Away Day Blues...Again

Article by e-Norwich Correspondent Colin Rowe

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Struggling away from home is nothing unusual for many of the smaller teams in the Premiership and, since their return to the top-flight, it is something Norwich fans have become accustomed to, but given the Canary’s current predicament recent away trips have been particularly hard to stomach.

The best way to sum this up is with some statistics. In their last five home games, which have included matches against Tottenham and Manchester City, Norwich have conceded just a solitary goal and that only came from the penalty spot.

However, on the road City have conceded 12 in four games, against Cardiff, West Ham, Aston Villa and Southampton.

Football as a sport often does not make sense, which is part of what we all love about the game, but it is hard to fathom how a team can be so frugal, even against the big teams, at home, but crumble on the road, even against teams who are relegation rivals.

As much as we might hate it when it happens, conceding four away at Arsenal, seven at Man City and five at Liverpool is something teams in Norwich’s situation have to get used to, but letting in eight in two games against Aston Villa and Southampton is totally unacceptable, not to mention the manner in which they conceded two at both West Ham and Cardiff.

Chris Hughton made the brave decision to drop Sebastian Bassong for the trip to St Mary’s and given his repeated mistakes this term it is hard to argue with the decision, but unfortunately it seemed to make absolutely no difference as City went 3-0 behind before the Saints complacency, more than a Norwich fight-back, allowed the visitors to get two back before conceding again late on.

What is most troubling is there does not seem to be any reason for this bizarre collapse away from the comfort of Carrow Road.

If Norwich were leaking like a rusty colander at home then it would not be at all surprising if they performed similarly away, but how is it humanly possible to keep clean sheets against Newcastle, Manchester City and Tottenham and then crumble like one of Delia’s week old-scones on their travels?

Yes, Norwich possess little bench strength at the back, but this certainly does not explain the disparity in goals against away from home.

So far this season City have let-in just 12 at Carrow Road, but a staggering 36 on the road, relating to a goal difference of plus one at home and minus 25 away.

Conversely, the Pride of Anglia have scored a more understandable 13 at home and 11 away.

As disappointing as our goal-scoring record is, it does at least make sense our prowess in front of goal is consistent.

Or to put this another way, City concede an average of 0.8 goal a game at Carrow Road, but 2.4 when travelling, very worrying for a team who have only scored more than one goal on just four occasions this season.

What or who is to blame I cannot even begin to speculate.

Norwich were put under the cosh in all of the last four home games, especially against Manchester City, but restricted the title contenders and Tottenham to just two shots each on target, while Newcastle only managed three.

Put simply, Man City, Spurs and the Magpies put together did not produce enough shots on goal to score as many as Norwich have conceded against Villa and Southampton.

Bassong might be having a troubled season, but when he plays well he is as good as he was last term, but make single errors, which unfortunately normally lead to goals.

If Hughton dropped him and Southampton had been restricted, even if the Saints had gone onto win, this would at least provide some explanation.

Continuing with the managerial analysis, it is also disturbing how Hughton, a defensively minded tactician, can consistently fail to achieve this on days away from the comforts of home.

With just one point from the last two games, Norwich now need to win three to get to the magical 38 points mark. This would require Norwich to win at least one away game, at either Swansea or Fulham.

The alternative is praying for home points against Liverpool or Arsenal during the tough run-in, but it would be foolish to pin your hopes to those games.

The points are still available, and there is a real chance Norwich will need less than 38 to stay up, but they need a change of some description, be it luck or tactics, on at least one away day, particularly when facing similarly placed teams.

Would love to hear how you think this can be achieved because I certainly do not have a clue.

On The Ball City!

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