Ricardo not impressed

[ricardo 7,384]

Ricardo made a late decision to run the rule over the boys tonight and just got in for the kickoff after a lengthy wait for a ticket.First 10 minutes were pretty even but after that it was more of a one way street than Prince of Wales Road. If I say Ajax had 90% of the possession I don''t think I would be far out. Vaughan looked lively early doors and won the free kick that led to Pilks'' fine set piece that gave City the lead. There was little else attacking threat to enthuse over as Ajax dominated play and kept the City defence at full stretch. The Dutch boys looked far sharper and more skilful on the ball, in fact it was typical Dutch football and a delight to watch.It took them half an hour to equalise but from then on only one team ever looked like winning. Pilks faded after a good start, Holty had little to feed off and Bennett only impressed in patches.. At the back I thought Wardy and Martin looked  very solid throughout and the fullbacks were fair enough. In midfield Howson and Johnson sat too far back and allowed Ajax far to much of an easy time on the ball. In contrast whenever we got possession we were harried into an inevitable balloon forward into no mans land.Hughton withdrew Vaughan at halftime and played one up top with Wes just behind. If anything this was even worse and if it is Hughton''s favourite formation then we can look forward to very little goal action compared to last year. Snodgrass put in a late appearance but looked well off the pace at this stage.All in all it was a runout and we didn''t get beat but apart from that Ricardo remains to be impressed.

[im spartacus canary 0]

Very well summed up... on the positive side we stuck at it and didn''t get the heavy beating we probably deserved OTBC

[Dion Dublin=Legend 0]

We''re back to the old conundrum of where Wesley fits into a Premier League team. As you say, Hughton is entitled to try things at this stage, I remember Hoolahan tearing several teams apart in that position in our promotion season.

I think Hughton is going to try to find a different balance between attack and defence compared to Lambert. Of course it would be great if he can bolt some defensive solidity and retain our previous attacking strengths, but it will take some time.

[ricardo 7,384]

[quote user="im spartacus"]Very well summed up... on the positive side we stuck at it and didn''t get the heavy beating we probably deserved OTBC[/quote]Yes that''s the one bright point. We did look fairly solid but a CR crowd will expect much more attacking flair than we saw in that second half.

[ron obvious 1,502]

Looked much the same to me Ricardo. A very "friendly" friendly, we stood off them far too much - their goal occurred as a result of an open invitation to have a pop, which they took with aplomb.

The only crumb of comfort is that I doubt we''ll give teams that much room in competitive games. I''ve said before that we need to be right at the top of our game to compete in the Prem, if not we''re in trouble (as at Sunderland).

[nutty nigel 7,528]

I have long since stopped taking  any notice of preseason friendlies. Ajax got a few thousand into Carrow Road but it may as well have been Accrington Stanley as far as the result or game being a pointer of things to come. In fact Ajax are probably ahead of us in there preseason so needed different things from the game.  I reckon you wasted your money Rickyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

[Chunky Norwich 0]

I too couldn''t be bothered to go so have no idea what the game actually looked like.

To those who did go, did it look tactical to allow that much possession or did the team just look like they had another three friendlies to come and didn''t want to waste energy?

[ricardo 7,384]

[quote user="nutty nigel"]I have long since stopped taking  any notice of preseason friendlies. Ajax got a few thousand into Carrow Road but it may as well have been Accrington Stanley as far as the result or game being a pointer of things to come. In fact Ajax are probably ahead of us in there preseason so needed different things from the game.  I reckon you wasted your money Rickyyyyyyyyyyyyyy[/quote]

Well it was only a tenner Nigel but I agree friendlies tell us very little.Roll on the real stuff, not long now.[;)]

[GJP 79]

Yeah, it''s hard to know what you can take from tonight and pre-season games in general.

 

Football wise we were found wanting. Ajax cut through us in midfield with some brilliant football. But obviously it''s a good run out for the lads and gets them nearer the match sharpness they need.

 

Ward and Tierney were probably our best performers. Vaughan had a lively start. Holt didn''t have a lot of service but didn''t have one of his better games anyway. Pilks scored a nice freekick and then did very little else. Johnson worked very hard in midfield and Howson struggled to have any influence.

[Bury Yellow 2]

Yep the game appeared to be deliberately planned to allow us to concentrate on defence.

We would not allow that much space in a league game and I don''t think you could anticipate how we will line up at Fulham.

I watched the Ajax game against the Saints on Saturday and it was a very similar pattern.

Vaughan looked impressive I thought but looked as if he picked up a knock just before half time. I think that may have been the reason he didn''t appear in the second half. If only he can keep fit, him and Holty make a fearsome pair!!!

[smooth 114]

I thought Ryan Bennett was by a far and away the most commanding centre half, but no question the heat was brought at times by the Ajax team and our defence with whoever in it withstood the pressure, and there was far too much of it.Vaughan was great and the 4-4-2 worked. 4-4-1-1 didn''t. Simply against Ajax (who are a week from starting their season) that system did not trouble them and Hoolahan was ineffective.I have always preferred a 4-4-2 or certainly two strikers. Disappointed, no I felt we defended well, midfield were better than last season but could not break up their play. Still need that defensive midfielder to disrupt. But when we went forward we looked rushed.We will see, time is on our side, I do think a few players showed their staleness in a team that has risen so dramatically. I think a few players do need to look elsewhere and I hope we are still on the look.

[Chunky Norwich 0]

[quote user="Bury Yellow"]Yep the game appeared to be deliberately planned to allow us to concentrate on defence. We would not allow that much space in a league game and I don''t think you could anticipate how we will line up at Fulham. I watched the Ajax game against the Saints on Saturday and it was a very similar pattern. Vaughan looked impressive I thought but looked as if he picked up a knock just before half time. I think that may have been the reason he didn''t appear in the second half. If only he can keep fit, him and Holty make a fearsome pair!!![/quote]

Thanks

[Joanna Grey 0]

Heard several shouts of "Don''t foul him!" from the bench. Perhaps Hughton wants to get us defending properly as a priority?

[Mr Brownstone 0]

My impression was also that we were deliberately happy to let them have the ball and concentrate on keeping our shape and defending as a unit. There will be times this year when we will need to play like that, particularly away from home, so it was useful to get a 90 minute session in against quality opposition.

We''ll definitely keep more than 3 clean sheets this season.

[York Canary 28]

I thought Bradley Johnson looked really energetic and combative and did his role well. He covered a lot of ground and closed people down quickly. I liked the look of him as a holding midfielder/central midfielder. He got forward at times too when Howson was back.

[ROBFLECK 132]

Yes Ricardo, you got it spot on imo, they play the ajax-way and are so comfortable on the ball. We stood off them too much and it looked a real friendly... I must say I am wondering what the formation will be that CH will use in the opening game, as the second half we offered just about nothing attackingly... Defending was rather sound... But Snodgrass hasn''t settled in yet and we still haven''t seen Butterfield... I reckon there''s a lot more to come ...

[The Ghost of Percy Varco 0]

Looked to me a game of defenders vs attackers as you''d play in training where we deliberately sat back and let them have the ball and concentrated on our shape.

Interesting if that was the case and a good run out if so preparing the defence against teams who will have considerably more possession than us.

If that is how the players will play every game this season then I''d have a major worry but that obviously won''t be the case.

No need to panic and talk about relegation as I''m sure some will do.

[Jacko 0]

Wasnt the most convincing display but I thought we did well defensively and we look tough to beat. We have beaten the Scottish Champions, drawn with the Dutch Champions and very comfortably beaten Championship opposition. That isnt the worst pre season ever so far.

[lake district canary 0]

[quote user="Jacko"]

Wasnt the most convincing display but I thought we did well defensively and we look tough to beat. We have beaten the Scottish Champions, drawn with the Dutch Champions and very comfortably beaten Championship opposition. That isnt the worst pre season ever so far.

[/quote]

 

 

 

[Y]   Agreed.   Remember that fantastic pre-season we had three years ago?  Didn''t help one jot when it came to the crunch. 

 

 

Its all about confidence building at this stage - confidence that we can hold on and keep out strong attacks - soemthing we will undoubtedly face this season.   Knowing we can be confident in defence will help the whole team once the season gets under way.    

 

 

 

 

 

[Yorkshire Canary 118]

Lots of positives against a top top team that recently beat celtic 4 - 0 and Southampton

[ImDrunky 0]

I don''t get why everyone is so negative for? Ok we didn''t see most of the ball, but we didn''t lose against a tough team

I still think CH is experimenting with the team and formation, also players getting back to fitness. Bit early to start worrying now.

[fried_chicken 0]

We defended really well but their midfield completely bossed the game. Everyone seems to think that we already have to many midfielders but today proved that we lack the real quality to get into the game when playing a top side. However, when playing a passing team like Ajax, Fox could prove to be a very important player because of his passing. But it was only a friendly so I''m not too concerned.

[Yellowfuture 71]

Excellent defensive performance, Ryan Bennet was very cool at the back and must surely be in the starting 11 against Fulham. Tierny looked a bit off the pace but improved as the game went on and this would have been an excellent work out for him after such a long lay off. Vaughan and Holt played with smiles on their faces and could be a potent strike force next season. Johnston worked hard and looked ready, poor old Snoddy was only on for 15 mins or so and was so pumped up he over hit the ball every time, all in all I think it was an excellent workout against a very skillfull team and we will have really benefited from it, thats what pre season friendlies are all about really.

[chicken 0]

[quote user="ricardo"][quote user="im spartacus"]Very well summed up... on the positive side we stuck at it and didn''t get the heavy beating we probably deserved OTBC[/quote]Yes that''s the one bright point. We did look fairly solid but a CR crowd will expect much more attacking flair than we saw in that second half.[/quote]

I wouldn''t get too disheartened. This is possibly one of the best Ajax sides for a good number of years now. They nearly alwasy have one or two standout players but IMHO I think they have a good solid, even team.

For me the focus was always going to be on the defence as we know this Norwich team have the ability to score. It took a real gem of a distance strike to break our defence although they had other chances.

I think you''ll find that other teams in the Prem probably won''t hold onto the ball as well as they did. Someone has said they would be a top six prem team - you can''t really disagree with that with that showing.

So all in all, maybe not impressive in terms of a win but its good to see that despite playing a team with more posession and great technical ability we didn''t let them in too often.

[pete 318]

I read somewhere Ajax have had 7 pre season games so further ahead of City.  It is good we were defensively more solid than previous years, however cannot understand how Ward appears to be a favoured CB. Expect Turner to be alongside Bennet, Ayala looked good against PBoro on Saturday, seems 2nd choice.  Barnet had stinker looks very much on the way out.  Whittaker will not make start of season we are a little light in FB especially if injury to Martin or Tierney I''d be worried if Lappin expected to cover.  Still time to get in loanees young FB from Liverpool was mentioned really believe we need additions here.

 

[Phillip J Fry 0]

[quote user="pete"]

I read somewhere Ajax have had 7 pre season games so further ahead of City.  It is good we were defensively more solid than previous years, however cannot understand how Ward appears to be a favoured CB. Expect Turner to be alongside Bennet, Ayala looked good against PBoro on Saturday, seems 2nd choice.  Barnet had stinker looks very much on the way out.  Whittaker will not make start of season we are a little light in FB especially if injury to Martin or Tierney I''d be worried if Lappin expected to cover.  Still time to get in loanees young FB from Liverpool was mentioned really believe we need additions here.

 

[/quote]

Ward was very good against Ajax, several good blocks and tackles, not caught on the ball, (mostly) comfortable in possession. Very solid performance.

[Big Rons Brain 0]

Watched it on a poor "small river" last night, we defended well, showed good fitness and were extremely committed, lots of bodies on the line blocks going in during the 2nd half, which reflects players trying to secure places in the team.  As mentioned above, the passing was below par, except for a few short passages.  The main thing I noticed was a big gap between midfield and the attackers, and an over-reliance on longer passes or through balls to the strikers, which were very easy for Ajax to deal with.  Am hoping this was not deliberate, and CH will encourage us to get up the pitch and be bolder in possession.  The way I look at it, that performance would secure a home draw against all but the top 6 from last season, which is not bad for a below par day at the office.

[GJP 79]

[quote user="Gareth"][quote user="pete"]

I read somewhere Ajax have had 7 pre season games so further ahead of City.  It is good we were defensively more solid than previous years, however cannot understand how Ward appears to be a favoured CB. Expect Turner to be alongside Bennet, Ayala looked good against PBoro on Saturday, seems 2nd choice.  Barnet had stinker looks very much on the way out.  Whittaker will not make start of season we are a little light in FB especially if injury to Martin or Tierney I''d be worried if Lappin expected to cover.  Still time to get in loanees young FB from Liverpool was mentioned really believe we need additions here.

 

[/quote]

Ward was very good against Ajax, several good blocks and tackles, not caught on the ball, (mostly) comfortable in possession. Very solid performance.

[/quote]

Good post.

 

Ward had a good game against a very good side and certainly the toughest game we''ve had so far this pre-season.

 

But unfortunately a number of people have got it in for him and he''s unlikely to get as much credit as he deserves.

 

Take last nights game for a couple of examples, in the 2nd half there was a dangerous corner which Ward headed away and then there was another moment when he was boxed in by Ajax players on the wing yet he still got his head up and picked out a superb left footed pass to Holt. Neither of those things got any praise from the crowd....

 

Yet when Ryan Bennett headed away a totally unchallenged header in acres of space there was a round of applause.

 

[marvin the martian 0]

You mean Morison won''t be "the worst player we''ve ever had" this year ?

[hogesar 9,657]

All you can really say is a good defensive display. Which is important. We leaked too many goals last season. We scored a lot too. It was entertaining, but risky. It paid off however.

 

I do think Hughton is probably focusing on getting the defence settled and working well as a unit. With a solid back four we may only need 1 goal to win games, as opposed to last season where we''d need 2, 3, maybe even 4 to ensure a win.

A solid back four is the foundation to any good team bla bla bla.