Ricardo
Active Member
So will it get us relegated?
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Wiz
New Member
Playing like that it won't Ricardo, we can drag other teams back into the mix now.
eatonparkboy
New Member
And with Newcastle now dropping two against Villa, we will not go into Xmas in the bottom three and the gap to the teams above us has narrowed. And while we aren't in that bottom three there is hope.
We still have a massive task ahead and we mustn't get carried away like we did after Swansea but just enjoy the days when it goes right.
We still have a massive task ahead and we mustn't get carried away like we did after Swansea but just enjoy the days when it goes right.
Ricardo
Active Member
I reckon a point a game from here will be enough.
K
Killiecanary
New Member
and what did I forget??
The good guys always win in the end!!
great result, well- done wee Alex and all the players. For all the headlines will be about how poor Man U were (and watching it on TV now they were utter sh1te!) that is three absolute bonus points.
I don't think I would have ever bet on 5 points and an undefeated three game run from Arsenal, Everton and Man U!! This is a very weird league this year - made more so by the fact none of the teams at the top are actually much good.
K
Killiecanary
New Member
Have to be fair - I've been a tad critical of tettey in recent weeks...but just awesome today from what I've seen on the telly. I've been seeing him a limited footballer but maybe he can be better than that.
Tactically - yet again - spot on too
Tactically - yet again - spot on too
C
Canary World
Member
Great day of football great trip to the German markets in town afterwards
and a gorgeous picture of me on sky sports news after the game
and a gorgeous picture of me on sky sports news after the game
Din
Well-Known Member
Absolutely over the moon after that. Difficult opening half an hour or so where we didn't have a lot of the ball and had to dig in and stay disciplined at the back, but we did, and to be honest once Jerome scored I don't really think we ever looked like losing it. United were woeful and I don't think there can be any argument that we didn't deserve the win.
Hard to single out individual players really who stood out as it was an excellent team performance, but I thought Tettey and O'Neil in defensive midfield did fantastic jobs. Bennett and Bassong were solid once again, and their partnership is blossoming right now. Redmond was a constant threat who skipped past United players time after time and did well to set up the goal. Jerome deserves a hell of a lot of credit as well for his goal and assist. I was shouting at him originally when he essentially took the ball away from Hoolahan who was about to play a first time pass into Tettey, but Jerome then played an inch perfect pass himself and it ultimately won us the game. Can't fault Alex Neil today. Tactics, team selection, substitutions were all spot on. To think that in the last 2 weeks some fans have been saying he is out of his depth is completely laughable after today.
United, to be honest, were completely inept. Mata was about the only player looking even remotely threatening, the rest didn't even look bothered. Once they got a goal back I expected an onslaught in the last 25 minutes as they pushed for the equaliser, but that never really happened, and I wasn't even too concerned when I saw 4 minutes of added time signaled, as I was confident that we would see it out as United just weren't posing a threat. I know some United fans have been saying that Rooney has been dreadful for a while now, I hadn't seen him play for ages so couldn't really judge but if he has been playing anything like he did yesterday then I can see where they're coming from. I know he's only just come back from injury but even so he was so poor. The crosses coming into the box from the likes of Depay and Martial were so often terrible, and the whole defence had an absolute nightmare. Tactically as well Van Gaal got it completely wrong. The midfield were so high up the pitch that it left so much space in behind them for the likes of Hoolahan and Redmond to exploit, and have a clean run at the defence. If there had been a clear holding midfielder, who had sat deep, then both of our goals could've been avoided. Even our defensive midfielders, Tettey and O'Neil, were allowed space behind the midfield. I'm tempted to say it was arrogance from Van Gaal, who perhaps just expected to be able to turn us over defensively so it didn't matter what we did going forward. If that was the case he got it very wrong.
From our point of view the most important thing now is building on this, which won't be easy considering we go to Spurs on Boxing day. If we did manage to get something from that though, then we would be in good form going into a run of games against Aston Villa, Southampton, Stoke and Bournemouth, the first 2 being at home. I'm really trying not to get too far ahead of myself, but a good run of a results there and we could put a fair bit of distance between us and the bottom 3.
Hard to single out individual players really who stood out as it was an excellent team performance, but I thought Tettey and O'Neil in defensive midfield did fantastic jobs. Bennett and Bassong were solid once again, and their partnership is blossoming right now. Redmond was a constant threat who skipped past United players time after time and did well to set up the goal. Jerome deserves a hell of a lot of credit as well for his goal and assist. I was shouting at him originally when he essentially took the ball away from Hoolahan who was about to play a first time pass into Tettey, but Jerome then played an inch perfect pass himself and it ultimately won us the game. Can't fault Alex Neil today. Tactics, team selection, substitutions were all spot on. To think that in the last 2 weeks some fans have been saying he is out of his depth is completely laughable after today.
United, to be honest, were completely inept. Mata was about the only player looking even remotely threatening, the rest didn't even look bothered. Once they got a goal back I expected an onslaught in the last 25 minutes as they pushed for the equaliser, but that never really happened, and I wasn't even too concerned when I saw 4 minutes of added time signaled, as I was confident that we would see it out as United just weren't posing a threat. I know some United fans have been saying that Rooney has been dreadful for a while now, I hadn't seen him play for ages so couldn't really judge but if he has been playing anything like he did yesterday then I can see where they're coming from. I know he's only just come back from injury but even so he was so poor. The crosses coming into the box from the likes of Depay and Martial were so often terrible, and the whole defence had an absolute nightmare. Tactically as well Van Gaal got it completely wrong. The midfield were so high up the pitch that it left so much space in behind them for the likes of Hoolahan and Redmond to exploit, and have a clean run at the defence. If there had been a clear holding midfielder, who had sat deep, then both of our goals could've been avoided. Even our defensive midfielders, Tettey and O'Neil, were allowed space behind the midfield. I'm tempted to say it was arrogance from Van Gaal, who perhaps just expected to be able to turn us over defensively so it didn't matter what we did going forward. If that was the case he got it very wrong.
From our point of view the most important thing now is building on this, which won't be easy considering we go to Spurs on Boxing day. If we did manage to get something from that though, then we would be in good form going into a run of games against Aston Villa, Southampton, Stoke and Bournemouth, the first 2 being at home. I'm really trying not to get too far ahead of myself, but a good run of a results there and we could put a fair bit of distance between us and the bottom 3.
C
Canary World
Member
Only observation was the size of our crowd yesterday. Not sure if we had a restricted allocation or because it was so close to Xmas but we usually have 2 sections but we only had one yesterday.
Still made plenty of noise though
Still made plenty of noise though
morty
Moderator
Staff member
Really, really wish I had gone now! I have to admit though, that being completely gubbed the last twice I went probably influenced my decision!
C
Canary World
Member
After watching the dross of the likes of Watford away Southampton away etc it makes it all worth while the hope that occasionally you get a stunning result like that.
morty
Moderator
Staff member
eatonparkboy
New Member
The only down side is the reaction from the rest of the universe. Not that it is totally important but needs addressing.
Hang on, we are a Premier league side. We aren't a non league outfit who just achieved a giant killing act, They probably had a worse record than us over the last few weeks going into this game.
We naturally will give credit to our guys, that is a given. But it would be nice just for once for the rest of the human world to recognise that the important stats say we had more shots on target and more goals.
Before the game it was all about VG not picking Jones and Young last week and he should have played the youngsters this game against lowly Norwich. During the game after Cam's goal, it was "what do you expect with Young and Jones playing".
Excuse me?
Hang on, we are a Premier league side. We aren't a non league outfit who just achieved a giant killing act, They probably had a worse record than us over the last few weeks going into this game.
We naturally will give credit to our guys, that is a given. But it would be nice just for once for the rest of the human world to recognise that the important stats say we had more shots on target and more goals.
Before the game it was all about VG not picking Jones and Young last week and he should have played the youngsters this game against lowly Norwich. During the game after Cam's goal, it was "what do you expect with Young and Jones playing".
Excuse me?
morty
Moderator
Staff member
The pundits were actually very complimentary on Match of the day, giving us credit for a well thought plan.
Canaryboy
Well-Known Member
Amazing how quickly things can change in football.
A few days ago I was feeling a bit down and wondering where our next win was coming from and thinking that Villa at home would be make or break.
Now I'm wondering whether a win at home to Villa will leave us potentially on course for a mid-table finish and a decent transfer window.
This is a HUGE result for us as long as we don't mess it up against Villa. If we can put a little bit of a space between ourselves and the relegation zone before the window open we'll find it much easier to attract a quality player or two, and it will probably impact directly on how tight McNally is with the purse strings.
Crossing my fingers that Swansea lose to West Ham this afternoon.
A few days ago I was feeling a bit down and wondering where our next win was coming from and thinking that Villa at home would be make or break.
Now I'm wondering whether a win at home to Villa will leave us potentially on course for a mid-table finish and a decent transfer window.
This is a HUGE result for us as long as we don't mess it up against Villa. If we can put a little bit of a space between ourselves and the relegation zone before the window open we'll find it much easier to attract a quality player or two, and it will probably impact directly on how tight McNally is with the purse strings.
Crossing my fingers that Swansea lose to West Ham this afternoon.
eatonparkboy
New Member
Yesterday was so dramatic and I'm trying to keep a lid on what my emotions tell me is going to happen for the rest of the season. I still remember that for the first 15-30 minutes yesterday, we were hacking clear and not putting two passes together. But we rode that out and performed well as a counter attacking team.
Had Villa not equalised and a Swansea win could have seen us still in the bottom three, it's that close. So I am tempering my thoughts with the belief that anything on Boxing Day should send us into a round of matches against clubs in and around us with a degree of optimism. And it is no good picking up points against sides a long way clear of us if we give them away against teams near us. So we have four games that we must turn into a run, just like Watford and Bournemouth have done. Three wins on the spin and by the time an inconsistent Liverpool arrives we could be looking for just 10 points for apparent safety.
So this result should not only be the intrinsic and very valuable 3 points but a marker for the players in terms of the kind of performance they need to achieve for the nest five games.
If they can do that, then we can turn our season. Anything less and we could struggle.
Some players have responded recently particularly Bennett at the back and O'Neill in the middle and Nathan was outstanding yesterday. And Tettey looked twice the player by swapping with Gary and playing further up the pitch. I made a not of his first eight touches when the defensive midfielder and he only found a team mate once. But when relieved of those duties to a great degree he looked a danger. Well done AN for spotting that. The only player to disappoint for the whole match was Wes and maybe if Jarvis is fit, Brady can move into that role.
But yesterday has lifted the gloom somewhat and it may be coincidence but I had my best round of golf for a while this morning (it helps to feel smug in front of the Cornish ManU contingent).
eatonparkboy
New Member
Haven't seen it yet. I'll wait for it to come onto Iplayer. To be fair, yesterday Phil Thompson said "we all like Norwich" meaning everything not just how we play but as a club.
It's fools like Merson who basically said we will go down if we don't get a striker and start scoring but praised Watford for their attacking prowess. Yet they had at that stage scored less goals!!
morty
Moderator
Staff member
But, on reflection, that has turned out to be a reasonable call by him.
eatonparkboy
New Member
It turned out that way today certainly. But if he knew much about us he would have said it is the silly goals we have conceded that is as much of a problem. Reverse the Albion result just for one and we look healthier.
morty
Moderator
Staff member
From the Guardian On-line: 10 things from the w/e
2) Norwich give romantics chance to dream
Just as Leicester City threaten to provide the first truly fantastical story of the Premier League era – a Boy’s Own title win by a team who were apparently certain for relegation – so Norwich City’s victory over Manchester United in their own backyard on Saturday tingles the senses. Louis van Gaal’s team were awful, true, but enough about them. Alex Neil’s Canaries soaked up the early pressure then began a sweet song that bewitched United as twice their yellow shirts swarmed forward to raid the 20-times champions and score memorable breakaway goals.
Take a bow, then, Cameron Jerome and Alexander Tettey for the strikes on 38 and 54 minutes. But the acclaim and the garlands, really, should be for their manager Neil. He came with a gameplan to stick it to United and it worked magnificently. The realist looks at this season’s upsetting of the old order by teams like Norwich and Leicester and thinks it surely cannot last. The romantic looks at the same picture and hopes it is the start of something far longer-lasting. Jamie Jackson
2) Norwich give romantics chance to dream
Just as Leicester City threaten to provide the first truly fantastical story of the Premier League era – a Boy’s Own title win by a team who were apparently certain for relegation – so Norwich City’s victory over Manchester United in their own backyard on Saturday tingles the senses. Louis van Gaal’s team were awful, true, but enough about them. Alex Neil’s Canaries soaked up the early pressure then began a sweet song that bewitched United as twice their yellow shirts swarmed forward to raid the 20-times champions and score memorable breakaway goals.
Take a bow, then, Cameron Jerome and Alexander Tettey for the strikes on 38 and 54 minutes. But the acclaim and the garlands, really, should be for their manager Neil. He came with a gameplan to stick it to United and it worked magnificently. The realist looks at this season’s upsetting of the old order by teams like Norwich and Leicester and thinks it surely cannot last. The romantic looks at the same picture and hopes it is the start of something far longer-lasting. Jamie Jackson
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