No pace.....no hope......

[unique 434]

There was a moment today in the second half at the Etihad when City took a corner. The corner was cleared, and what must have been less than 15 seconds later, three Man City defenders were defending their own penalty are with five Southampton players bearing down on them.

Factor in Holt, Morison and the entire Norwich City midfield (except perhaps Bennett), and this scenario would be impossible to imagine. The purchases of Snodgrass and Turner have merely added to the problem.

Southampton''s effort and work-rate today almost earned them a point, but it is Swansea who I think it is fairer to compare with this weekend.

Norwich and Swansea were promoted together and shared a superb first season back in the Premier League. Both clubs lost their inspirational manager, but Swansea''s squad was decimated with the loss of Caulker, Sigurdsson and Allen, with Sinclair unsettled. So how could the two clubs'' opening result be so contrasting?

Most Norwich fans were happy with Hughton''s appointment, and hopefully he doesn''t find Lambert''s shoes far too big to fill. Swansea delayed their appointment somewhat, but their final choice seems to have been inspired, if early indications are to go by.

Pre-season gave a strong indication of the direction the two clubs were taking. Norwich couldn''t score a goal for ''love no money'', whereas Swansea were scoring for fun. "Don''t take any notice of pre-season results", they say, "it''s only to build fitness levels......".

Well Norwich still aren''t scoring goals.......showed a worrying lack of fitness......and have a long hard season ahead of them if pace isn''t added to the squad as a matter of urgency....

[Gingerpele 0]

Were not that slow...

I''m fairly sure we were pretty good on the counter last season.

[Cambridgeyellow 0]

[quote user="unique"]There was a moment today in the second half at the Etihad when City took a corner. The corner was cleared, and what must have been less than 15 seconds later, three Man City defenders were defending their own penalty are with five Southampton players bearing down on them.

Factor in Holt, Morison and the entire Norwich City midfield (except perhaps Bennett), and this scenario would be impossible to imagine. The purchases of Snodgrass and Turner have merely added to the problem.

Southampton''s effort and work-rate today almost earned them a point, but it is Swansea who I think it is fairer to compare with this weekend.

Norwich and Swansea were promoted together and shared a superb first season back in the Premier League. Both clubs lost their inspirational manager, but Swansea''s squad was decimated with the loss of Caulker, Sigurdsson and Allen, with Sinclair unsettled. So how could the two clubs'' opening result be so contrasting?

Most Norwich fans were happy with Hughton''s appointment, and hopefully he doesn''t find Lambert''s shoes far too big to fill. Swansea delayed their appointment somewhat, but their final choice seems to have been inspired, if early indications are to go by.

Pre-season gave a strong indication of the direction the two clubs were taking. Norwich couldn''t score a goal for ''love no money'', whereas Swansea were scoring for fun. "Don''t take any notice of pre-season results", they say, "it''s only to build fitness levels......".

Well Norwich still aren''t scoring goals.......showed a worrying lack of fitness......and have a long hard season ahead of them if pace isn''t added to the squad as a matter of urgency....[/quote]

If you cannot survive without it how come we survived last year - almost the same players on the pitch ? Also in fairness Southampton did get a bit lucky today in the second half thay had 24 % possession and on another day could have been 6 - 0 down before they got their 5 minutes of attacking.

[unique 434]

Hughton would seem to have the team set up more defensively than Lambert, to account for our defensive frailties.....alhough quite how a 5-0 defeat is a result of this, I fail to explain.

If the team as a whole are going to play deeper, then we will need more pace than last year, in order to pose a threat. Having watched all the other games in the Premiership this weekend, I don''t see Howson, Snodgrass, Hoolahan, Johnson, Fox and Surman providing it.

I suppose the best answer would be for the team as a whole to play much higher up the pitch whenever possible.

[Phillip J Fry 0]

Typical English attitude. Pace & Strength > Technique & intelligence.

[kellybrook 0]

Yawn.Southampton - promoted and on the crest of a wave.  Remember that feeling.  Attack attack attack, have a go, nothing to lose, all very exciting.If they stay up lets see if they are the same next season.Again, people have selective memories.