Reply With QuoteUnited were ok and were far from poor and it was a game that should have ended 0-0 but we lost. Norwich will say it was a perfect away performance in terms of getting a goal and defending it with the keeper well protected throughout. They were ugly in how they did it but they won’t care and neither will their fans. United have to be a bit cleverer and a bit better as they face teams that will do what Norwich did at home. That is where the lack of pace (and height today) will really hurt us as the season goes on and this issue is the one area that as superb as Wilder has done, he has simply not addressed. This allows teams to sit back.
It is far from the end of the world. We are having some rotten luck with injuries and next week will be tough if we have most of these out as I do not know where the goals are coming from (we don’t get goals from the midfield at the moment) so hope at least a few of them might be fit. Seems Freeman will be out which is a blow even though Baldock looks promising. Going to be a big week for Wilder preparing them for next Sunday and he will just hope he had some players back. If we do we have nothing to fear going there although they have not lost since the opening day and haver a very good home record. Key will be midfield for me. If those 3 can get back to standards they have set then we will be right in the game with a chance of winning if we do have at least one striker back.
Norwich – They got the goal and saw it out. It felt it was a bit smash and grab but then the reality is they did not have much to worry about in terms of clear chances or good efforts on goal. They got men in the way and broke things up and defended really well. They have now kept three clean sheets so clearly not down to luck as they have brought in two no nonsense big lads who both played well. They scored a decent goal and had a few other breaks but they did what they had to
The major gripe is the cynical, time wasting and cheating they employed to slow the game down at every opportunity. It is of course up to the referee to penalise and they tried it on all game and kept doing it as he was not penalising them. They were horrible to watch and some of the antics were embarrassing but will say it worked. Not sure it will work most weeks and were fortunate they caught us with 5 strikers injured. In general play United were better in a lot of things but crucially they showed that bit of quality in the last third. A horrible side to watch mind and not sure I would want to watch that every week if that is how they go about winning games.
Farke has clearly worked on the organisation and the defence and taken out players like Hoolahan and Martin; mainstays as he looks to shape his own team. They of course have a few out (like us) due to injury but I am not sure I saw enough to suggest they will be anything other than mid table. Teams with any kind of attack and quality (including us with players we had out) I feel would have beaten them today and a stronger ref may not have seen them so successful. They did press us and harry us and got amongst us though. We had the least amount of time on the ball we have had all season at home and this pressure saw us not be as effective at creating things.
Opposition Man of the Match: Thought they worked hard and closed us down and all did their job for the team. Sure, they used a lot of ‘gamesmanship’ but that is up to the referee to stamp out. Though the lad Tettey was good at breaking up play and never gave out midfield lads a moment. However, the two centre halves were outstanding (did not play much) and repelled everything we put into the box. The lad Klose stood out and takes the honours. They were missing main striker themselves (Oliveira – worth mentioning amongst all the talk of our bereft forward line) but had a few neat and tidy players and broke well when they could but most of best work was defensive. Jerome may be getting on but did hold it up and did all the things we needed of someone up top. He was not flashy or much of a goal threat but brought others into play. The lad Murphy was also lively too.
Opposition Weak link: Not sure there was anyone who was really bad. They were all steady. The lad Trybull was a bit cynical and he also gave it away quite a bit but Norwich had a lot of 6-7/10 players really.
Blackman 7/10 – Fine. Had no chance on the goal as he was left badly exposed. Made a few regulation saves and his handling was fine. His kicking was a bit better today. He seems better on the floor than out of his hands so is trying to drop it and play it out that way. Got away with one on the penalty. I thought he was slow and that he did catch their lad being honest. Another thing the referee missed.
Freeman 5.5/10 – Poorest he has been for a long time. He gave it away quite a bit early on and going forward was not really a threat. I felt that he was sloppy with the ball and resorted to going to the deck too much. He was constantly looking for a foul but rightly (in this case) the ref did not give him anything. Seems he took a whack to his ribs and there may be a break which would see him out for 3 or 4 weeks at least. Chance for Baldock to come in now.
Stevens 6/10 – Like Freeman; his standards dropped today and after setting good standards I felt his passing and general play was off. He got caught a few times defensively but did improve as the game went on in this area. Attacking wise we got nothing from him and he got stopped in his tracks or overran the ball a few times. Came off and we went 4-4-2.
Basham 7/10 – One of our better players today. He made a few poor choices early including one bad give away but got better. He kept going forward and took the ball into midfield so many times. His decisions when he gets into good areas are questionable and he seems to panic but love the way he drives at teams even as a centre back. He has recovered well after his errors at Cardiff and Boro.
O’Connell 7/10 – Steady performance. Nothing flashy. He won tackles and blocks. He did not do too much wrong that I can recall although the defence did take too long to move it on first half. He put a poor cross in after a good move first half but also put a good one in not long after. Missed a decent chance from a corner when he headed well wide near the end.
Wright 6.5/10 – His long run of unbeaten starts comes to an end. He started the game with a few uncharacteristic errors including one really poor pass when they nearly got in. He struggled with a few of their breaks with pace early on. After they scored they did not attack as much. I felt we could have sacrificed him for Carruthers or someone else. I know we eventually went 4-4-2 but not sure we needed him second half as they had so many men behind the ball.
Fleck 6.5/10 – Up and down. Some good tackles and passes mixed in with some sloppy stuff. He at times took too long to move it on and you could say that about a lot of the midfield today. Still showed his touch and range of passing. His shooting was quite poor. He takes on a lot of shots outside the box but never seems to get that close or lacks power. He drags his shots a lot. Problem is the rest of the team were very shot shy. Got booked and then nearly got another card and lost his head for a few minutes.
Coutts 6.5/10 – Like Fleck above. At times just ooze class with his touch and ability to move it on and showed that today. Some good stuff and ball retention and ability to switch play. He did give it away a few times too though. I felt we were too slow to move it on and this allowed them to get bodies behind the ball. On another day, he might have been sent off. He had already been booked for a pullback (after he had given the ball away before that) and then got involved with one of theirs and did catch him (not an elbow) but if the useless assistant referee had seen it; he would have got at least another yellow. He never seems to want to shoot and needs to maybe try it at times. I admire his passing and skill but we do need more goals from the midfield; especially when we are down in numbers up top.
Duffy 6/10 – He did not get in the game that much after a promising start. Showed a few flashes and bit of link play first 20 minutes but then got crowded out. Brooks seemed to go into the areas he normally does and not sure it quite worked first half with those two both playing as number 10’s. Lasted 75 minutes today but second half not sure he did much of note and seems to struggle when the game goes past the hour mark. Today with the lack of options he kind of had to stay on.
Originally Posted by Longshortandtall
