The ACN Match Review 25/26 – West Brom (h) | OneFootball

How did we play?

Taken in isolation, without any context, Norwich looked ok. That wasn’t the overwhelming feeling among supporters as we left Carrow Road, but zoom out a little and there was plenty to like. The midfield appeared to have a smidge more control, passes suddenly weren’t going astray and possession wasn’t meekly handed back to our opposition. Ante Crnac looked like a man possessed (yes, without much end product, but still), Pelle Mattson seems to have the potential to be a really good Championship operator once he’s found his feet and vitally, we created some chances.

Yes, we were coming from a very low bar, but these types of performances at home would often be enough to yield points and more importantly, change moods. Sadly, that did not happen.

It feels right now that Norwich lack difference makers. The types of players that get a manager out of jail and produce a big moment. A Gabby Sara, Borja Sainz, Emi Buendía, that Snake in Bologna or that Snake down the A140. Not having those moments readily producible might just do for this manager in the end.

What was the best bit of the game?

The final 15(ish) minutes. The introduction of Topić and Jurásek changed the shape somewhat, but it was when Mahovo and Makama came on that City started to turn the screw. Two naturally left footed players on the left side made such a difference to the way in which Norwich were able to build up play quicker and more effectively, and Jurásek especially showed the type of delivery Sarge and Jovon could thrive off if it can be produced with some kind of regularity.

What was the worst bit of the game?

Another cheap concession, courtesy of some maddening defending when we’d actually started the game pretty well. West Brom didn’t have to work especially hard, we gifted them a goal and they sat on it, albeit on another day their keeper doesn’t pull off two excellent stops to deny us a deserved equaliser.

What was the atmosphere like?

Given the result, maybe not as bad as you’d expect. Apparently the Sky Sports feed muted the crowd noise, but until the last 15 minutes you’d probably have struggled to notice the difference anyway. It wasn’t loud, but it didn’t get overly toxic, and booing was reserved for the half time and full time whistles. That probably says something about the performance itself, Norwich were better than they have been at home all season, and there was a small level of appreciation for it.

And yet alongside all of that, there is growing apathy. A sub 25k attendance is a low in a league match for quite some time and there’s a feeling of disconnect which only four years of failure brings. Bring on those lot (gulp).

Hero of the match

A young person, probably no older than 18, was sat behind me last night and uttered the word ‘tosspot’ when describing an opposition player engaging in some shithousery. Definitely made me smile and long for ‘the good old days’, so maybe it’s time for a resurgence. Well played that man, #BringBackTosspot

Summary in Five Words

Any nice plans for Sunday?