McConville slams Norwich’s defending after Bolton loss
Ruairi McConville described Norwich City’s defending as “embarrassing” following their 4-3 defeat at home to Bolton Wanderers. The Northern Ireland international scored the opening goal but was also involved in the defensive lapse that allowed Bolton’s winning goal.
Norwich have conceded 13 goals in their last three matches and remain without a clean sheet this season. They have let in 17 goals overall, the joint-most in the Championship alongside bottom club Burnley.
“Very disappointed. It’s not good enough,” McConville told BBC Radio Norfolk. “We concede four goals at home off the back of conceding four goals last week so it clearly shows we haven’t learned our lesson. If we want to achieve the things we want to achieve then it’s so far from good enough, it’s embarrassing really.”
He added: “The fourth goal, I run out of the way of it. It’s just terrible defending all over to be honest. We have to look in the mirror and look at ourselves.”
McConville: Too many things going wrong defensively
Speaking to The Pink'un, McConville admitted Norwich’s defensive problems run deeper than individual errors.
“I think there are too many things going wrong at the minute to try and say what exactly is the reason we’re conceding goals,” he said. “It’s everyone as a team, it’s not just the back four.”
He acknowledged defenders must take responsibility but stressed the solution requires collective improvement. “We as defenders are the ones that obviously should be the ones keeping the ball out of the net. But we have to all look at it together as a team and we can’t be conceding four goals because if we want to achieve the things we want to achieve this season, it’s just far from good enough.”
Norwich have conceded 13 goals from 17 shots on target in recent defeats to Middlesbrough, Manchester City and Bolton. McConville said the international break offers a chance to address these issues despite the disruption caused by players leaving for duty.
McConville urges quick defensive improvement after poor start
Norwich’s defensive frailties have left them 17th in the Championship after eight games, six points off the automatic promotion places despite scoring 16 goals.
McConville said: “We lose as a team so we have to work on the training ground to improve on things. Maybe it’s [the international break] has come at the right time. I’ll be thinking about what’s happened and try and fix what I’ve done wrong on the pitch. I, more than anyone, want to change things quick.”
He added: “We’re yet to keep a clean sheet this season, which is so disappointing coming off the back of last season. There’s so much to improve on and we’ve got to do it quick because when we come back from the break, there’s no easy game. So we just have to work on things as soon as we can.”