Norwich City head coach Dean Smith described Tuesday night’s 1-1 draw with Newcastle United as the worst performance from his side since his arrival at the club.
“It’s our worst performance out of the three,” he said. “We’re missing a couple of players but that’s not really a reason. The game plan changes after the sending off. I’d much rather Teemu go through and score the goal than a man getting sent off.
“They then sit back in a 4-3-2 and give our full-backs the out balls. We never did enough in the final third. Sarge had a chance at the far post in the first half, we had the goal and then Pierre had a chance at the end, but we never created enough big chances to win the game in all honesty.
“We all felt at half-time that we weren’t getting down the sides of them enough with our wide players and maybe we needed to occupy the middle of the pitch to allow our full-backs to go high up the pitch because they’d allowed them to have the ball.
“We went with more of a diamond and got Pierre on the pitch, who can pick a pass in the final third, but we never showed enough quality. We were a bit too slow on the ball and it wasn’t until our goal when we showed a real urgency and moved the ball a bit quicker.
“Dimi had a hand in the goal but it was a hell of a finish from Teemu.”
Newcastle took the lead after being awarded a penalty for a Billy Gilmour handball, but Smith felt the decision was harsh on the Chelsea loanee.
“My feeling is if it takes that long, is it an obvious error? You’re taking away the responsibility from the on-field referee, who has clearly seen it hit the arm. Everybody erupts and their players run around. It wasn’t going to be a goal, it was within a yard from him, so I think it’s really dubious.”
Nevertheless, Smith’s side remain unbeaten in the last four Premier League games, so continue to head in the right direction from a defensive point of view.
“Defensively, we’ve become a team that’s hard to beat now and hard to play against, which is what we wanted, but the next part is getting that quality in the final third,” he said. “I believe we’ve got the players here, they need to believe as well because we can’t just rely on Teemu scoring goals. We know he’s a top goalscorer at this level, but others will have to come to the party and join in.
“If you don’t win, certainly don’t lose. I’m thankful to all the supporters who made the way all the way up here. We could certainly hear them in the clouds up there where they have to watch the game from.
“We’ll move onto the next game now and hopefully get a better performance at Tottenham.”