Match Day Thread Norwich v Southampton

I know Smith said that Todd was "off the pace", but he genuinely looked disinterested. It wasn't like he was sprinting everywhere, with a pained look on his face, desperately trying to keep up with the pace of the game. He was waltzing about, not getting stuck in, not tracking his man and generally not paying much attention.

Around me we were all hoping that Smith would have the guts to hook him at HT, in a completely anti-Farke move, and he did! For all he lacks in technical ability, what a huge difference Sargent made with his closing and pressure on their back line, and defensive duties.

 

It's just stubborn pig headedness .

A supporter can slag players off and commend them if they do well.

I'm dissapointed with Cantwell but still hope he finds form and plays well for us.

I have been harsh on Gilmore until yesterday he looked like a little boy in previous games , yesterday second half he was getting stuck in getting interceptions playing some great passes and took a decent corner.

Some would rather lose than proved wrong about a player .

Hanley made some mistakes yesterday but also played very well in places .

 

Ratings are always difficult, because different people see different things. Their first goal had a lot luck in the build up, but it was a very deft flick by Armstrong to put Adams through and he finished it perfectly. That's PL quality and Adams is on a buzz from his goals for Scotland. How much Hanley was at fault is hard to judge.

The difference with WhoScored ratings is that they're based on actual player contributions rather than someone's gut feelings, like Sky or Paddy Davitt for example. Hanley, like Pukki, got an extra half point for their goals as major contributions, which they are. Goals win games. Assists also score slightly more so Gilmour and Aarons got that. For me, it was Hanley's winning goal, on top the contribution based evaluation of his overall performance, that made him MotM.

 

I can see what you mean in terms of goals/assists boosting someones score. Feel like Gibson had the best "overall" game out of anyone. Solid in both halves, where others only turned up for the 2nd half. Whole team were pretty much superb after HT

 

Handley deserved double points for winning our first home game in ages and it being his birthday.

 

Southampton were on fire in the first half and we did well to hold them to 1-1, but they faded and we improved in the second half. Agree about Gibson being consistent throughout though.

 

It will be interesting to see if Kabak can force his way back into the side , he's probably behind Omobamidele in 4th choice after his colossal **** up sgainst Leeds .

 

Maybe I should keep watching the highlights at work rather than the full game. We have won the last two when I have done that!

 

You can never have too many highlights when we win

 

Saints keeper was pants, and he was keeping Gunn out of the team?

 

Leeds lost today so we are just 3 points from safety, but with a poor goal difference.

 

Interestingly our poor goal difference is as much down to our ability to score as it is to our defensive issues. We've conceded just as many goals as Newcastle, but scored 8 less.

 

That Leeds loss after they were 1-0 up makes a huge difference as the 3 point deficit can be made up in a single week. Yes there's still goal difference, but that certainly gives hope for survival. This could be an amazing season.

Leeds are away to Brighton next week.

 

what I loved most of all was no playing it out from the back. It minimised danger by the power of Greyskull. Krul largely went long.

 

Leeds were without four crucial players due to illness or injury yesterday -- Raphinha, Rodrigo, Bamford and Ayling. Shackleton was also missing. Bamford and Ayling were also missing when they played us. I don't personally think Leeds will be involved in the relegation scrap next April.

 

I suppose it's whether losing saps moral and it becomes a vicious cycle

 

With such a slow start to the season and injury problems, it's possible they could slip into second season syndrome. Let's see what they do at Brighton next week. After that, they still have to play Chelsea, ManCity, Arsenal and Liverpool before Christmas. I'd rather our schedule than theirs.

 

Having injured/missing players is a much stronger and more reasonable justification for an underperformance than it is as a justification for an expectation that performances will improve.

 

A couple of crazy stats from our result at the weekend:

• Pukki’s 7th minute goal was our first in the first 10mins of a Premier League game since 1994 - 17years!!
• First time we have come back to win from a losing position in 36 games