Alex Neil has said that Arsenal’s tactical errors against Swansea last weekend led to how he set his team out in Saturday’s victory.
Speaking to TeamTalk, he said that he had seen the previous match involving the South-Wales outfit, and noted the mistakes that were made by the second placed team, and says that it was a defining factor in the more defensive set-up that City started with.
We watched Arsenal, obviously, and the first half they conceded possession, and then they managed to hit them and hurt them on the counter-attack. I thought we did similar: first half our use of the ball wasn’t good enough, which meant we sat deeper and deeper, but [as the] second half wore on we were much more threatening going forward and it looked as if we could have scored more.
Neil also commented on how his tactics would have been heavily scruntinised by fans had the result gone against the home side.
“The bottom line is, managing a club, you’re always going to be under pressure and if it didn’t work and we lost the game, then I would have been heavily criticised, the team would have been heavily criticised, ‘The tactics would have been rubbish’, but that’s the facts of football, that’s the way football is.When you win, now it’s the perfect plan. That’s the thin lines and thin margins of football. What you’ve got to do as a manager is what you think’s right for your team to get the points, not what anybody else thinks.As soon as you’re doing that, you’re in the wrong job.
Norwich defeated Swansea 1-0, courtesy of a Jonny Howson header, ending their run of four straight league defeats, and getting their first win since the 3-1 victory over Bournemouth in September. It leaves the Canaries 15th, and a point above reigning champions Chelsea.
After the international break, Norwich face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, a game that with Chelsea’s current form, many fans will be quietly confident about.
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