If anyone had offered us seven points from the last nine we’d have taken it, right? Equally, if anyone had offered us a narrow defeat at Molineux and a narrow win last night we’d have taken that too.
Lots of ifs. Including if Temmu Pukki has not taken a second touch from that square pass from Milot Rashica when offered what looked at the time to be a tap in.
But it was a point, and one of those that on the balance of play was one gained rather than two dropped.
Three wins on the spin had served to make us all a little giddy and it took something of a passing and possession masterclass from Palace to remind us of the gulf in quality between those of us at the bottom of the Premier League and those in mid-table.
That thing we once described as Farkeball was still in evidence last night but was played by those wearing blue and red. The formula developed by Dean Smith and Craig Shakespeare to give us at least a chance of competing is far removed from that but for all the right reasons.
Most of us, given the choice, would prefer the football to be beautiful but alas we have neither the quality nor the depth to play that way consistently at the top level. As Daniel found to his cost, ideology over pragmatism has no place in the Premier League when you have the smallest budget.
But, having said all of that, Smith and Shakespeare will still have wanted their players to take more care of the ball than they did last night.
Starting with the 4-4-2 that enables Adam Idah to play in the vicinity of Teemu Pukki may have paid dividends after 38 seconds, but for the 89 minutes plus injury time that followed, that two versus three match up in the middle of the pitch made for a tough watch.
In that scenario, the necessity to keep the ball is greater but so too is the degree of difficulty it takes to do so. Less margin for error, no room for a heavy first touch, fewer simple options available, less space in which to operate…
What it also needs is the ability to be able to spring effective counter-attacks when we do have the ball, and is where the first half differed from the second. We did look dangerous before the break.
The change of shape to a 4-3-3 late in the game helped to gain an element of control but for the first half of the second half, as Palace cranked up the pressure, it became almost impossible to get out, not helped by a propensity to cough up possession cheaply when granted a rare audience with the ball.
For all of his high-octane charging around and pointing, I dearly wish Kenny McLean could save some of that enthusiasm for finding a yellow shirt occasionally. But he’s far from alone.
Yet, despite having to defend for most of the game, the defence stood firm and, as Dean Smith was quick to highlight afterwards, were very good at denying Palace, despite their clever movement and slick passing, any clear sight of goal from inside the penalty box.
It’s clearly something that has been worked on very hard at Colney and is paying off. Even under the severest of pressure, we no longer get carved open at will. Hot-knife-through-butter syndrome that affected us so badly in the first half of the season, appears, for now at least, to have been addressed.
It will, of course, be tested to the very limit over the next two games.
Grant Hanley and Ben Gibson – the joint beating heart of this new, harder-to-beat Norwich City – will be asked questions on Saturday and Saturday week that they weren’t last night, but now the base is at least solid, even though in making it so other issues have popped up which also need addressing.
But any re-set had to start there. And if Palace (h) had been on the fixture list between August and December, does anyone out there believe we’d have snaffled a point out of last night’s game?
Me neither.
It depends on what we want from our team. If it’s for City to be aesthetically pleasing and silky smooth, then our recent departure under Dean Smith will not sit comfortably, but if it’s about winning games of football and picking up points, then it will.
There is, in there somewhere, the hard-to-find middle ground, where we win by playing well and attractively but it’s not something that tends to come to the fore in the epicentre of a relegation scrap.
We do though have the prospect of a fit-again Mathias Normann starting against Man City; something that in itself makes us better. So too a (hopefully) well again Josh Sargent who, with the best will in the world, will be an upgrade on the energetic but struggling Przemysław Płacheta.
So I remain hopeful that last night’s performance level was not a sign of things to come but instead a stepping stone from which we can improve.
For now though, with Man City and Liverpool incoming, we just need to draw on the new-found resilience and avoid one (or two) of those morale-sapping humpings.
Here’s hoping.
Never Mind the Danger
***
While you’re here…
In these difficult and trying times, MFW too is struggling. Generating income streams through ad revenue is a challenge across the globe and we have taken our own hit.
As such, we become increasingly reliant on the good people whose generosity extends to supporting us through a monthly Patreon subscription. For these kind folk we are, and will forever be, eternally grateful.
We appreciate times are hard for all of us, and every penny counts, but if any more of you could see fit to help us in this way, we’d be so thankful.
So, once again, thank you. Without you, the readers, we would not even exist. Please stay safe.
If anyone is interested in taking a look at our Patreon page, it’s here.
I thought last night demonstrated what a good job Dean Smith has done in making City competitive.
There was a gulf in class between the two midfields but we managed to avoid a hiding.
Good to see Gunn has found his form and for me was our MOTM.
It’s about time many fans started to realise that we have a very good centre half in Hanley.
Palace were very pleasant on the eye and I think we were all mightily relieved to get a point in the end.
I was prepared to change watched game, but pleasant surprise was that it was good match. Norwich defended well and kept Palace out of good scoring chances, stupid penalty foul was only one I can remember as Palace good scoring chance.
Fans are surely discussion about that Rashica-Pukki 2 vs 1 chance. Teemu just went to safe mode and instead of that he should have tried first touch scoring. 1 thing is important to understand, Tyrick Mitchell spoiled 2 times Teemus chances to score more than 1 goal. He came out of nowhere and very possible saved them. He also gave Palace a penalty, clearly man of the match. Penalty was bad playing by Aarons, he actually made other 1 too when his hand was clearly in unnatural position but in english football rules keeps on changing all the time so penalty was not given. When you defend a lot, there is absolutely no room to stupid mistakes and in other day there would have been 2 penalty goals for Palace. Zahas fantastic goal was surely 1 of the goals of season, it was unbelievable! Unbelievable was also his penalty shot, he seems to slipped little bit.
Credits to Idah, for his pass in Norwich goal. Its very rare to see good passes outside Teemu when Norwich attacks, that pass was perfect and it resulted a goal.
Next week finally european cup playoffs starts. Norwich seems to play against Manchester City before that, which eyes are surely in midweek champions league game. Still they have so much player material, that it will not be so easy as Norwich fans surely believes no matter which lineup Pep decide to play.
Hi Gary
I can’t see city playing Farkeball in the near or long term as you say the budget doesn’t allow for it in this Prima Donna League.
Sadly we all want to be part and parcel of it apart from the financial side which until our owners relinquish control we will never get anywhere near.
Last night showed us that DS&SS can get us to survive given the tools and sadly that wasn’t forth coming in the recently closed transfer window.
Are we still short I think even the most optimistic supporter would say yes we need to find another option to help Pukki and that could still happen with a short term Free Agent willing to come till the season ends.
In most games city have created chances and haven’t taken them which must be hard to take for the coaching staff.
The pleasing think us that we are playing like a team and the new players are coming to terms with the premiership.
As for the next two games I think city will be OK for the home game V ManC but on the road to Loserpool is a different kettle of fish.
Onwards and upwards OTBC
While I would love us to play aesthetically pleasing and silky smooth football, we need to be pragmatic, and that’s where S&S seem to be taking us. I remember the days of bringing in Trevor Hockey – he certainly toughened up our midfield, though these days I don’t think he would have lasted ten minutes before he saw a red card!
Last night, as a pure football contest, Palace were overall the better side, but for sheer determination and teamwork, we deserved our point. If only Mitchell, their left back, hadn’t been so sharp! Pukki might have had a hat-trick!
Oh well, bring on Citeh, and let’s hope we can shock them again.
Hi Gary
Good summary as always. I smiled at your comment re McLean. So enthusiastic and energetic but sadly error strewn. Gives the ball away, turns into trouble, caught in possession but then hits a penetrating pass. Quite frustrating. I wonder who will populate the midfield once they are all fit. Normann and Lees Melou seem certainties to me.
Although Pukki opened the scoring for us he seems well off the pace. Hopefully he regains some form and links up even better with Idah.
A very odd game Gary.
Rashicas rampant first half hour should have put us out of sight but for profligate finishing and hesitancy.
We simply don’t have the resources within our “model” to produce silky smooth football. The standard of player required to do that at this level is beyond our championship budget.
Therefore we have to be pragmatic and play to whatever strengths we possess. I feel had Sargent been available that the supracy of rashica over ward would have yielded up another goal, watford style.
The second half was indeed painful as we struggled to string two passes together and idah and placheta reverted to previous form.
Having scored a top quality equaliser it was a joy to see the familiar rictus spread across Zaha’s face, an expression regularly displayed on Motd following some incident or other.
Kudos to gunn, a fine performance which hopefully will restore his confidence. I feel a little less concerned with regard to krul now.
Whereas in August we would undoubtedly have been farked royally, the organisation and tenacity we now display ensured we smithed a point, which looked unlikely.
I suppose it depends on what constitutes “easy on the eye” . Whether it’s trying and failing disastrously to play to a level beyond your capabilities or gritting your teeth and grinding out something tangible from a game.
For me, record breaking losing runs are pig ugly and have no merit.
We are far more solid than we previously were. That’s a huge positive and foundation to build off. I’m just not sure we can build fast enough.
Will one point be enough? Only time will tell.
Good sum up, we clearly knew Farke ball was finished as the main static, we saw almost two seasons of failure at this level but success a step down.
What the SaS have done is toughened us up a little, making us that bit harder to beat, whereas before we were open canon fodder, predictable easy prey, we said that on these pages.
With the resources at their disposal, they could only use the best way these players respond to, whether that is slightly more long ball, than so be it.
Sure many heard Clive Allen on the BT sports team, compliment City for the first half display, saying Palarse could not cope. A bit old fashioned in today’s terms but still works, and had Pukki been a little quicker in thought and deed it may have been almost game over. The second half was a totally different story, defending far too deep.
Was very little to be done against Zara’s awesome strike, perhaps forcing him to turn. For the penalty, a word to Zara. get some longer studs. Did smile at the BT cameraman being sent to look over to the spot looking for divots, without joy. Seems like they looking for an excuse for a premier league established player cocking it up so badly.
I have to take the point as that is what we got, should have had more for the first half, but perhaps not for the 2nd half.
Full credit to Gunny, two very very good saves down low right, good strong hands. McClean and later Gilmore guilty of giving the ball away and running into Cul-De-Sacs. Idah still needs help with offside rule although little better. Rashica excellent first half but second half, full back moved a lot closer stifling him
We did not have the players to counteract their attacking intent, at one point the stats read 18% – 82% showing how one sided the game became as it wore on.
Not out of the bottom 3 but only 1 point behind, we would have taken that a while ago.
If having only 30-odd percent of possession yet still taking one point on the road to Valhalla is the result, that’s not too bad.
I think for me, following via Beeb text and ‘5 Live’ updates, the important thing was that we gained a point, although I would have liked three. Probably the main difference between what transpired against eg Watford, or Wolves in the FA Cup, was that we failed to break Palace’s possession. But we held on well for a point, which was well-needed!
On to Manchester City, which will be another tough game, but S&S’s Norwich squad is now big enough and ballsy enough to get something from the game.
COYYs !!
The back four v Wolves is our best defensively. Love Max but he nearly cost us the game,Byram has been excellent. Plus we need a proper DM ie Sorensen. Let’s not forget the reasons for our improved form.
Sorensen is not scheduled to return till 25 February, according to the Premier League injuries website. Smith has said they’re not rushing his return.
I agree with the comment above that Pukki seems out of sorts. He has missed a good number of chances in these past few games. I do like the improvement in the form of Idah, Rashica and Lees Melou though. Pity Sorenson is out because I still think he is the natural replacement for Skipp.
Pukki will be fine, over the last few weeks he’s been playing more like an inside-right to accommodate Sargent and Idah – to good effect for them and the team.
Maybe his timing’s a little bit awry, but I believe that at the end of the season Super-Teemu will have scored 15-20 goals for us – with the added bonus that goals will be coming from other City players.
It’s all bubbling up nicely for an exciting end of season!
Cheers,
COYYs !!
Pukki has seemed to have been playing like an inside-right over the last few weeks to accommodate Sargent and Idah – the results have been good!
His timing may be a bit awry, but I fancy Super-Teemu to have scored 15 to 20 goals for us by the end of the season, what’s not to like!
The genuine bounce in Norwich City’s play over the last few weeks makes for an exciting season-end – hopefully with us staying up! The squad seems strong and a lot of that has to be down to good coaching from S&S.
Cheers,
COYYs !!
Hiya gaz!
Point gained but for all Palace playing in front of our back four 30 yards out it took a worldie to get them a point and apart from the worst penalty I’ve seen since playing Sundays did they see the whites of Gunns eyes?
If we had scored at 1 nil or the idiot in black had clamped down on them earlier on instead of as par for the course a player in yellow first we probably would be looking at all 3 pts comfortably