The Tanner Report
Once again Felix Magath baffled us when he switched to a new system of 3-5-1-1 with one of our best players, Lewis, withdrawn more into deeper midfield. It seems to baffle the boys too as, without two fine saves by Stockdale, we could have been trailing 2-0 at half time. Yet it was us that took the lead. After a succession of f short corners, all of which were useless, Holtby showed the benefit of floating a cross into the danger area which Sidwell headed into the path of Hugo Rodallega. For the second week running he scored.
In the second half we defended the lead capably. Diarra does an effective job in protecting the back four but he was dying on his feet and had to be subbed. As with Villa, we played out intelligently the last few minutes without giving the opposition a proper chance.
After stalling at 21 points for some time, we suddenly have 30 points after 3 victories in 4 games. We are the form team with momentum and confidence going into the easier run-in, when the others have to play Chelsea or Manchester City and in Norwich’s case both. There will still be many twists and turns but it’s certainly looking more hopeful.
