Norwich City v Derby County

[Ambitious]

We broke several of our seasonal records on Saturday:

It was the most times we lost possession in a game - 197
It was the least recorded possession in a game this season - 41%
It was the fewest recorded 'key passes' we've made this season - 1
It was the fewest accurate passes we've made this season - 208
It was the JOINT fewest attempts on goal we've had in a game this season - 3
 

 

[deano180]

 

Hendrick clearly holding onto Ruddy got us the point @valleyram

[ossieram]

We broke several of our seasonal records on Saturday:

It was the most times we lost possession in a game - 197
It was the least recorded possession in a game this season - 41%
It was the fewest recorded 'key passes' we've made this season - 1
It was the fewest accurate passes we've made this season - 208
It was the JOINT fewest attempts on goal we've had in a game this season - 3
 

 

[Tombo]

 

Hendrick clearly holding onto Ruddy got us the point @valleyram

[Woodypecker]

Hendrick was quite clever, as was Hanson.

Ruddy isn't the most imposing 'keeper; I can't see Grant getting bullied or impeded in the way that Ruddy was.

The Norwich keeper seems to waft his arms around in preparation for incoming balls. Jeff might have noted this and devised his sly tug on Ruddy's flapping arm! Loved the way Hendrick sprinted away celebrating the goal, so as not to draw any attention to the exasperated keeper.

Hanson clearly has the skill to drop dead balls into an area and that moment of quality, with Jeff's presence, gave us the point - along with our (superior) keeper's ability at the other end, at the death.

Hope we can gear up for Tues and play on the front foot.

 

 

[Colm]

Well in Jeff

[Ramarena]

​Norwich were incredibly poor in the final third, if they wasn't then they would have run away for it. The amount of ball they had in and around the box was frightening. We defended by kicking the ball straight back to the opposition. I was embarrassed for large periods of the game - Keogh and Albentosa just looked terrified and showed an inability to calm things down. 

​It wasn't even close. 

The two worst performances this season have been against Norwich and Middlesbrough. I would say the second half against Middlesbrough was the equivalent of the first 60 minutes against Norwich. 

Against Fulham, we had 14 shots, 56% possession and a pass success rate of 77%. Against Norwich, we had 3 shots, 41% possession and a pass success rate of 59%. 

It's easy to hide behind the scoreline, but it was the worst Derby performance I have seen in years. It was horrible. For a team that's looking to be promoted automatically, it was horrific. 

I'd say Norwich's lack of quality in the final third effectively allowed us to take a point from their keeper's mistake. 

[EastKentRam]

​Completely disagree. 

 

That stats don't tell the story, I was at Fulham and it was worse than Norwich. 

[Chris_D]

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[Guest]

​Completely disagree. 

 

That stats don't tell the story, I was at Fulham and it was worse than Norwich. 

[Dimmu]

Hendrick was quite clever, as was Hanson.

Ruddy isn't the most imposing 'keeper; I can't see Grant getting bullied or impeded in the way that Ruddy was.

The Norwich keeper seems to waft his arms around in preparation for incoming balls. Jeff might have noted this and devised his sly tug on Ruddy's flapping arm! Loved the way Hendrick sprinted away celebrating the goal, so as not to draw any attention to the exasperated keeper.

Hanson clearly has the skill to drop dead balls into an area and that moment of quality, with Jeff's presence, gave us the point - along with our (superior) keeper's ability at the other end, at the death.

Hope we can gear up for Tues and play on the front foot.

 

 

[Ramarena]

​I dont like to argue with the stats too much but I do agree.

Main difference for me was that Fulham often looked like scoring, whilst until probably the last 5-10 minutes (and then they should have been down to 10), I didnt think Norwich were that threatening. 

Also against Fulham, we tried to play properly but were just totally inept. Against Norwich we were fairly organised, ran around alot and didnt really attempt much football. So I can see Ambitious' point, and it probably depends on what way you look at it, but I thought we were worse against Fulham. 

Still worrying that these two performances have happened so close to one another and at such a vital time of the season. 

[Ambitious]

I guess it depends on how you look at it. I can't stand watching the team getting dominated, and that's what we was. I guess you could argue 'well we only conceded one' but it just papers over the fact that we were run ragged defensively and Norwich's poor finishing allowed us to nick a point. 

I said after I re-watched the Fulham game that it was nowhere near as bad as people made out. For me, that's because we were the team with the ball and we looked to create goalscoring opportunities. Against Norwich, we sat 10 men in our own box and instead of trying to work it out we just hoofed it down the line for our very three energetic attackers to battle for. 

My biggest frustration was that looked absolutely inept and weak at the knees of a Championship side that are below us in the league. If we get promoted and dish out the same 'get it away, down the lines, at all cost' approach then it's not something that interests me.

The biggest comparison to the game I watched on Saturday I could think of was Aston Villa away in 2007 - where we lost 2-0. It was one of the games that particularly got to me in that season, because Villa played nice football and had good approach play and we just hit it down the lines for our strikers to chase. It's exactly what we did against Norwich. 

A team with so many high performing Championship players should not have approached or played the way we did on Saturday. I'm not even a negative person, but it was horrific. It was exactly the same when Birmingham picked up the point at our place not one week ago. 

The stats were just to illustrate my point, to be honest. I watched us play absolutely horrendously, concede a number of chances and watched us get walked all over by a side in the Championship. We had 3 shots and created 1 chance in 90 minutes - if it hadn't have been for Ruddy's complete loss of grip on reality then it really would have been a toothless defeat to a promotion rival. 

Without Buxton, we had absolutely no chill in defence. Grant, Shotton, Keogh, Albentosa and Forsyth's idea of passing at the weekend was painful to watch. In Hanson you had a young lad in his first game, he didn't drop and make an option enough and he seemed alien of where to go or what to do. There's a reason when Eustace, Mascarell and Thorne plays that they're the player with the most amount of passes and touches on the pitch on the day. It was unexpected he would run away with it, but that completely broke the team ethos down. Hughes and Hendrick were bystanders and unable to impose themselves on the game - neither lost the ball too much, but neither got the ball too much. Ward, Russell and Ince all showed incredible endeavour to try and create something out of the completely woeful passes to them. 

With Thorne, I am a lot more confident, because he is a player that will drop in and will ensure we dominate possession and the ball. I don't think this performance reflects the Derby side in any way, but it's laughable how we came away with a point. Similarly to how Birmingham got a point at our place the week before. 

[North_Stand_Ram]

​Norwich were incredibly poor in the final third, if they wasn't then they would have run away for it. The amount of ball they had in and around the box was frightening. We defended by kicking the ball straight back to the opposition. I was embarrassed for large periods of the game - Keogh and Albentosa just looked terrified and showed an inability to calm things down. 

​It wasn't even close. 

The two worst performances this season have been against Norwich and Middlesbrough. I would say the second half against Middlesbrough was the equivalent of the first 60 minutes against Norwich. 

Against Fulham, we had 14 shots, 56% possession and a pass success rate of 77%. Against Norwich, we had 3 shots, 41% possession and a pass success rate of 59%. 

It's easy to hide behind the scoreline, but it was the worst Derby performance I have seen in years. It was horrible. For a team that's looking to be promoted automatically, it was horrific. 

I'd say Norwich's lack of quality in the final third effectively allowed us to take a point from their keeper's mistake. 

[Ambitious]

Wouldn't of called Norwich poor, even in the final 3rd. Their manager hounded it as an excellent performance, and they created nothing clear cut until injury time

[Rev]

 

I get especially frustrated over those two things in particular; I hate to see us dominated in possession and I hate to see us play kick and rush football. 

[PistoldPete2]

Well in Jeff

[Brammie Steve]

Bloody hell, he does as well! Grabs his hand so he can't catch it! He sees that the ball is heading in and reacts quickly to grab Ruddy's arm. How's that for 'speed of thought' you daft ******* commentators.

Pure theft, but that's how it's done. We're not here to be anyone's mate, we're here to go up.