second-half don’t come any uglier than the one we witnessed yesterday and even worse was the fact they never recovered from it. At no stage were they able to get even close to the levels they reached in the first half.
Both United goals were avoidable and the result of sloppy, careless defending but were the direct result of United’s high-octane start that scrambled the collective mind. The heads weren’t clear, the decision-making off-kilter.
Not for the first time, a double blow in double-quick time meant it was game over. No one in the ground believed that City could win the game from that losing position, including the players.
What followed was a tough watch. Devoid of belief. No rhythm. No tempo.
Worse still was the lack of physicality – a problem that became abundantly clear a few weeks ago and which we hoped had been addressed by having a Tettey or an Amadou in the base of the midfield. It hasn’t been.
Wilder’s men bullied City in that second half. Physically stronger, sharper of mind, the winners of nearly every 50/50. And while City may have huffed and puffed late on and drew a fine save out of an otherwise underworked Dean Henderson, it was on the whole comfortable stuff for Sheffield United. Their rock-solid defending has transferred seamlessly from Championship to Premier League.
Norwich, by contrast, have rarely been able to reproduce the football that swept them to title-winning glory last season. The reliance on fluidity and cohesion has taken too many blows for it to still work.
What was once liquid football is now staccato. The effect of low confidence and little self-belief.
Quite where we go from here is unclear in the still-raw aftermath of such a bruising defeat, but it’s certainly not the time to call it a day and resign ourselves to a return to the Championship.
Judging by yesterday’s second-half that may be the ultimate destination but there are enough people in and around that squad who will not want a Derby County-style relegation on their CVs. Those looking to further their careers, both on and off the pitch, will not want to be part of a long, painful, sorry slide to oblivion.
Ultimately, it may boil down to the fact that at this level this squad isn’t good enough to play the way they are being asked to. The evidence so far suggests this to be the case. But equally, there have been enough glimpses to suggest there is still a team in there.
The problem is, and has been, delivering a performance over 90 minutes plus, minus any errors. Unless that can be rectified we have a tough six months incoming.
As for VAR… I don’t have the strength.
Very nicely summarised Gary. They came out fighting in the second half and we were on the ropes, unable to lay a glove on them. We probably should have been knocked out well before the end.
I’m not sure what the answer is. Are we simply not good enough?
I was watching the game on an international link and the summariser said that he had talked to Delia before the game. She was telling him how happy she was with how things are going at the club! I’m quite a fan of the owners, but I think we should be aiming higher than this.
About as well put as you could Gary. For once I left a couple of minutes early yesterday as I’d witnessed what might have been with an owner capable of even modest investment by premier league standards rather than cut price Delia.
Doubtless Delia is pleased with events because for the first time she has managed to relegate us before Christmas, a new personal best.
I’m afraid the biggest threat to this club is her continued ownership. Having demonstrated she cannot fund us establishing ourselves in the premier league she has failed to notice the recently published accounts which demonstrate that she would be unable to support the club for a lengthy period in the championship.
What are we going to do next year in the championship without Pukki, Godfrey and probably the two young full backs as they will need to be sold to subsidise her continued reign.
Forget the nonsense about a community self funded club which is proving to be embarrassingly inadequate and move to the Leicester model which works.
Delia will be happy because she is on record as saying she dislkes the premier league.
How do you “move to a Leicester model” unless you have a rich investor willing to pour his/her money into a bottomless pit, with no guaranteed return? I know Delia doesn’t want to sell, except possibly to someone she believes is committed to the club and the community, and I don’t see a string of that type of investor knocking on the door. In the past we’ve had a couple of people who were supposed to be keen to take over – one ended up at QPR, and the other turned out to be a fraudster who had faked his legal qualifications, both well avoided.
I don’t think we’ve tried very hard to find a suitable buyer.
Are we honestly the only football club in the country who nobody wishes to own?
Unfortunately we need a willing seller.
Oh, the irony, the first red card to be overturned in Premier League history related to a wrong decision by Simon Hooper – at Norwich!
But, VAR isn’t the reason City lost. And the fact that the Blades first goal originated just after City having a free kick just inside the opposition half, played short, with possession quickly lost, shouldn’t be overlooked. The Blades countered quickly and less than a minute later the ball is in our net.
Where we go from here ,Gary , I think its the King Power stadium for an afternoon of fun and frolics with James Madison and Jamie Vardy. I cannot find any positives in that thought yet, but hey hope springs eternal.
The only way the owners could be “happy with the way things are going” is if they are ultra confident of an immediaate return should we be relegated, To be fair, we managed that once not so long ago, and we would be in a position to make use of parachute payments to rebuild the squad, rather than have Naismith-type contracts to pay off. Plus, very likely, there’d be a couple of big fees for the one or two players whom established PL clubs (or the foreign quivalent) might be interested in.
It’s a risky strategy and a hard sell to the fans.
But the alternative of throwing millions at the problem in the form of transfer fees, expensive contracts and agents’ remuneration is also a big risk, as we discovered 3 years ago.
They are as much between a rock and hard place as Ben Godfrey seemed to be at times yesterday, crowded out of short options and forced to lump it hopefully towards the centre circle far too often.
Good piece Gary, if not a little chastening. So much wrong with yesterday’s second half and it very much left a feeling of where do we go from here at the end. Let’s hope there is a response to yesterday’s disappointment but with Leicester flying I fear it could get worse before it gets better- if indeed it does.
Hi Andy
I was there yesterday and I think you had to be to fully appreciate the abject surrender from both the team and the crowd. I’m not trying to be clever – most of the Upper Barclay threw the towel in after Sheffield’s second.
Good it wasn’t, believe me.
I used to hate watching our games – when I could – from Spain.
And of course Delia is happy if she says she is. After all that’s the prime concern just now. What else do we have to worry about?
It was my first visit of the season – should have been at the Newcastle game, but was ill – and I was staggered by our crowd’s apparent capitulation in the face of the raucous onslaught from their fans. The first 5 minutes of the second half obviously stunned us into silence but given the performances against Man City, Arsenal and Newcatle, and the first 45 yesterday come to that, I would have thought the players would still be in credit with their own supporters and been given a lot more encouragement immediately after that second goal went in.
From the River End you could see from the kickoff that SU were pushing more men up on us and we were immediately being smothered out of the game. I didn’t feel the players surrendered but they certainly didn’t work out how to make progress, and thus how to get the crowd going again. Frankly, working out how to beat the press looks to me the key to the second half of our season.
Good summary Gary.
I thought the first half was one of the best halves we’ve played this term.
However, I would have thought that all City fans would have known how fired up Sheff Utd would be for the second half – unfortunately that didn’t seem to occur to our coaching staff. To see their players back out early and doing a proper preparation, whist we ambled out (and then performed) like a pub team was particularly difficult to take.
It seems that too many of our players have taken heed of the Farke/Webber mantra that we are favourites for position 20, and are now quite happy for that to take place.
VAR is swiftly turning into an abomination, however I think it was correct with the red card, and (for once) I have no complaints with Mr Hooper or his handling of the game (never thought I’d type that!!).
OT B C
As ever, it’s the hope that kills you. A decent first half performance where we looked defensively solid and promising going forwards, gave way to 10 minutes of abject capitulation.
I still can’t believe just how bad some of the goals we concede are – the first one should never ever be seen at Premiership level. A full 30 seconds after our own free kick, we concede a throw in and a cross goes in far too easily, the keeper stays static and the wrong defender is marking the intended target.
The second, well I can understand Vrancic lacking sharpness, but once their player turns, no one is even sliding in to block the shot. It may have taken Krul by surprise, but a Premiership keeper should save that I think.
Victims of our own downfall yet again.
And did anyone expect us to get back into the game after that? We still had most of the second half to play yet only forced their keeper into one serious save.
Fair play to Sheff U, by the way. As others have said we’re probably better than them in terms of technical ability, but they show that solid organisation, nous and good game management goes a long way.
I am becoming suspicious that the Smith Wynn Jones dynasty are using our fine club as their own personal pension plan. Our current squad of players have been acquired cheaply up through the ranks or via bargain basements of other leagues. Financially astute, but perhaps fortuitous that we managed to click sufficiently on the field of play to lift the Championship title. Nobody in their right mind (and The Smiths are certainly in their right minds) would expect last season’s squad of inexperienced and youthful upstarts to survive in the Prem without investing in two or three reasonable additions to the squad to give support and provide cover for burn-out and injuries.
It seems clear that Delia and Co are more interested in the profits than staying in the Premier League. This season’s soiree will swell the bank balance and next season back in the Championship will bear fruit in the form of para payments. The much proclaimed strategy of ‘Self Financing’ may well be a smokescreen to hide the real strategy of making as much money from the club as possible. A perusal of the recently published accounts shows that Ms Smith’s Canary Catering is a stand apart business from the Football Club. I wonder where the profits from that business go? There are other ‘interesting’ financial anomalies such as the early repayment of a supposedly fixed 5 year bond. Shareholders and supporters who dare to question the board’s financial decisions are despatched with aggression and derision. If we’re simply saving up to build extra ground capacity then please let us know!
Financial motives for the owners aside, surely we must question the morality of allowing rising young stars such as Cantwell, Godfrey, Lewis and Aarons to be humiliated in front of a global audience. For the sake of a little more strength in depth of what is already a good team, our youngsters’ share values would surely rise accordingly.
Perhaps our club’s owners are correct in their refusal to take undue financial risks, but I feel that we should capitalize on our good fortune at landing a coach like Farke and spawning so many quality young players at the same time. I believe we should strive to be the best we can be, not settle for taking the fast buck which our loyal supporters will not see a penny of anyway.
Yes, the Smith’s baled the club out many years ago, but they have been repayed several times over since then. We owe them nothing now; but the fans who spend their hard earned cash week in, week out supporting the club they love deserve more respect and support from the board. Just as those youngsters do, chasing themselves ragged on the pitch each week in search of a lost cause at NR1.
Finally, the board need to consider that if their frugality leads to a freefall back into the abyss, Cantwell and Co will move on to more ambitious clubs, and the ‘Wall of Yellow’ that brings a tear of pride to so many of us will also be gone.
Delia, please sort it out!!
An excellent post. I fear however that Delia will never “sort it out”
I’m afraid they’ve gone from saviours to mill stones as far as the club is concerned.
They should have taken advantage of the golden opportunity this summer and sold up to people who could have taken the club forward.
Despite what they say there are a lot of buyers looking to get into the premier league.
Seems astonishing to me that PSG’s owners are reportedlyoffering around 150m for Leeds who are a Championship club (at the moment)…..I would have thought that they could have bought our little ol’ Premier League outfit for much less, and then invested some of the purchase price savings on some decent players……
O T B C
I am no fan of how our club is run, but in defense of Delia, the quote I heard on NBC (or maybe it was even Radio Norfolk) was that Delia was happy with what was happening ‘off the pitch’.
I don’t honestly think she enjoys seeing us lose. But as others have pointed out, she likes the PL money, but vocally dislikes the PL.
As for the match, certainly painful to watch. Having seen Wilder at Oxford and any review of his career since, it’s clear this guy finds ways to win. It’s Dec and the Blades are well on their way to safety.
I believe the biggest difference is attitude. I would be stunned if Wilder told his team they had 38 free hits.
The season is still salvageable and there may be three teams worse than us yet. The trouble is the pack of candidates is thinning.
Sobering stuff Gary.
Rumours are that the club is looking for £50 million for Godfrey. Is that a sign that they are trying to keep him or is it merely a bargaining starting price?
My optimism at the start of the season has completely evaporated. I don’t think we have enough players who have everything it takes to be successful in the Premier League. Many of them are good but they have obvious weaknesses, for example too easily brushed off the ball. A few years ago they might have flourished but with most teams now employing an effective high press they are struggling. I thought our technical ability would see us play through any press but I was wrong.
We have a squad that was assembled to play Farkeball. We can’t afford to change our squad to play direct, say like Burnley. So if we do buy in January then the players need to be better at Farkeball than the current players. Can’t see us spending a fortune to get them so we would need to unearth say another Dean Ashton or James Maddison in the bargain basement.
What disappoints me most is that such a great season is being followed by such a poor season. Oh well, that’s Norwich for you. We look like we have one thing to look forward to, the Old Farm derby.
Hope Santa has Norwich on his good list and our main present is a billionaire investor.
Same old Norwich….ping ponging from championship to Premier league, sell off all the good players instead of holding on to them to have a genuine chance of staying in the Premier League.
When will our fanbase realise that success in the EPL is not just about money spent? Three teams will go down this season – if we are one of them, and Sheffield united are not, then both of the others will have spent a minimum (A MINIMUM) of £140m in the last 3 seasons. Despite our pretty bad performance to date we are still only a few points off the pace – Bournemouth, Burnley, West Ham, Villa, Southampton – one of those will probably come down with us. What is their measure of success then?
Pukki is going nowhere. The model is that we sell the youngsters and we should sell them as soon as we get the right offers- that’s what the model is all about – and replace them with others, like the ones we already bought in the summer, and maybe a couple of old hands for central defence and midfield.
Do you honestly think Pukki will want to stay if we go down?
Teemu will be 30 and has the chance for one last big payday.
I can’t remember where I read it but one of the Turkish Lig 1 clubs are allegedly putting out feelers.
I don’t believe he’ll opt to see his career out in NR1 under those circumstances even if only because I wouldn’t if I were in his position.
We will sell Pukki as he will have quite a high value. His value will go down as he gets older and his contract runs down.