Following Norwich’s thrashing, one EFL pundit expresses amazement at Plymouth Argyle, saying, “That’s not something I’ve seen.”
On Saturday, the Pilgrims defeated Norwich 6-2 at Home Park, but EFL analyst Sam Parkin was taken aback by another aspect of the game.
Sam Parkin, an EFL analyst, was taken aback by Plymouth Argyle’s 6-2 victory over Norwich, especially given their poor possession percentage of only 30%.
Argyle had been controlling possession in recent games, but they changed strategies against Norwich, giving the opposition more time with the ball.
Despite having less control, Plymouth nevertheless won thanks to a well-executed game plan that focused on attacking teams as they broke.
Plymouth Argyle’s return to the Championship after 13 years away has certainly been entertaining so far, with the Pilgrims holding their own in the second tier following their League One title win.
Steven Schumacher’s side smashed through the 100-point barrier in the third tier last season, and he’s kept much of his squad the same ahead of the 2023-24 campaign.
Argyle have had a few setbacks on the pitch with defeats to Birmingham City, Preston North End and Bristol City away from home, but Home Park has proved a tough place to go, and that was never more evident when they dismantled Norwich 6-2 this past weekend.
What happened as Plymouth beat Norwich 6-2 at Home Park?
With both clubs coming off the back of defeats, it wouldn’t have been a surprise to see a cagey start, but it was Plymouth who flew out of the traps.
Morgan Whittaker opened the scoring on 15 minutes and by half-time, the Pilgrims were four goals ahead thanks to strikes from Dan Scarr, Whittaker and Finn Azaz.
Things got even better after the break as Whittaker notched his hat-trick goal to make it 5-0, before Adam Idah reduced the deficit somewhat for the Canaries with a late brace.
Luke Cundle had the last laugh though as he struck Plymouth’s sixth late on to consign City to a humiliating defeat, but it was a much-needed win an Argyle side that had lost their previous two matches.
What was Sam Parkin surprised about in Plymouth’s 6-2 win over Norwich?
It wasn’t so much the scoreline that caught EFL pundit Sam Parkin’s attention, but more so the amount of the ball that the Pilgrims actually had.
Argyle had more possession in three of their last four league outings, with the 3-0 win over Blackburn being the only time when they soaked up Rovers’ play instead, but they went back to that tactic against the Canaries and it paid dividends – even if it did shock Parkin.
“30 percent possession Plymouth, which I would never anticipate,” Parkin said on the What The EFL?! podcast.
“Away from home they’ve dominated the ball in the last three games and certainly had more possession than the opponents, so this was allowing Norwich to have the ball to a degree, probably went a little bit more direct, kicked more from the goalkeeper, at times the right-sided centre-half was pushing up and actually kicking to him.
“That’s not something I’ve seen invariably from Plymouth Argyle this season, they want to try and play it out, but it’s just a little bit of a switch in tactics for this one.”
On the day, Norwich attempted 656 passes and 83 percent of those were completed, whilst Plymouth’s numbers were significantly lower as they tried just the 295 passes with 63 percent being completed.
Naturally it will not be like that all the time as Schumacher has a squad of players who are keen to get on the ball, but it shows that multiple game plans can be executed to perfection by Argyle and perhaps they are showing their best form whilst sitting back and waiting to hit teams on the break.
