Fenway Frank
Well-Known Member
I did like Smiths comment that Rashford awarded himself a free kick in the first half
Norwich City vs Man Utd (Home) Saturday 11th December 5:30 Kick off..
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Gunvald Larsson
Well-Known Member
Great performance which deserved more. Penalty was 'soft' but Aarons should know you don't touch Ronaldo 'cos he will go down. Ref was their best player by a mile. The Sarge had a good game so perhaps the haters will back off a bit, especially as Ronaldo copied his much criticised 'air shot'.
morty
Moderator
Staff member
I like Sargent, but that bit where he stood on the ball makes it hard for me to defend him lol.
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gerryinromania
Well-Known Member
Always liked Rashford and Ronaldo, so was very surprised at their niggling and moaning and their gamesmanship. Lucky out here that I can see most of the games, but Archant are having a laugh. Now you can't even read the match commentary, comments, without paying them money. Can't even get Paddys players ratings. Wonder if that will come back to bite them, by the club distancing itself from Archant. A family club, I believe we sat that we are.
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Number 9
Well-Known Member
It is a bold move
Gaffer
Active Member
Penaldo is a disgrace with his constant theatrics in the box which everyone can see yet the refs keep giving him the decisions. They're either extremely gullible or getting well rewarded for their decisions.
Din
Well-Known Member
So unfortunate not to take anything from that, we deserved at least a point and I'd even argue that up until they scored we were the better team. Typical Manchester United win though wasn't it? Yes, it's clumsy from Aarons, but I just don't think there's any way that the penalty is given if it's not Ronaldo/Manchester United. If that's a United defender bringing down Pukki in that situation do we get a penalty? I'm not so sure, particularly as the ball had long gone. I don't wanna go full conspiracy theorist but it genuinely feels at times like, subconsciously or not, that refs think: "Well Norwich are never gonna win this game/stay in the league, so it doesn't matter if I give this decision against them". It's a shame as well because we kept United's front 4 incredibly quiet throughout the game, we didn't deserve to lose the game in that manner.
We do definitely need to be more clinical. There was a couple of times in the first half where Rupp/Pukki got in brilliant positions but just took an extra touch too many. It sounds simplistic as well but I do just wish sometimes when we're outside the area we'd just hit it, particularly when the ball and surface is that slippery, we don't do it enough. Defensively though we were excellent. When I saw a front 4 of Ronaldo, Sancho, Bruno and Rashford I shat myself a little bit, but we kept them all so quiet. There's no doubting at all that we're so much more competitive under Smith, we just need that little bit more quality up front.
It's annoying because it feels like we're incredibly close to picking up a run of results, but we just don't have the quality at the top end of the pitch a lot of the time. A really encouraging performance overall though, play like that for the rest of this season you'd say we'll be fine, but obviously football doesn't always work like that. Either way I'm looking forward to Villa, I think we'll give them a good game.
We do definitely need to be more clinical. There was a couple of times in the first half where Rupp/Pukki got in brilliant positions but just took an extra touch too many. It sounds simplistic as well but I do just wish sometimes when we're outside the area we'd just hit it, particularly when the ball and surface is that slippery, we don't do it enough. Defensively though we were excellent. When I saw a front 4 of Ronaldo, Sancho, Bruno and Rashford I shat myself a little bit, but we kept them all so quiet. There's no doubting at all that we're so much more competitive under Smith, we just need that little bit more quality up front.
It's annoying because it feels like we're incredibly close to picking up a run of results, but we just don't have the quality at the top end of the pitch a lot of the time. A really encouraging performance overall though, play like that for the rest of this season you'd say we'll be fine, but obviously football doesn't always work like that. Either way I'm looking forward to Villa, I think we'll give them a good game.
Din
Well-Known Member
As Pinkun's player ratings are now behind a paywall, I figured I'd do some of my own. (Plus I have too much time on my hands).
Krul - 7/10: Made a couple of good saves and couldn't do anything about the penalty. Distribution was generally pretty good as well.
Aarons - 6/10: Had a decent game overall, though I would've liked to have seen him take a few more risks going forward. Even though it was soft he should've known better than to make contact with Ronaldo in that position.
Sorenson - 9/10: What a player. I know saying "He had X player in his back pocket" is a bit overused, but he genuinely did keep Ronaldo there all game. So composed in and out of possession and reads the game so well. Regardless of who's fit next game he should be starting at centre back against Villa on Tuesday. Man of the match for me.
Kabak- 8/10: His best game yet. Polar opposite to Sorenson is some ways in that he's not particularly composed or calm! For example he dived into a challenge on Rashford in the penalty area, not knowing he was offside, when he really didn't need to. It was a brilliant challenge as he got the ball but completely unnecessary. If he stays in the team, which he deserves to do after today, I don't doubt he'll do the odd stupid thing over the course of the season. He was really solid yesterday though and against a lesser goalkeeper may have got on the scoresheet too. If you could combine him and Sorenson then based off yesterday you'd probably have Virgil Van Dijk.
Giannoulis - 8/10: Really good. Frustrating in a way that arguably 2 of our best players at the minute are left backs! In the first half he got forward really effectively, and was superb defensively. A shame for Williams but I don't think you can leave Giannoulis out for Villa.
Gilmour - 6/10: Grew into the game, but started very slowly. Lost the ball or misplaced passes on a few occasions in the first half. He can be so frustrating as well. There are times where he has time to turn and push forward a little bit, or look for a forwards pass, but he'll just first time fire off a backwards pass without even looking at what's around him when there was no need for it. He did get better as it went on though and his set-piece delivery was actually excellent throughout.
Rupp - 7/10: Kind of the opposite of Gilmour in the sense that I thought he started very well but his influence on the game gradually waned. He had some really nice moments while he was on the pitch though, but like I said earlier he got into a couple of great positions and just took an extra touch or got the pass wrong at the crucial time. All in all a good game.
McLean - 8/10: The best of the midfield 3 for me. Similar to his performance against Wolves he was everywhere and used possession really well. Certainly outshined his international teammate McTominay in midfield.
Sargent - 5/10: I'm sorry, I know I'm being harsh and I know he works so hard and is clearly really trying. But I just can't look past how poor he is with the ball at his feet for an attacker at this level.
Pukki - 6/10: Was in and out of the game, I would've liked to have seen him making more runs in behind the United defence with us looking to play it over the top. Had a great effort saved by De Gea as well.
Placheta - 6/10: A fairly encouraging first performance back. Did some good things going forward and worked hard. Like Pukki though I wanted to see more of him running in behind, particularly given what blistering pace he has. Will be interesting to see him in a game where he has more time on the ball and more opportunities to run at defenders. But yeah, an alright performance.
Obviously Hanley went off injured early, and I didn't think Cantwell or Lees Melou did much when they came on, so I won't bother giving them ratings. All in all, a really good performance, such a shame we didn't get anything to show for it.
Krul - 7/10: Made a couple of good saves and couldn't do anything about the penalty. Distribution was generally pretty good as well.
Aarons - 6/10: Had a decent game overall, though I would've liked to have seen him take a few more risks going forward. Even though it was soft he should've known better than to make contact with Ronaldo in that position.
Sorenson - 9/10: What a player. I know saying "He had X player in his back pocket" is a bit overused, but he genuinely did keep Ronaldo there all game. So composed in and out of possession and reads the game so well. Regardless of who's fit next game he should be starting at centre back against Villa on Tuesday. Man of the match for me.
Kabak- 8/10: His best game yet. Polar opposite to Sorenson is some ways in that he's not particularly composed or calm! For example he dived into a challenge on Rashford in the penalty area, not knowing he was offside, when he really didn't need to. It was a brilliant challenge as he got the ball but completely unnecessary. If he stays in the team, which he deserves to do after today, I don't doubt he'll do the odd stupid thing over the course of the season. He was really solid yesterday though and against a lesser goalkeeper may have got on the scoresheet too. If you could combine him and Sorenson then based off yesterday you'd probably have Virgil Van Dijk.
Giannoulis - 8/10: Really good. Frustrating in a way that arguably 2 of our best players at the minute are left backs! In the first half he got forward really effectively, and was superb defensively. A shame for Williams but I don't think you can leave Giannoulis out for Villa.
Gilmour - 6/10: Grew into the game, but started very slowly. Lost the ball or misplaced passes on a few occasions in the first half. He can be so frustrating as well. There are times where he has time to turn and push forward a little bit, or look for a forwards pass, but he'll just first time fire off a backwards pass without even looking at what's around him when there was no need for it. He did get better as it went on though and his set-piece delivery was actually excellent throughout.
Rupp - 7/10: Kind of the opposite of Gilmour in the sense that I thought he started very well but his influence on the game gradually waned. He had some really nice moments while he was on the pitch though, but like I said earlier he got into a couple of great positions and just took an extra touch or got the pass wrong at the crucial time. All in all a good game.
McLean - 8/10: The best of the midfield 3 for me. Similar to his performance against Wolves he was everywhere and used possession really well. Certainly outshined his international teammate McTominay in midfield.
Sargent - 5/10: I'm sorry, I know I'm being harsh and I know he works so hard and is clearly really trying. But I just can't look past how poor he is with the ball at his feet for an attacker at this level.
Pukki - 6/10: Was in and out of the game, I would've liked to have seen him making more runs in behind the United defence with us looking to play it over the top. Had a great effort saved by De Gea as well.
Placheta - 6/10: A fairly encouraging first performance back. Did some good things going forward and worked hard. Like Pukki though I wanted to see more of him running in behind, particularly given what blistering pace he has. Will be interesting to see him in a game where he has more time on the ball and more opportunities to run at defenders. But yeah, an alright performance.
Obviously Hanley went off injured early, and I didn't think Cantwell or Lees Melou did much when they came on, so I won't bother giving them ratings. All in all, a really good performance, such a shame we didn't get anything to show for it.
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