First 'proper' test in pre-season tonight. City line up Ruddy R Martin Barnett De Laet Naughton Johnson Bennett Fox Hoolahan Holt Morison Good first half for City by the sounds of it, took the lead through De Laet, let in a sloppy goal from a corner (suprise suprise) right on half time. Half time 1-1. I don't think this line up will be far off what we start with against Wigan, the only changes I could see would be Crofts in for Johnson if he's fit and maybe Tierney in for Naughton at left back.
I'm here, good half by the lads but I have question marks over johnsons passing! I think this will be close to our line up against wigan.
Hi all, noticed there wasn't a match thread for tonight's game so here it is. Starting line-up - ruddy, r Martin, barnett, de laet, naughton, fox, Johnson, Bennett, hoolahan, Morison, holt (4-4-2 diamond) At the match and it is 1-1 half time. Norwich have dominated so far bar first 5 and last 5 minutes of the match. Norwich goal from a header, by de laet, after a Bennett cross. Suspicions of offside from holt though. Zaragoza goal came when they went up a gear in the 42nd minute after ruddy failed to collect a cross and the ball fell to an unmarked player Zaragoza are a very aggressive team, committing a lot of fouls. They are amusing the crowd by squaring up to the ref. Their manager had to be cautioned when complaining about us getting a freekick after an awful tackle. Bennett has had some great touches and a couple of great crosses. Fox is making some good passes and long balls. De laet has been good in defence and a few good touches from morison. Zaragoza players are easily upset. Squaring up to Norwich players when there are scuffles for the ball. Pushing also broke out after Zaragoza equalised. Second half has started, more later
Power cut at carrow road. 3 out of 4 floodlights out so tierney came on to do some cartwheels. 15 minute delay due to lighting strike!
Power cut at carrow road. 3 out of 4 floodlights out so tierney came on to do some cartwheels. 15 minute delay due to lighting strike!
Hi all, noticed there wasn't a match thread for tonight's game so here it is. Starting line-up - ruddy, r Martin, barnett, de laet, naughton, fox, Johnson, Bennett, hoolahan, Morison, holt (4-4-2 diamond) At the match and it is 1-1 half time. Norwich have dominated so far bar first 5 and last 5 minutes of the match. Norwich goal from a header, by de laet, after a Bennett cross. Suspicions of offside from holt though. Zaragoza goal came when they went up a gear in the 42nd minute after ruddy failed to collect a cross and the ball fell to an unmarked player Zaragoza are a very aggressive team, committing a lot of fouls. They are amusing the crowd by squaring up to the ref. Their manager had to be cautioned when complaining about us getting a freekick after an awful tackle. Bennett has had some great touches and a couple of great crosses. Fox is making some good passes and long balls. De laet has been good in defence and a few good touches from morison. Zaragoza players are easily upset. Squaring up to Norwich players when there are scuffles for the ball. Pushing also broke out after Zaragoza equalised. Second half has started, more later
And its finished 1-1. Sounds like we were the better side, but that may be the Canaries website beng biased. Have to wait for our man in the stands ICHB to give us a decent appraisal of the game
Good game, boring second half. Pilkington doesn't look fully fit, hopped around a bit after making a pass. Bad sportsmanship from Zaragoza as I mentioned above. Holt dived after minimal contact to help wind up the players. Their players also complained a lot after committing fouls. Defending wasn't great on two occasions, one resulting in a goal where ruddy went for a ball leaving an empty net for an unmarked player to score. Naughton wasn't brilliant at left-back. Being right footed the main problem.
What an unusual Game!! Just got back, definitely got our moneys worth! Zaragoza where mental for starters, they were being very unsporting in a game that they should just be focussing on fitness and playing good stuff. 3 POINTS ARE NOT ON THE LINE. I'm not sure what happened with the manager getting sent off but in a friendly... thats mental. Calm the **** down. We played some very decent stuff and with the starting squad, maintained possession and passed it around very well. then all hell broke loose They will call it the great Carrow Road blackout for years to come but the highlight was undoubtedly Marc Tierney doing Cartwheels in the dark, an absolute classic! the game resumed and once we made changes the quality deteriorated, inevitably. Great to see pilks come on for the first time. All in all a very bizzare game but a hell of a workout. If Lamberts using pre-season to prepare for every possibility then a blackout is probably the extreme!
Well summed up beef! Great to see pilkington back. Zaragoza were more sporting and actually played football in the 2nd half which balanced the game out in the end Is anybody else worried about how we defended when we conceded?
I will be honest, it looked a bit clumsy from where I was but I don't think its to much to worry about, just a bot of a flap from JR plus the fact it decided to bucket down just as they got the corner. As for the team, I was impressed with what I saw. Naughton looking very good considering he was on the left, is that a sign of things to come, who knows!? Johnsons passing was very sloppy in the first half and I think he would be my only change for the starting XI at wigan from tonights game with surman in his place. Hoolahan was looking very sharp tonight, I still can't believe he hasn't been called up to the eire squad. I think there is promise in a holt/morison partnership but it will need time. Martin and Bennett on the right worked really well and hopefully they can click into a good partnership if naughts is to play LB. Barnett and de laet I thought looked good tonight, kept there attack at bay and didn't really do anything wrong, just kept things at bay. All in all I thought it was another good work out, I still think we could have gone up 2 or 3 notches and considering we dominated them for most of the game I think that's saying something. It was also good to see pilks get a run out and can't wait till he gets back to full fitness! OTBC ILWT
I remember Ruddy coming for the ball, players were in the way and it went past him to an unmarked player who had an empty net to aim for as Ruddy had moved. Johnson had an average game. I'd prefer Naughton on the right though, we've got two very good left backs there with a left foot. Hoolahan was very quiet first half but picked it up in the second. R Martin got a bad knock in the first half and was limping a bit which continued into the second half. Hopefully nothing to worry about.
Thanks for the feedback guys, always appreciated, sounds as if we're getting there. Going to the Parma game, then Stoke, so will be seeing for myself, can't wait!
on the basis of that match, my starting XI would be as follows: ruddy naughton de laet whitbread tierney fox crofts hoolahan bennett holt morison what have we learnt: fox absolutely has to play every game. the whole team revolve around him. he is as close to ian crook as i've seen in my lifetime - i can offer no higher praise. johnson should not be a regular starter. i like his energy but he does not possess the quality of even crofts. i think the step up will be tough for crofts, but it'll be harder for johnson. barnett looks a bit shaky along with ruddy. start with whitbread - he is more composed on the ball and as long as de laet partners him, he will be covered for his lack of pace. not much we can do about ruddy at this stage. i still like him but unfortunately he will get a lot of stick from certain sections of the crowd if he makes even one howler all season. hoolahan is just as effective playing deeper in midfield as he is in the hole - this means he can be flexible and compliment the games of bennett/surman, depending on who plays. also, morison is a much better player than many give him credit. good signing. naughton in place of r.martin is perhaps a tad harsh, but his pace is frightening!
he is as close to ian crook as i've seen in my lifetime wow - high praise indeed! I only see what they show on TV and I must admit he has looked very good, seriously highlighted by his cross to Jackson at Portsmouth for 'THE GOAL'
hi thai (ooh, i rhymed...) ian crook must surely be one of the best uncapped english players of the past 30 years. outstanding vision, supreme passing ability, stunning free kicks, could control a game for 90 minutes and always looked like he had more time on the ball than any other on the pitch... fox isn't quite as good but he's bloody close!
