It was one of those where you’re left feeling conflicted at the end.
Proud because they put in a proper shift and took the so-called ‘biggest club in the world’ all the way. Proud too because, along the way, they played some good stuff, created plenty of chances and resembled an actual football team.
But, at the same time, we were again left with so many what-ifs. Loads of the buggers.
And the frustration. Grrrr… the bloody frustration.
An opportunity missed to put one over one of the ‘Big Six’ who were there for the taking – a shell of a team made up of expensively acquired individuals, who collectively are worth a mere fraction of the sum of their parts.
Frustration too because we succumbed yet again to the Cristiano Ronaldo show and for the fourth time this season were subject to that stomaching-churning “Siuuu!” crap.
Eugh.
To return briefly to the what-ifs, there’s only one place to start.
Ben Gibson will not need telling.
As our most experienced defender he’ll know all too well that you can’t do drag-backs in your own eighteen-yard box at Old Trafford (or anywhere) and get away with it, just as you can’t give Ronaldo half-a-yard to get the run on you at a corner.
Both were whoppers, the first more obvious than the second, and collectively they may well have cost us the win.
There’s little point in analyzing it – Gibson will have replayed both in his mind a hundred times last night – but neither are gifts that can be afforded in any game of football, let alone when you’re a team that perpetually struggles at the wrong end of the Premier League.
Rarely do we get to benefit from errors of that ilk because errors of that ilk are rare in the Premier League.
What made it doubly disappointing was that this all occurred off the back of what was Gibson’s best performance of the season against Burnley.
For what it’s worth, it did look to me as if Tim Krul should probably have saved Ronaldo’s free-kick, but with so many credits in the bank, it’s hard to criticise the Dutchman. He’s been brilliant for us and no one is harder on Tim Krul than Tim Krul.
But, of course, amid all the very Norwich City stuff, there were things happening that have been all too rare this season. Good things.
Like Teemu Pukki making those trademark sprints into the channel and somehow, miraculously finding the ball at his feet; like the City midfield passing to each other and doing so with pace and precision; and the creation of goalscoring opportunities helped by having more than just a lone Pukki in the opposition’s box.
This was all aided, of course, by Ralf Rangnick deciding that City were such a soft touch he could get away with using Paul Pogba as his deepest lying midfielder and playing Jesse Lingard in an advanced role, but we’ve played against plenty of poor, disjointed teams this season who’ve still managed to blow us away.
That didn’t happen yesterday. As ever though, it’s difficult to ascertain how much of it was down to Dean Smith’s change of shape and tweak in personnel, and how much was down to United’s half-@rsed ill-discipline.
I suspect, in true football post-match interview tradition, it was a bit of both.
But there can be no doubt that Smith’s decision to play Pierre Lees-Melou in the Stiepermann, wandering-10 role has paid huge dividends over the last two games.
Like Stiepi, the Frenchman does occasionally give the ball away cheaply and will sometimes slow things down at the very moment they need speeding up, but his knack of getting the ball on the half-turn and then driving at defenders has added a new dynamic to our attacking play.
By getting on the ball in that space betwixt United’s defence and errant midfield and running with it, he was able to draw out either Maguire or Lindelof and, in doing so, open up a channel for Pukki.
And it worked time and time again.
Kieran Dowell too, when he drifted inside to the 10 position, did it to good effect, with both players proving adept at finding a nicely weighted, accurate pass to find the Finn in those spaces. In particular, Dowell’s reverse pass to set Pukki away for the second goal was a rare thing of beauty in 2021-22.
Questions have obviously been asked of the second-half substitutions made by Dean Smith, with Przemysław Płacheta and Billy Gilmour being asked to perform roles that had been done well by Kenny McLean and Dowell.
As it transpired, both changes were made for the right reasons – Dowell because he was blowing out of his backside and McLean because he has a suspected broken toe – and neither sub could be directly apportioned blame over the United winner that happened two minutes after their arrival.
But why Gilmour and not Lukas Rupp? And why Placheta and not Jon Rowe?
I guess, in Smith’s defence, he may have seen Placheta’s much talked about but rarely seen pace as a potential route to goal with City, at the time of his arrival, playing largely on the break, but unfortunately every Gilmour appearance now screams of the-more-he-plays-the-less-we-pay.
I hope I’m wrong.
But, either way, it’s a loan move that just hasn’t worked out. He’ll one day be a good Premier League player but he isn’t one yet. He needed a Championship loan, not a PL relegation battle, and we needed an experienced head, not a trainee.
As Robin Sainty said in his EDP piece of a couple of weeks ago, Gilmour (and Chelsea) will have gained massively from his experience here, while we have gained very little.
But it’s not Gilmour’s fault – he was offered an opportunity and took it. We should remember that before launching broadsides at the lad.
He’ll not be a talking point next season though. Neither will Mathias Normann, Brandon Williams or Ozan Kabak, all of whom will be returned to senders.
Yet the last couple of weeks have acted as a timely reminder that what’s left actually may be a more effective unit than it appeared, say, one month ago. Add Andrew Omobamidele and Adam Idah back into that group, bring through a couple more of the youngsters alongside Rowe and maybe, just maybe, we could yet become a decent Championship outfit again.
What happens if we do become that decent Championship outfit and what happens beyond that is a discussion for another day, but in order for any of that to even be a thing we desperately need one player, in particular, to still be pulling on a yellow and green shirt.
I refer of course to Pukki.
Take the Finn out of the equation for next season and *everything* changes. It feels right now as if he is literally the difference between a top-six finish and Championship mediocrity.
It’s good that the club has triggered its option to retain his services for another season after this one, but that makes by no means certain he will be a City player at the start of next season.
Yet he has to be. Somehow he has to be.
The thought of him departing is unpalatable, to say the least.
It’s a decision that’s in hands of others though and all we can do as fans is remind him how important he is to us and how much he’s revered here. Whether some nice words and adulation though can replace a final payday that doubles or triples his current deal is in the lap of the gods.
What yesterday did tell us, other than the fact no one’s better than City at shooting themselves in the foot, is that Pukki in a City shirt truly is the GOAT.
Please stay Teemu.
***
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The trouble is we will need a decent striker for the season after next,pukki wont be the answer then,neither i doubt will Sargent or Idah.So do we offload pukki now for a fee and bring in a decent younger forward for the future?Or keep Pukki and still bring another one in?Big clearout needed at squad level aswell as the under 23’s.As for the substitutions,i was baffled also.Gilmour and Placheta should be nowhere near the first team.
If Dean Smith asked me to supply him with a new Centre Back, I could and it would be for a lot less the £6M. Not only that, it would have 4 legs and is currently spending most days on Skegness Beach.
Sorry but how many goals do you have to give away to get dropped?
That option is vital for next season. Hopefully we’ll keep him (please!) but if the worst comes to pass, we will at least get a fee approaching what he’s worth. The pundits are suddenly starting to notice his work rate and intelligent runs, even Shearer raved about him after the Burnley game. As I said on James’s article earlier today, if he keeps up the current pattern of an assist and a goal in the remaining games, maybe the “little miracle” might happen!
I can easily understand Norwich fans perspective, but players must have personal ambitions. Yes, Teemu is easily best player in championship but he has done it 2 times and its impossible to see that he would have motivation to do that third time. If he do that, then he will remembered as a player who had all possible tools to be absolute top but lacked ambition. I have already explained before why he should be even better than before and that next 3 seasons are his best time as footballer. If he lacks understanding that and just give up, it would be really sad. He could have started training several years earlier so he would not have been in this situation that he must prove really his class in next 3 seasons and for that Norwich is wrong place. Im sure he see Norwich as KTP, but he must move on and think his personal career too.
Norwich played good game, it was nice match to watch. Now you have started to play football again and when you play football Teemu of course is key to everything positive. I want to give praise also to Normann who has been way better than Gilmour in last games and also Byram who is way better defending than Aarons was.
Norwich first goal was Pukki-Giannoulis combination goal, it was prime example how to make scoring easy. Dowell could not have missed because final pass was so perfect, sad thing is that Teemu is basically only one who is able to make passes like that. I have known all the time that he is brilliant passer, when people often want to see only his scoring and running to free spaces. Second goal was difficult, De Gea who is absolute top class goalkeeper made options very limited. That chance in early game which De Gea saved, ball just was too close to De Gea and of course he timed his running perfectly and made save. Everybody and media is talking about Ronaldo only, but actually Teemu was even better. Again awful defensive personal mistake made you to loose and again it was Gibson.
I agree 1×2 – just looking at it from a Norwich fan’s perspective.
Totally appreciate that if he has ambitions greater than ours then there’s nothing we can do.
I’m just glad you’re not his agent 1×2!
(You’re not, are you???)
I think Alan Shearer may be on commission too.
Jim, of course im not. I suppose Mino Raiola should be, if Teemu even consider playing again in championship level.
He said Friday he’s staying next season that’s it
Gibson at fault for the first two. He’s not been dropped because we don’t have another fit centre back. A combination of Normann missing an easy tackle and Krul not saving a straightforward free kick for the third. It was well hit but it was straight and nowhere near the corner. But also Rashica not passing to Maclean for the tap in when De Gea made his save and Pukki missing a one on one in the third minute.
No one will give us what we would want for Pukki so he’s going nowhere. As for another striker, Piroe of Swansea please.
It was a decent effort against a fairly poor team.
Looking at our squad I don’t see a lot of PL quality in there. While my heart says we should keep players like Pukki, a long term recruitment strategy means we must be liking elsewhere.
Between Everton and ourselves there remain 14 games. We need 11 of those results to go our way for survival.
As I’ve said many times before, Pukki is a class act. In a better side with better service, he would have a higher tally without question. I seriously hope he stays but admit we need to look beyond him too.
Bittersweet yesterday in that we played so well and (a) came away with nothing, plus (b) kept thinking what might have been had we clicked like this a few weeks ago.
Aside from that, Gibson is a good, hard working Championship defender, but like many others in the squad, just isn’t cut out for the top flight. Krul should have saved the free-kick, but it happens.
Placheta and Gilmour just never seem.a good fit for the team and barring a sensational turnaround in their form, I think we’re just waiting for a train that isn’t coming. Not their fault, but time to cut losses and move on.
Onel is a better bet than Placheta
{Perhaps unlucky could be said. didn’t watch or listen as had a Liverpool supporting relation round and of course had to give hime the TV or their semi.
Can see why Burnley didn’t rate Gibson, he has made some costly mistakes leading to goals or penalty. Is it time to give Zimmo a chance ?
From what I heard and read, Pukki is happy that talks are going on for the extension, or could be new contract, I never thought he would want to leave he is not going to draw a large fee given his age, although it could be a final pay day for him. But I get the feeling he is happy with his lot, now Smith has found a way of feeding the Goat.
No disgrace losing there Spurs fell to same scoreline and a hat trick to Ronaldo
Actually he said that he is only preparing to games now and after that will start looking situation. He honestly has tried everything possible again that Norwich would avoid relegation, but pure reality is that squad has not been good enough. He can be called naive which is true. I cant see even 1 reason why on earth he would play in championship? If he would be british, it could be possible but he has not planned to live his life in Britain and he is used to move on. I would not be surprised if Norwich does not even try to use that 1 year option.
Don’t see it that way , Pukki is an honest guy and if Norwich ping the 12 month extension , Teemu wil do his best and score loads of championship goals again .
Then I expect Teemu to move .
We cannot let Teemu go Gary if we do want any chance of a quick return to the EPL.
I know some fans may not want that but I want to see Dean Smith and Craig Shakespiere given their chance to mould a Premier League City Team.
Poor Ben Gibson, that was a nightmare performance but I have to ask a question of Dean Smith here, and that is against Burnley we purposefully cut out 99% of the playing out from the back so why the hell were we doing it away to Manchester United ?
The strongest part of the Man U team is their forwards, so I am a bit mystified.
The performance was excellent, minus 3 complete c…ups.
The match was basically decided by the firmness of a goalkeepers hand. De Gea got a really firm hand to Rashica’s shot but sadly Tim Krul didn’t at all to Ronaldo’s free kick. So 3-2 not 2-3.
However Tim owes us nothing and it is a very rare mistake from the usually very reliable keeper.
I thought United were a rabble, Pogba on £400,000 per week, daylight robbery. He makes more appearances at the casinos than at Old Trafford these days so no surprise he is getting a lot of stick from the home supporters. Harry McGuire too looks like a different player than the one we see with England.
But enough about their problems. We are looking decent at the moment and that is something to help with the disappointment of relegation when it comes.
Keep this up and we can at least spend the summer looking forward to next season in the Championship with some optimism.
Very nearly a happy Easter for us all.
The formation changes which allow lees-melou to ply his trade further forward to forget a supply line to pukki and rashica are key, as is the inclusion of Dowell.
I’ve never been fully convinced by dowell but he is a prominent part of our improvement in performances.
Giannoulis too can take encouragement from his recent run in the side as can Byram.
Having earned plaudits for fashioning a viable team out of the wreckage, Smith blots his copybook with bone headed substitutions. Does anyone believe that the right choice was to replace McLean and Dowell with gilmour and placheta?
Surely Rupp, so effective from the bench last week should replace the stricken McLean and any one of Rowe, Sorensen, or even Max Aarons could deputise for Dowell.
As decisions go, this ranks amongst the oddest of a season packed full of them.
Three awful howlers robbed us of a memorable moment and it hurts. However, it doesn’t hurt as much as the many embarrassing no shows we’ve had to endure this season. A bit of fight and some goals are a positive start.
Taken in isolation this was a worthy effort. But the fact remains it’s another three goals conceded and another game lost. That’s the twelfth time City have conceded three or more goals in PL matches this season. Twelve.
Out of every five PL matches played under Dean Smith we win one, draw one, and lose three. A 19% win percentage will never be enough.
Yes Canarylad of course Zimmo should be in the starting 11 in front of Gibson, should have said that in early piece.
Hi Gary
The third goal from a poor Ref decision even a fool could see there wasn’t enough contact to go down so dramatically and the our defensive wall allowed 3 United players to stand in the middle of it.
Why wasn’t at least 2 of our defender’s standing behind them everyone in the ground knew soon as CR moved towards the ball they would split giving him an open space to shoot through or maybe someone one on the post might have given him a second to think about his placement.
Placheta is still only 21yrs old yet gets the nod to play more first team games for Poland than he does at city how many players have city let go before they have been given a chance to show there true worth.
Next season we will possibly see the return of afew loanee’s not many have taken the bull by the horns or been give game time by the clubs for one reason or another but our own Reece McAlear has got many clubs up in Scotland looking at him.
City stole a march on getting him a couple of years ago from Motherwell I believe now his first contract is about to expire without an extension option I just hope that this youngster will not be allowed to leave without a fight as it stand he can sign for a Scottish club and city get no compensation as a development fee similar to going to a European club someone has screwed up again.
Can we stay up well there is always the possibility of one or more clubs above city having a collapse but we are showing great effort to late in the day we need to win most of our remaining fixtures while those above needs to lose there’s.
Can pig’s fly let’s hope so.
Why does everyone, it seems, think that Gilmour will “one day be a good Premier League player”? What if he is just not very good?
I think its perceived wisdom due to the incessant repetitive nonsense spun by media types and ex players, most of whom have not seen more than a few minutes of gilmour in action but are too lazy to watch him.
If he was anywhere near the standard people are saying he would stand out amongst our squad. In fact he’s not even in the best four midfielders at the club.
He’s played well in the Scotland team and previously in the Chelsea team – a better system for him and better players around him. He is clearly talented – but unfortunately unsuited to a relegation battle.
I’m glad someone said it about Pukki, he’s been the heart and soul of the whole team after Buendia got shipped off to Villa. The players brought in haven’t made it very easy for him to have to want to be in the club. Third or forth tier players, playing with a world class player, you can feel and see his frustration, and its easy to understand. The club hasn’t done much to help in the field and the critics off the field think he isn’t doing enough, missing chances etc.
Playing another year in the Championship makes no sense anymore, when with the clubs player policy, even after a promototion, will be relegation after a very hard and dissapointing season, not getting to play with his peers.