|
Interesting team news today. I knew we'd switch to 4-4-2 but to see Gallagher come in to play with Dickov and Neill dropped for Nelsen was a surprise. No problem with dropping Neill but where's Stead? In addition, Nissa came in for the presumably injured Matteo.
We rode our luck in the first half. We started sluggishly and Norwich were probably the better team in the first 20 minutes or so. They actually managed to string 3 or 4 passes together whereas we couldn't find a shirt. Huckerby was given a gilt-edged chance by our defence - fortunately he blazed his shot miles over. We were struggling then but, against the run of play, we scored!
A cross-field ball from the right-back (Nelsen) - a tactic we've started using in the last few matches - found Pedersen on the left-wing. He nodded the ball past his too tight full-back and smashed the ball into the net with his wrong foot. Norwich's keeper Green perhaps should have saved it at his near post but our Morten hit it well.
Despite the goal we still looked nervy and disorganised in defence and Norwich created a couple of clear-cut chances that they manged to miss. First Huckerby found himself clear on the left and his low cross was miss-hit by Brennan. Then Ashton was played clean through and his shot was well saved by Friedel.
We reacted by scoring again. Pedersen took a free-kick about 25 yards out and Green made a good save to push it out for a corner. MGP curled the corner in towards the goal and Dickov met the cross with the deftest of near-post headers to score. Great goal for us - terrible goal to concede from a Norwich viewpoint.
2-0 at half-time and I'm not sure we really deserved it. We looked nervy at times and Norwich probably had better chances than us. Still, we scored and they didn't.
Neill came on for Mokonena at the start of the second half meaning Nelsen moved inside to centre-half and Neill played at right-back.
We totally controlled the second half. It was men against boys. Give our team confidence and we're so much better than our league position shows. Norwich just failed to compete and our midfield started looking like the Harlem Globetrotters at times. A poor ball by Ashton went straight to Thompson who fed Gallagher, who laid it off to Dickov, who hit a decent shot straight at Green, who threw the ball in the net!
It could have been any score after that. Todd, Reid, Gallagher, Tugay (twice), and Savage all had chances to increase the lead but failed to do so. No-one cared.
Fridel had a quiet game, made one good save, and his "fundamentals" seemed ok to me. No doubt someone will be on here soon though to blame him for the third-world debt or the continuing troubles in Iraq...or something.
Our defence was all over the place in the first half. I really want to like Mokoena - he's got pace, he's enthusiastic, he's athletic, he's committed, but he lacks composure. He's still young but he seems too nervy to play in the centre of our defence at the moment. He needs a commanding centre-half next to him and Todd really isn't that. Mokoena and Nelsen may work, Mokoena and Todd doesn't.
Nelsen at right-back didn't really work. He can get away with it away from home because he doesn't have to use the ball as much but today he did and he used it badly. He looked top quality at centre-half in the second half - him and Todd have got to be given time to form a partnership because they look really good together at the moment.
Nissa looked as good defensively as Matteo does, but looked a lot better going forward. Nissa must keep his position.
We won the game today in midfield. Tugay was fantastic. I've said before that if you give Tugay time and space to play he's one of the best passing midfielders in the country. Norwich closed him down in the first half but left him alone in the second. As a result, Tugay was ok in the first-half and classy in the second. He passed as well as any of our players have done this season and formed a good combination with Savage. Can he still do it against a competetive midfield? I guess we'll see next week.
Emerton was poor by his standards this season but I guess he's got the internationals as an excuse. MGP was excellent. He'd done nothing for twenty minutes before he won a header on the left, beat his full-back to the bouncing ball, and lashed the ball into the net with his right (wrong) foot. After that he was a man inspired. His corner created our second goal, but it was his free-kick that created the corner in the first place. He looked confident in possession, his set-pieces were a threat the whole game, and he's certainly got an eye for goal. The problem he may have now is that the whole Premiership will know about him. Can he adapt?
A tribute to Robbie Savage. He wasn't fit when he started. After about ten minutes he went in for a tackle that obviously caused him pain - and he was less fit after that. At times in the second half he looked like he could hardly walk let alone run, yet he still managed to run the midfield for the whole time he was on the pitch. What a player we've got. The man may not win friends but he's a real winner and his commitment is second to none. I'm genuinely proud to see him in the shirt. The guy's class. Man of the match for me.
We were poor up front. Gallagher didn't do much all game apart from a late chance and Dickov wasn't much better. Both forwards failed to hold the ball up or link up play together until the latter stages - yet Dickov scored twice so how can you slag him off?
We won today which was great but we shouldn't get too carried away. Norwich could, and should, have been ahead in the first half and it was only the difference in finishing that separated the teams at half-time. We controlled the second-half though and looked a class above Norwich.
Which is why I think we'll stay up. We can battkle when we have to, we can fight with the best, but we can also out-football the likes of Norwich. We'll be fine - bring on the Dingles.
Match report written by Scotty
|
BRFC Supporters Internet Site - The fans' choice since 1996
