Well, it wasn’t the homecoming we’d all dreamt of, but it was the one most expected. A City squad whose pre-season had been ruined by the infiltration of Covid leading to cancelled friendlies and eleven members of the squad undergoing periods of isolation versus the might of Liverpool whose preparations had been almost perfect.
What did we expect?
Chuck into that mix a Liverpool team that’s been together for several seasons with only the most minor of tweaks versus a City side that included three debutants, and you get a mismatch of scary proportions.
That City emerged from it with confidence and belief still intact and with some good moments to look back is to their credit and sets us up nicely for what lies ahead… starting perhaps *after* next Saturday.
But yesterday wasn’t just about the 92 minutes of football. In many ways, that felt like a sideshow to something far more important.
We were reunited. A full Carrow Road for the first time in 533 days. Friends, families and Carrow Road neighbours coming together for the first time since the creeks started to rise.
Those ten minutes before kick-off and the roar that greeted Grant Hanley and his men as they entered the arena was something quite special. A memory to last a lifetime. At that point, it felt almost a shame that there was about to be a game of football that might spoil it.
But there was nothing that Liverpool could do to take away that feeling. As a River End neighbour so eloquently put it, it felt like an age since we had last been together yet also like yesterday.
It was wonderful, and not just for those who were there. Absent friends and those who follow City from afar too were hopefully able to soak up the atmosphere that only a bouncing Carrow Road can create.
You can keep your reds and blues. There’s nothing like a sea of yellow and green to get the pulse racing. Yesterday was the most perfect example.
But when the football did finally kick in there was still more than enough to keep the faithful fully engaged.
For the opening 25 minutes, we matched Liverpool, bettered them even, and it was heartening to see the three debutants – Billy Gilmour, Pierre Lees-Melou and Milot Rashica – all contribute fully, even if it did need the Frenchman and the Kosovan to find a second wind before adjusting to the frenetic pace of the Premier League.
All three did enough over the 92 minutes to suggest that they are going to help make us better. Josh Sargent too in his 15-minute cameo had some good moments; enough to show us that maybe he’ll offer the competition to Teemu Pukki that was clearly absent two seasons ago.
Liverpool are a good side though – that much we already knew – and with Virgil van Dijk now back are immediately a better team than they were last season. They play with a swagger and nonchalance only matched by Andre Marinner’s refereeing style and take comfort in possession to a new level, with van Dijk’s ability to ping a diagonal onto the instep of Trent Alexander-Arnold a weapon in its own right.
Even a fully fit, well-prepared City side would have been hard-pressed to live with the Reds as they went through the gears, so for two of the three goals to be fortuitous and partly of our own making left Team Farke with something to work with. Even the third, an admittedly wonderful strike from Salah, stemmed from a rick from Rees-Melou, followed by another from Ben Gibson.
So, while there was mitigation aplenty, there is still work to be done, not least to address our ongoing propensity to concede goals out of nothing in the top division. Alan Shearer, on Match of the Day, was probably right to point out the need to get back in our defensive shape quicker when in transition but it still needs the mis-controls and the mid-judgments to be eliminated.
Tired bodies and minds may have been factors yesterday but going forward we have to be harder to play against and to score against if we are to survive. That’s a must. So too is the arrival of an Oliver Skipp-type defensive midfielder to help plug those gaps so exposed by Sadio Mane and co yesterday.
But it would be unfair to criticise any individuals after yesterday’s sterling effort and amidst it all there were some extraordinary performances, not least from our captain who, let’s not forget, has not had a single minute of game time in pre-season. For Hanley to produce a display of that ilk in those circumstances says everything about the man.
Another to shine in an equally tricky setting was Dimitris Giannoulis who, tasked with shackling Salah, produced one of his best performances in a City shirt, both in his own defensive third and when linking up with Rashica going forward. If that was a sign of things to come then it was a positive one.
So, a defeat, an expected one, but I’m not (just for once) sure that even matters. I’m not even sure (just for once) that the fact we played quite well matters.
Yesterday was about far more than that.
Thanks, great feeling to hear the noise and agree re positives. My biggest concerns were Max and Todd, neither anywhere near levels we know they can operate at – on that performance no big bids for either of them!
I don’t know why Todd was kept so wide. He’s not a winger. He was switched to the right for most of the game and made the only clear chance for Pukki, who controlled superbly but then blasted straight at the near post at chest level.
Max was very tired, I wonder if he was one of those that was effected by Covid?
Hi Gary
The first goal could be down to Marriner ignoring a foul on Pukki and then the players waiting a second to long to react or waiting for the whistle.
For the second I think Gilmour again was slow to react for a block or expected someone else to step in hopefully he will learn to get there first.
As you say football is back at Carrow Rd and long may it last.
Watching goals on Sunday it has become worse than MoTD in as much they only mention the winning team all praise for Liverpool not a mention of City.
Hopefully there will be some news on defensive help this week and after today’s game between Spurs and ManC we might have an idea if Skipp is in Nuno plans for the season and SW should be on the dog and bone to him first thing Monday.
Onwards and upwards
OTBC
Stay Healthy and Keep Safe
Here’s an alternative idea for you…
Instead of worrying about Skipp and Billing, and instead of worrying about a defensive midfielder, turn the problem around … shunt Omobamidele forward of the central defenders – as a midfield defender. He’s fast, excellent at passing the ball, and has a sharp footballing brain.
Shuffle any pairing of Hanley, Gibson and Zimbo you want to hold the main defensive line and use Nizet and Tompkinson as their cover – the two youngsters are the same age as Andrew Omobamidele, and would probably not let us down.
That takes all the panic out of urgent buying, allows Farke plenty of cover, and Webber a little space to search for alternatives.
COYY!
Your reports are always the first I go to for a balanced view of the game, Gary, and you never disappoint.
For neutral watcher game offer nothing, there was too clear level difference and I and many others got feeling that Liverpool was not good either. Mo Salah fans are likely happy, but still also his performance was not so special.
Norwich got 1 very good scoring chance when Liverpool lost their concentration because they knew that they had already won. Missing scoring chance like that is unacceptable no matter how bad goalscorer someone is, Gibson must learn from that and his effort must not your fan base accept as acceptable level of Gibson or anyone who plays. Yes, Norwich didnt loose points because of that, but there can be games when those scoring chance misses can become vital.
Sure there’s a difference: & £814M squad vs a £133M one. Oh and footballers are human beings. IE: Imperfect. Especially at the start of the season when theyve had a severe lack of game time.
I hope no one would use transfermarkt price estimations as prove of how good some clubs or players are. Its obvious that club which players would be over 30 years old would be very bad in their price rankings, but club like that could be in reality very good. Im sure those price estimations are made for fun, but because people are too lazy and dont know players they just look transfermarkt price estimations and make conclusion based on that how good player someone is.
I do understand and know that Liverpool have better squad than Norwich, based on transfermarkt it should be about 7 times better and thats not possible. By the way, I didnt say anything negative about Norwich, I just said that it was rather boring game. Players are human beings, but if you are professional player there must be also skill level which is not acceptable depending of course how high level league you play.
I wasn’t there so can’t comment on the atmosphere although it came across really well on TV!
I felt we did OK, all things considered. An earlier post mentioned Todd and Max a bit off and I agree with that but we know what they have to offer so I’m not too concerned. Dimi and Grant were excellent though.
Of the new boys, I was most impressed with PLM, and Josh, in just that 15 minutes, showed he has plenty about him. I thought Idah was good when he came on as well. The time is approaching when Teemu is no longer un-dropable. With Tzolis still to come, DF will soon have difficult decisions to make.
So, a defeat, which is always disappointing, but enough in there for encouragement as well.
Yes, I guess the result was what we expected (though not what we hoped), but walking away down Riverside for a meal at Bella Italia afterwards, I found lots of people smiling, heard no despondent comments, but heard a lot of people happy with the performance, and looking forward to games against somewhat lesser opponents.
We had a bit of misfortune with their first goal, and could have probably done better for the other two, but given the pre-season disruption, the overall performance was good. How that chance for a consolation goal didn’t go in I’ll never know. I was right behind it, and it looked a certainty, but hey ho, that’s our luck at the moment.
I was impressed by Sargent’s work-rate when he came on. Very reminiscent of Pukki at his best, and almost made a name for himself with a cross-shot that only just drifted outside the post. He showed he can tackle, as well.
Let’s get Citeh out of the way, and then see those Canaries start to fly!
What did we expect? Well a defeat I guess but I had hoped and probably expected us to be much better defensively, yes I get all the covid,pre-season,its Liverpool etc but our back 5 have played a lot together and the way our two fullbacks were caught out of position a lot was poor and led to 2 of the goals. The third goal was even worse and needs one of those canary call questions ” what do they do in training? ” all our players in the 6 yard box and 3 Liverpool players free on the edge of the box!!!! this surely has nothing to do with pre-season problems and has more to do with Farke and his defensive coaching methods.
I fully appreciate its hard to judge the new players on friendlies and one league game so let’s hope it all falls into place sooner rather than later.. I am sure that the vast majority of us have never heard of most of our signings which is not always a bad thing however I’m also sure most of us would be more confident if the money had been spent on a big aggressive defensive midfielder and a slightly more prolific striker. OTBC
Hi Gary,
Liverpool, Man C, Leicester City and Arsenal in the first four weeks of the new Prem season, better all at the very start of the season than at the very end of the season, lets get some points from the next three Prem fixtures!
We played well at times, and the atmosphere sounded fabulous! The pundit I was listening to was saying our midfield trio seemed wary of pushing into Liverpool’s goal area, would be good to give Pukki a bit more support and their defenders a few more problems.
There must be other defensive midfielders out there as alternatives to Skipp?
I still think we’ll stay up, OTBC !!
Definite reasons for optimism. The new players showed they have potential, they were simply hampered by lack of pre-season. 3-0 was not unexpected and it certainly wasn’t a capitulation, we were just outclassed on the day.
If we can pull the team together quick enough, we may do okay.
I was comparing this performance to some of those from 2 seasons ago and this had far more going for it. Giannoulis was my player of the match but also saw some good spells from others such as Gibson. It was good to be back but it felt very strange. It was almost as though the last 18 months had not happened. I anticipated some people not turning up but apart from one lad at university everybody round me was back. I was surprised at how easy people seemed with the lack of social distancing, masks or hand sanitiser. I was bemused as I expected a lot more caution from both club and fans
is it too early to say that Sargent looks a cut above Idah already.??
Completely agree. Pukki too, IF you consider different formations.
Tzolis, Cantwell, Rashica…. I’d day you’d want as many of these guys on as possible.
And if you’re going to commit wingbacks (which i love) then you might as well have someone that wins headers as the most advanced too.
Personally, I think there is viability in having Pukki on the right of a 3 if it means either more pace and or power at the top end.
Lots of exciting permeations to evolve in the coming weeks.
Hi everyone. Bit disappointed today but given the disrupted preparation the squad has had it was to be expected. Many tipping us for an immediate return to the Championship already but our season isn’t defined by the first home game and an expected defeat to Liverpool. Some notes of concern though. We are still defensively naive and am I the only one who thought Ben Gibson had a bad game ? Secondly, why did we leave it so long to make any changes ? Klopp made two when the score was 1-0;when we were already looking leggy but still in the game. Sergeant and Idah both came on and looked bright. If they’d entered the fray earlier we might not have conceded the 3rd perhaps ? You mention Farke’s Achilles heel. Well making changes too late seems to be his and I hope this time round he changes that policy. OTBC
Few expected anything from the game, but I was still disappointed. We came back to the top table, yet some things stay exactly the same. We can’t score and ship goals, mitigating circumstances or otherwise.
We’ve had a difficult pre season with all sorts of issues. However, I don’t think we would have beaten anyone out there on Saturday, so the main plus has to be that we got the one of the top sides ‘out of the way’ while we are still finding our feet. How long it will actually take us to find our feet is open to question, but I would like to think there were positives out there and some of the new recruits mean business, rather than a ‘happy to be here’ from days of the past. Our fitness levels are clearly aren’t there – yet – and it had me wondering what what dear old Ron Saunders would have made of it.
While I can’t see Farke and Webber slugging it around Mousehold, they have to get this right this season, as much for themselves as for the club. You will always get a section of fans who would rather be in the second tier – that sadly is already beginning to show – but F&W have to show they can do better than before, especially as we have spent this time around.
Webber has sent Farke in with ammunition, but whether we have the strength to carry it is far certain after Saturday’s defeat.
“I don’t think we would have beaten anyone out there on Saturday,”
I don’t think we’d have beaten Brentford even. They changed creativity for pragmatism with the release of Emi Marcondes so that they could play a back 3 with the CDM instincts of Onyeka, and they’ve brought Mbeumo in from wide to play alongside Toney…. 2 up. What that means is stopping teams playing out from the back.
Liverpool’s defence, against Pukki in isolation, was nuts. Liverpool looked like they were playing against 9 men at times.
I enjoyed the game and aren’t too bothered by the result, or the tinkering…. but no setup yet, in pre season or against LFC, is what i’d call obvious and viable. The Bees, on the other hand, make sense.
SW and DF haven’t finished yet, and I’m optimistic there is a system there. They just don’t know about it yet! LOL
I think the match went pretty well in the first half. There is no doubt that City have given themselves some welcome selection headaches. Gianoullis, who I criticise a lot, was outstanding. Gibson and Hanley were excellent but left exposed by the midfield, ironic given we played 3 of them. There will be a big decision when that CDM arrives, because someone will need to be forfeited and likewise, I’m not sure who then plays the more advanced. Lees-Melou offers a lot but I’m not sure he’s as creative as Vrancic or that Gilmour could offer Buendia levels of creativity either. Both were excellent against LFC, but both are involved in the big midfield decision.
The second half was the result of Covid and the pre-season, but it was also about DF not making substitutes. Sorry if that upsets people, its just fact. 3 or 4 players were dead on their feet for 30 mins with fresh legs on the bench. The 3rd goal…. that’s just the crazy 11 men in our own box defending a corner routine that 28,000 fans think is utterly stupid, but just won’t say so.
All in all, I think there are more positives than negatives but as a base formation…. as many have fretted about for a long time now…. I still don’t see the simplicity. Complicated. Big gaps. Inability to regroup on loss of possession in time, etc.
But a good start to the season, in my opinion. Just still more questions than answers.
PS When I said more questions than answers, what I meant was ONE big question that results in several other minor tweaks.
If DF wants that CDM to start, there are consequences that result…. it might be Pukki isn’t the ideal, or that Todd gives way, maybe Gilmour is given a more disciplined role, maybe McLean is the better partner etc etc etc… and that’s before the 3 man defensive option, which likewise changes the ideal players in midfield and attack.
Good decisions to have, and as long as it’s made by the mid autumn, plenty of the season to go