England and Norwich parallels?

[Salopian 1]

Apart from a lack in managerial imagination, as others have noted,there was a difference in tactics. What emerged last night was a team resolutely defending, in two rows of four. England were unable to break it down. Whenever they tried to score with powerful shots from the edge of the penalty area, or slip the ball through, there were bodies in the way. This is a lesson in defending, even if became a little physical at times.

How do you beat such a system? The answer is to have have two wide players with pace who can get behind defenders, either with the ball or to receive the ball.
This is why Hux can create so much trouble, but we have no-one the same on the right. Alternatively, as we keep saying, pass and move into space to receive the ball. Attackers should have the advantage, as they are facing the way the ball is going, whereas defenders can''t so easily see what''s happening behind them and also have the problem of turning.

For all their skill, at times England looked ponderous, and towards the end, even though they must have been tired from lonely foraging, the NI forwards were more mobile.

Once again, some strange substitutions took SW-P off, when he was the only one who looked like beating their defence and brought on Joe Cole. Once or twice he did get to the by-line, otherwise he was only step-over and feint and little threat. W-P had the full-back beaten for pace, and suffered from physical attempts to stop him, but he did look a threat.

What the match showed were two lessons for Norwich. Firstly, a well-organised defence of players of lesser skills and slower pace but who know and do what has been decided for them can prove very difficult to break down. Secondly, although you can admire the Beckham long balls, his team mates have to wait for them to arrive and a defender has time to clatter in before the ball is under control. It is much harder to defend against a mobile attack which runs into spaces in readiness to receive the ball.

England lost because their shape and tactics were wrong, and because their passing was to stationary players rather than to players moving into space. Does that sound a little like NCFC?

[Saint Canary 0]

I was about to come on here and post a very simlar topic.

The use of subs, being unable to change formations and tactics is very similar between City and England.  Also both teams are performing worse than the sum of their parts.