Norwich 2 - 0 Wolves: The "It's probably not as bad as it seems" Verdict Thread.

[Deutsch Wolf]

This bit annoys me:

"We played a different system in the second half to the first, but I don't think we particularly got going in either system," he explained.
“I just decided to go to the other system and try and get Benik up there and in and amongst the centre halves.
“Tettey had been influential in the first half and pulling the strings and we needed to try and get in around him, win the ball back and break with our front three players.

Don't do it full stop, but especially at 1-0 down away from home do not take off a striker so Dave Edwards can chase their defensive midfielder around a bit.

All managers do annoying things though.

Re: Ken's 30 point target. We wouldn't need that many. You're never going to miss out on 77 points. Teams have finished 2nd with fewer than that. We don't need to get into the E&S's realm of ignoring 25-30 years of history.

 

[machin05]

I don't think I've seen Edwards ever make a tackle. Run up to the player, yes; tackle no.

 

[Deleted Cyber]

Now Brentford have fallen out of the top six, all the teams in there bar Ipswich have significantly better squads than ours IMO. Ipswich have Mick who is doing what he does and extracting the absolute maximum from a limited collection of players.

We are about where we should be, if people decide to change their expectations game by game then that really suggests a complete lack of perspective.

Dont always agree with you mate but have to say we are in total unison on this one.

Possession 58-42
Shots 13-4
On target 5-2
And from the reports/commentaries seems like we were 2nd best by some distance.
Price/McDonald against Johnson/Howson is midfield was described as a mis-match

Deserved what we got looking at these stats

Stearman has been the outstanding defender in the division for some time. What "requisite mistake a game" are they playing on Cairo TV?

I know we have had this debate before. Stears has been immense the last two months but he has a rep for an error and again his miskick has just been highlighted on telly. . I know you defend him but it seems that others do see him as guilty of errors that blight otherwise good performances and others are spotting this. We are still better with him than without by some distance but he is what he is.

 

[Tony Towner]

Looks like it's Stearmans man that gets the run on him for the first goal. RVLP body language is shocking for the second throwing his hands up in the air as he fails to track Olsen's run despite both Batth and Iorfa telling him too, although the snippett shown on Sky does not explain why Iorfa is in central midfield in the first place

 

[Edgmond Wolf]

I would be pretty happy with 7th first time back. And we will get 7th by finishing above Brentford.

I too will be happy with that.....BUT....with a couple of solid loans we would be pushing for the play offs or at least have a better chance of them

We are very light on the bench with creative options....

 

[FrankMunro-371]

Consolidation this season, strengthen in the summer, and next year we will be challenging for promotion. Although the play offs this season are not out of the question.

 

[Johnny75]

I too will be happy with that.....BUT....with a couple of solid loans we would be pushing for the play offs or at least have a better chance of them

We are very light on the bench with creative options....

Whilst I think it gives us a better chance and agree with you in principal I don't think our manager is good enough to do that. I'd like to be proved wrong.

 

[machin05]

Consolidation this season, strengthen in the summer, and next year we will be challenging for promotion. Although the play offs this season are not out of the question.

After losing Sako and probably Dicko we'll have to do a hell of a lot just to level out again, let alone strengthen! All without any parachute money. Could be another long stretch in the Championship if we don't make it up this season.

 

[Lord Knows]

Whilst I think it gives us a better chance and agree with you in principal I don't think our manager is good enough to do that. I'd like to be proved wrong.

It seems that Kenny Jackett got it wrong again yesterday by adding Edwards rather than Jacobs in and around Alex Tettey. Reactive rather than proactive substitution which obviously failed.
Looking at Edwards stats he failed to make any impression on the game with Wolves once again lacking any creativity through central positions.

http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/830325/Live

 

[Nando]

Where's Dicko going?!

I said it on the transfer speculation thread the other week that the teams fighting it out at the top this season were in a very similar position to which we currently find ourselves in.

It's vital that we strengthen in the summer and with around 150k a week off the wage bill we should be looking to do so.

 

[machin05]

Where's Dicko going?!

I said it on the transfer speculation thread the other week that the teams fighting it out at the top this season were in a very similar position to which we currently find ourselves in.

It's vital that we strengthen in the summer and with around 150k a week off the wage bill we should be looking to do so.

You want a team name?

I just think we'd do well to keep him, especially if he has a decent end to the season. Any if the teams that go up would be sniffing around, surely.

 

[Norman Deeley]

Consolidation this season, strengthen in the summer, and next year we will be challenging for promotion. Although the play offs this season are not out of the question.

The worry for me, Frank, is that we need to do a lot of strengthening during the summer, as several players who've been given a chance this season as part of last year's successful 'group' simply haven't been up to the required level in the Champ. So not only do we need to replace Sako, but we also need to upgrade Mcdonald and Edwards in the squad, replace Jacobs, add a CH. There is quite an extensive shopping list for the summer.

 

[Norman Deeley]

It seems that Kenny Jackett got it wrong again yesterday by adding Edwards rather than Jacobs in and around Alex Tettey. Reactive rather than proactive substitution which obviously failed.
Looking at Edwards stats he failed to make any impression on the game with Wolves once again lacking any creativity through central positions.

http://www.whoscored.com/Matches/830325/Live

Depressing thing about those stats is that only one Wolves players has a rating that is better than the worst Norwich player.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

You want a team name?

I just think we'd do well to keep him, especially if he has a decent end to the season. Any if the teams that go up would be sniffing around, surely.

No chance, he doesn't score enough goals for PL teams to have a serious look.

 

[Lycan]

Verdict from a Norwich fan.

I'd possibly put that down as our best team performance of the season. Wolves looked ok compared to some of the dross that we've laboured against this season but I think they were a good side that we made look ordinary rather than them just being poor. It feels like ages since we've had a routine win like that, either it's been 5-0 or a nervy 3-2 this season.

Wolves barely had a chance really and I was surprised to see Dicko off and Edwards on at half-time, I guess that must have been an injury? Thought the two young full-backs Hause and Iorfa were much more impressive than the more experienced centre-halves playing between them. McDonald looked quite tidy in the middle of the park but van la Parra, who changed the game at Molineux, did nothing of note and Afobe was similarly anonymous.

Turns out our fans do still dislike Wolves judging by the chanting - who knew? I actually think it helped that Wolves brought a decent following and there was a bit of back-and-forth between the fans as it meant our supporters weren't directing their ire at the team and there was a bit of atmosphere in the ground.

For us I thought Tettey was magnificent, we look so much better when he plays as he gives us a really good balance in midfield, particularly as Howson had a bit of an off day. Johnson had one of his games where he just charged into everything and it really worked, he was running around like a man possessed winning the ball in the second half - he's looking like he could be a surprise contender for player of the season. I have to concede that bringing Bassong back in looks to be a good move too, him and Martin were near faultless over the 90 minutes. Pleased to see Grabban bag another, he looks so much more confident than a few weeks ago and Neil deserves great credit for that.

So all in all very impressive ahead of the big Watford game next week. As Quirk says, the play-off race aint over for Wolves but on that evidence it doesn't look like they'll finish above us. All about kicking on and cementing the play-off place now, two tough away games followed by Ipswich at home. Take 6/7 points from those and even top two may not be out of the question.

As I said, not the end of the world. On to the next one.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

You want a team name?

I just think we'd do well to keep him, especially if he has a decent end to the season. Any if the teams that go up would be sniffing around, surely.

Teams going up to the Premier League?!

 

[sycophantia]

I don't understand why people keep going on about Stearman "having a mistake in him" Its crazy to expect any player (in any division) to go through a whole game without an error, all you can do is try to keep the errors to a minimum and I don't think Stearman is any worse rhan any other Wolves player, obviously central defender as wth goal keeper or striker any mistake is really highlighted.
I also think Edwards should have started yesterday, we can not afford 4 out and out attacking players against the best teams in this league, his effort and desire gives protection to Kmac/Price who plainly are not good enough in CM against quality opposition. Others may see this as a negative option but you have to adjust your team according to who you're playing, yes play Afobe or Jacobs at number 10 against teams like Blackpool but we were asking for trouble yesterday with our starting line-up, its no good having 4 terriffic attackers if you're spending 90% of the time in your defensive 3rd.

 

[Lord Knows]

Depressing thing about those stats is that only one Wolves players has a rating that is better than the worst Norwich player.

Which indicates that Norwich were in control of the game primarily through a midfield two against our midfield two, so why couldn't Edwards make a difference?

 

[PuntsWolf]

You want a team name?

I just think we'd do well to keep him, especially if he has a decent end to the season. Any if the teams that go up would be sniffing around, surely.

Not a chance, he's not that good.

The worry for me, Frank, is that we need to do a lot of strengthening during the summer, as several players who've been given a chance this season as part of last year's successful 'group' simply haven't been up to the required level in the Champ. So not only do we need to replace Sako, but we also need to upgrade Mcdonald and Edwards in the squad, replace Jacobs, add a CH. There is quite an extensive shopping list for the summer.

We don't need that much. We need a midfielder general and a number 10...

And a Sako replacement. We're well stocked at the back.

 

[fizzwolf]

"That was the most complete performance - the best 90 minutes - since I arrived" - Norwich boss Alex Neil
a similar reaction from Steve McLaren after Derby played us off the park. I'm sure Mark Warburton said something along those lines when they done us 4-0.

recurring theme teams seem to save their best performance of the season until they play us. Can it be that or are we as mediocre as we seem to be in some of the games this season.