Norwich report | Vital Football

Norwich report

MadAmster

Vital Squad Member
A joy for the neutral and a roller coaster for fans of both sides.



It started with 30 of the worst minutes I have seen from Derby this season. It all began with a poor defensive setup. Both full backs taking up position way too far inside whe we were defending which was for 28 of the first 30 minutes. That gave Norwich the freedom of the wings and they exploited it well keeping Derby under constant pressure. So much so that there was no outlet most of the time and when we did have one we couldn't string 3 passes together. A series of poor passes saw them create openings which they failed to take advantage of due to over elaboration or a poor last pass. Keogh, Carson, Bogle, Evans and Wisdom were among the guilty parties on the poor passes.



Norwich's first. IMO Lampard's fault. Having the full backs so far in field was asking for trouble and we got it. They got the ball out wide right and Wisdom was where he had been told to be..... a good 20 yards off "his man". That gave him the chance to get to the goal line and pass for the goal.



The 2nd? Wilson lost control and thus the ball close to their area. 2 passes later with, IIRC, Evans standing in for Tomori who had been in the attack that broke down, was the wrong side of Pukki and the through ball fell nicely for the Norwich striker and he gave Carson no chance from the edge of the box.



At that point a cricket score looked likely. However, Derby took hold, got a corner and, via a Norwich defender, the ball fell to Tomori who smashed it in via the underside og the bar. Derby stayed in control and, in 1st half injury time, another corner saw the ball, again off a Norwich defender, fall to Mount who stroked it low into the net. 2-2 at HT and that was a shock as Norwich could/should have been out of sight by then.



2nd half. Opening 30 was open but Derby had the better of the exchanges. In the 81st minute Pukki got a 3rd against the run of play. A counter saw them get the ball out wide to Hernandez, Bogle had him covered but he managed a low pass to the unmarked Pukki at the far post. He was Tomori's man and was given 5 yards of space a mere 6 yards out.



Then one of the floodlights failed and the players went off for a good quarter of an hour. The clock stopped on 84 minutes 15 seconds. When they came back Derby got goals from Jozefzoon tap in, in the 87th minute and on 90+2 form a sublime Marriott little dink over the keeper. Norwich then went hell for leather and in the last 45 seconds forced Carson into a very good save and then 2 seconds from time, they hit the bar from the corner.



Stats say 62% possession to them. They had 24 shots to our 19. Shots on target was 6-5 in their favour. In all honesty, a draw would probably have been about right but we nicked it. Having been played off the park for 30 minutes it was amazing we were still in it. I am not complaining about the win but they will be aggrieved at losing.



This song is probably the most apt under the circumstances.......



 
Clearly Lampard can't organise a defence. Regardless of personnel, we concede too many too easily. Big learning point he'll need to sort quickly. Not complaining about the finish though!!!
 
Indeed. This "compressing" the defence to keep things tight and "tilting" left or right dependent on which flank the opposition attack down started in Holland. The difference in application is that Dutch full backs are taught to judge angles and distances. They are constantly aware of how far away the winger is and how far away from him they can reasonably be in order to intercept any pass to him or, at worst, be all over him like a rash when he gets the ball to put him under pressure. You start the game maybe 10 yards off him. Through the early exchanges you get used to his speed, movement etc. It is then down to you to make sure you can get at him when he is passed to. It is this refinement that Derby miss. Both full backs go 15 to 20 yards infield and are there because that is what they have been told to do. This gives the wide man all the time and space they need to put good balls in.... and they do. It was even worse against the Blades as their 5 man MF meant they could very easily put 2 players out wide knowing it would take the full back ages to close them down and when he did there was always a teammate close by who could receive the ball. Bogle especially was double teamed and got zero assistance from his team mates. That is part of why he looked to have had a bad game. Give me and a couple of my fellow Dutch coaches an hour on 3 consecutive days and we will have the full back positional problem solved.
 
Always enjoy and respect your views ‘Amster, but to suggest that you and a few Dutch coaches know more than Lampard and Morris might be a tad OTT.
Remind us...how did Holland get on in the recent World Cup. ;)
 
Always enjoy and respect your views ‘Amster, but to suggest that you and a few Dutch coaches know more than Lampard and Morris might be a tad OTT.
Remind us...how did Holland get on in the recent World Cup. ;)

Not saying we know more rA, just that the full back issue could easily be solved and we could do it in the timeframe I mentioned.

Holland? lost less games than England ;)
 
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