Rooney: Norwich performance nowhere near good enough

Wayne Rooney pulled no punches after his Argyle side lost 6-1 at Norwich City on Tuesday, branding the result and performance: ‘nowhere near good enough’.

The Sky Bet Championship’s leading goalscorer Borja Sainz added two more to his tally in the first 17 minutes of the game, to make it 2-0, and in truth, by the midpoint of the first half, Norwich could have led by double that margin, at least.

Argyle improved, of a fashion, and scored via Mustapha Bundu to give themselves a lifeline, going into the break only a goal down. However, Shane Duffy scored six minutes after the restart, and more goals followed from the Canaries, via Sainz’s third, Anis Slimane’s strike and a goal for hardworking forward Ante Crnac.

Following the game, Rooney told Argyle TV: “It was obviously a difficult start, conceding so early again. We spoke to the players before the game, but we conceded in the first few minutes again. It makes it difficult for us.

“We were probably fortunate to go in at half-time 2-1 down. We tried to regroup, but then [made too many] individual errors. As a team, we weren't aggressive enough, we didn't win enough tackles. We were panicking in possession; we weren't taking the ball as well as we know we can do.  

“The goals we conceded were way too easy. I’m really disappointed tonight. I know how far the fans have travelled to get behind the team, and I feel for them tonight because that was nowhere near good enough.

“Of course, Norwich deserved to win. They were the better team by far tonight. From our point of view, you go through difficult periods in games and you need to find a way to get through those periods. It’s maybe a bit of naivety from the lads because, as I said, it's happened a couple of times this season, away from home.

“We need to really put a stop to it because that's not what I want to see.

“There's a lot of good teams in this league. We know at times you're going to suffer, but you need to. We knew tonight that we're going to have difficult moments in the game, but you need to pull together, you need to communicate, you need to be getting to the ball, be a bit more aggressive when you're tackled, win your duels.

“We didn't do any of that tonight. I'm extremely angry, disappointed with what I've just seen.  

“I don't think tonight's performance is something we can brush aside. It needs addressing and I'll certainly do that over the next two days.”