Norwich City vs Brizzle City (Home) Wednesday 14th September.

[morty]

6th win in a row? This definitely smells like a win to me!

No idea re team, pretty sure Idah won't be involved.

 

[Number 9]

6th win in a row? This definitely smells like a win to me!

No idea re team, pretty sure Idah won't be involved.

Bristol have a habit of conceding possession yet scoring multiple goals, even away from home.
We will have to take our chances. I predict a riot of goals in all directions.

 

[OldRobert]

6th win in a row? This definitely smells like a win to me!

No idea re team, pretty sure Idah won't be involved.

Is he ever? Not much good when he is involved.

 

[Number 9]

Is he ever? Not much good when he is involved.

He wasn't too shabby in the Premier League before his injury.

 

[morty]

Key squad news

Dean Smith confirmed no fresh injury/fitness concerns after last weekend's Burnley call-off.

Isaac Hayden (knee) back running on the grass and was kicking a ball on Monday. Targeting a practice game or development run out over the international break. Ruled out since pre-season after a minor op to 'clean out' a knee issue.

Adam Idah (knee) ruled out for a 'number of weeks' after operation Smith labelled 'exploratory' last Thursday. Previously had some fluid taken out of his knee earlier this season, after a knee problem curtailed his Premier League season in February.

Dimi Giannoulis (ankle ligaments) out of a protective boot and back in light training. Injured in the opening Championship home draw against Wigan.

Jonathan Rowe (shin). Stress-related injury. Smith indicated will be a 'number of games' he misses. But would not put a specific timescale on it.

Liam Gibbs (ankle). Now out of a protective boot. Injured in the Championship win at Sunderland.

Jacob Sorensen (foot) stress fracture. Smith reported last Thursday he is still in a protective boot. Injured in the second half of Norwich City's Championship defeat at Hull City in August.

Sam McCallum (foot) out until after the World Cup (December). Still on crutches. Had surgery on a metatarsal injury August 11.

 

[Gunvald Larsson]

I see this as a decent test for us. Pearson has got them playing some good stuff. A draw?

 

[OldRobert]

He wasn't too shabby in the Premier League before his injury.

Far too injury prone for my liking. PL 2019-2020 12 appearances no goals, PL 2021-2022 17 appearances 1goal. If to you that's not too shabby, fair enough, tbf I don't know how many of those were 5 min jobs, but it wouldn't be my opinion.

 

[Number 9]

Far too injury prone for my liking. PL 2019-2020 12 appearances no goals, PL 2021-2022 17 appearances 1goal. If to you that's not too shabby, fair enough, tbf I don't know how many of those were 5 min jobs, but it wouldn't be my opinion.

You'll no doubt recall that Farke played Pukki as a lone striker and flogged him to death, Adam barely got on the pitch and when he did it was either a cup game or just a few minutes after the 85min mark.
When Smith started playing him regularly in the Premier League last season he was going well, strangely enough when he dropped out injured the team's form' which had uplifted slightly, plummeted again.

 

[morty]

Unchanged.

 

[Number 9]

No Gunn

 

[Number 9]

Stats show Bristol City score & concede many times, but this is the first time I've seen them play recently.
It's like Norwich v Norwich
This could easily end up as a high scoring draw!

 

[morty]

A very odd game by all accounts, either we were terrible, or they were really good, the ref was awful and the crowd was quiet. And we have still forgotten how to enjoy a win. Apparently God save the King was magnificent though.

Strange times.

 

[Fenway Frank]

I thought we were really sloppy in possession and gave the ball away far too often. We really need Hayden to sit in front of the back four as we look pretty vulnerable, which I know is an ironic thing to say when we’ve hardly let any goals in recently Overall I think we take the three points, beat West Brom Saturday and hope we get a left back fit for after the break.

 

[GJP]

A very odd game by all accounts, either we were terrible, or they were really good, the ref was awful and the crowd was quiet. And we have still forgotten how to enjoy a win. Apparently God save the King was magnificent though.

Strange times.

We're winning games without playing great. I'm fine with that.

Vintage Pukki last night though. Helluva player.

 

[morty]

We're winning games without playing great. I'm fine with that.
Vintage Pukki last night though. Helluva player.

I watched the highlights earlier, his first touch to take the ball away from the keeper, for his first goal, was sublime.
Too good for this league.

Sarge's header none too shabby either.

 

[Gunvald Larsson]

'twas a weird game ... we were great for 20 minutes, 2-0 up and cruising to what looked like an easy win, then the wheels came off (again) ... we became sloppy, complacent and Bristol deserved their goal ... we were a bit better in the 2nd half to begin with but then the cycle repeated itself ... Sarge's goal came out of the blue but it just seemed to inspire Bristol ... however, their 2nd goal was a joke, Aarons was fouled, their player was fouled, penalty we all thought, our defence dithered and boom, back of net ... that was just one incident when the ref got it all wrong ... numerous decisions went the wrong way (not just for us but Bristol too) and the linesman where I was sitting was truly useless ... and the timing of the final whistle was bizarre, but, we still won ... if we can cut out the stupid mistakes when 'playing out from the back' and just keep concentrating for 90 minutes we should do ok going forward ... we deffo need a proper left-back and Hayden in the DM position ... Sarge out right isn't as effective as when playing down the middle but who can argue against Pukki at the moment keeping that role ... Nunez and Ramsey are quality and the Hanley/Omobomidele partnership looks solid (most of the time) ... 6 wins in a row ....OTBC

ratings ...

KRUL - 6
AARONS - 6
OMOBOMIDELE - 7
HANLEY - 7
BYRAM - 5
MCLEAN - 6
CANTWELL - 5
NUNEZ - 7
RAMSEY - 7
SARGENT - 6
PUKKI - 9

I had the good luck to be sitting near 2 'experts' who gave me a running commentary on how each player should be doing things and how Smith should set up the team ... it was a real 'education' for me to now fully understand how football (which I have been watching for nearly 60 years) should really be played.

 

[Number 9]

'twas a weird game ... we were great for 20 minutes, 2-0 up and cruising to what looked like an easy win, then the wheels came off (again) ... we became sloppy, complacent and Bristol deserved their goal ... we were a bit better in the 2nd half to begin with but then the cycle repeated itself ... Sarge's goal came out of the blue but it just seemed to inspire Bristol ... however, their 2nd goal was a joke, Aarons was fouled, their player was fouled, penalty we all thought, our defence dithered and boom, back of net ... that was just one incident when the ref got it all wrong ... numerous decisions went the wrong way (not just for us but Bristol too) and the linesman where I was sitting was truly useless ... and the timing of the final whistle was bizarre, but, we still won ... if we can cut out the stupid mistakes when 'playing out from the back' and just keep concentrating for 90 minutes we should do ok going forward ... we deffo need a proper left-back and Hayden in the DM position ... Sarge out right isn't as effective as when playing down the middle but who can argue against Pukki at the moment keeping that role ... Nunez and Ramsey are quality and the Hanley/Omobomidele partnership looks solid (most of the time) ... 6 wins in a row ....OTBC

ratings ...

KRUL - 6
AARONS - 6
OMOBOMIDELE - 7
HANLEY - 7
BYRAM - 5
MCLEAN - 6
CANTWELL - 5
NUNEZ - 7
RAMSEY - 7
SARGENT - 6
PUKKI - 9

I had the good luck to be sitting near 2 'experts' who gave me a running commentary on how each player should be doing things and how Smith should set up the team ... it was a real 'education' for me to now fully understand how football (which I have been watching for nearly 60 years) should really be played.

What do you think was the problem with our tactics and players which allowed Bristol to have control furing so much of the game?
Obviously Bristol are a reasonable side in the Championship but we need to consider improvements for next season.

 

[Gunvald Larsson]

What do you think was the problem with our tactics and players which allowed Bristol to have control furing so much of the game?
Obviously Bristol are a reasonable side in the Championship but we need to consider improvements for next season.

The tactics that were at fault for me was the insistence on always having to 'play out from the back', playing Sargent out wide and the players appearing to switch off. The early pressing stopped and the midfield (apart from Nunez) seemed to start walking instead of running. I believe Smith mentioned that in his post-match interview. The 2nd half was similar, we started well and then slowed down again. That happened a lot in the PL and we got slaughtered. Thankfully teams in the EFL aren't as good as most teams in the PL so we have been getting away with it (so far). Smith has to address this 'cos it seems like nothing has been learned from that PL disaster. Why we still try to 'play out from the back' (which usually gets us nowhere) all the time is a mystery to me. The defenders pass the ball among themselves about 10 times then pass back to Krul to kick it up the pitch. He might as well have done that in the 1st place without the danger of the defenders making a hash of it (as they often do). As I said on another thread I would love to see Pukki and Sargent playing together like MacDougall and Boyer back in the day. 2 striker partnerships are so rare these days that it would be something different for defences to have to deal with. I would also like to see Max going past defenders and crossing the ball instead of passing it inside. With 2 strikers to aim for (1 good on the floor and 1 good in the air) that might just create some good opportunities. Of course, I might be talking rubbish.

 

[Number 9]

The tactics that were at fault for me was the insistence on always having to 'play out from the back', playing Sargent out wide and the players appearing to switch off. The early pressing stopped and the midfield (apart from Nunez) seemed to start walking instead of running. I believe Smith mentioned that in his post-match interview. The 2nd half was similar, we started well and then slowed down again. That happened a lot in the PL and we got slaughtered. Thankfully teams in the EFL aren't as good as most teams in the PL so we have been getting away with it (so far). Smith has to address this 'cos it seems like nothing has been learned from that PL disaster. Why we still try to 'play out from the back' (which usually gets us nowhere) all the time is a mystery to me. The defenders pass the ball among themselves about 10 times then pass back tp Krul to kick it up the pitch. He might as well have done that in the 1st place without the danger of the defenders making a hash of it (as they often do). As I said on another thread I would love to see Pukki and Sargent playing together like MacDougall and Boyer back in the day. 2 striker partnerships are so rare these days that it would be something different for defences to have to deal with. I would also like to see Max going past defenders and crossing the ball instead of passing it inside. With 2 strikers to aim for (1 good on the floor and 1 good in the air) that might just create some good opportunities. Of course, I might be talking rubbish.

It's your opinion so it's not rubbish (unless you disagree with my opinion)

Playing out from the back, "being brave" as Herr Farke used to say, can help to control possession, it can move the opposition out of shape thus creating space to attack behind their defence etc.

Man Utd have been lauded recently because they've been playing back to the keeper which pulled the opposition out of their defensive shape and Utd passed through them to score.

The tactics used successfully against this is pressing as an organised team. This requires practice and coaching but no particular skill so a 'lesser' team can theoretically succeed against a 'better' team by consistently pressing in an organised way.
Obviously takes loads of physical and mental effort to do that against Man City over the course of ninety minutes because the top players will find a way through.
It's not nearly as difficult to do it against Norwich because our midfield and defence have historically given the ball away at the slightest of invitations.

A balance is probably what's required, sometimes playing out and sometimes going long, we seem to have the personnel to handle that now we don't rely solely on Teemu up top.

 

[Gunvald Larsson]

It's your opinion so it's not rubbish (unless you disagree with my opinion)

Playing out from the back, "being brave" as Herr Farke used to say, can help to control possession, it can move the opposition out of shape thus creating space to attack behind their defence etc.

Man Utd have been lauded recently because they've been playing back to the keeper which pulled the opposition out of their defensive shape and Utd passed through them to score.

The tactics used successfully against this is pressing as an organised team. This requires practice and coaching but no particular skill so a 'lesser' team can theoretically succeed against a 'better' team by consistently pressing in an organised way.
Obviously takes loads of physical and mental effort to do that against Man City over the course of ninety minutes because the top players will find a way through.
It's not nearly as difficult to do it against Norwich because our midfield and defence have historically given the ball away at the slightest of invitations.

A balance is probably what's required, sometimes playing out and sometimes going long, we seem to have the personnel to handle that now we don't rely solely on Teemu up top.

I see the value and the possible successes in playing out from the back and agree that a balance between doing that and going long is needed. However, we never seem the get that balance right and/or do it at the right time. Also, especially when Gibson is in the mix, we appear not to be very good at it. We are often too slow when thinking about the next pass and the opposition press catches us napping. Krul's distribution doesn't help either. He never seems to throw the ball to colleagues in decent positions slightly further up the pitch. It's either a short pass to someone in or around the penalty area or a big hoof upfield.