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Tetteys Jig

Is our real problem a lack of pace?

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We have Redmond and the threat from Olsson but that''s really it. Double up on Redmond and you''ve pretty much stopped any threat we have from open play.

I was reading a tweet from Kevin Pietersen excusing his poor choice of shot against Mitchell versus Australia and he said that facing a guy with such pace causes indecision.

I have noticed we''ve dropped a lot of points by making some very average teams look good. This has mainly been in their defensive areas. It''s all well and good having tricks and intelligence but at the end of the day, half the battle to score is getting the opponents to make mistakes.

When was the last time (other than Jaskeleinen) we truly benefited from poor defending? If you look at our soft goal we gave to Cardiff, it was a poor decision from Hooper because he was closed down quickly and made to do a pass he wasn''t really wanting to do. I don''t believe we do this enough.

Whatever happens next season, I feel we need to ditch one of Snodgrass or Pilkington and replace them with another Redmond style winger, perhaps one that can score the odd goal too like Zaha or Hoilett. Fer and Tettey offer good tempo and it''s clear we''ve missed Howsons work rate and coverage, something Johnson can''t really do as well despite his great defensive game.

I Do think we need to be (sorry for the FIFA term) more sweaty with our choice of strikers too. Where is our Remy or our Ibarbo, or Aubameyang? (not saying we could get them but a version of them). One striker with blistering pace that scores all those "undeserved" goals for us. It seems we have to work twice as hard as every other team in this league to get our chances. Yes these pacewhores often aren''t that great at finishing and that''s why they aren''t worth £50m but they sure provide a great plan B and cause panic in a defence that otherwise gives nothing away. The reason I say we need a sweaty striker is that we haven''t got a comparatively great amount of money like our rivals so need to buy "the Norwich way".

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No point having foot pace if we cant move and deliver the ball faster,   our build up play is too slow,  allowing defenders to get into position easily.   If we move the ball quickly (and accurately!) you dont necessarily need foot pace.   It helps - but is expensive.

 

slwo build up play and slow movement is the worst combination.

 

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It''s one of the main reasons Howson is such a big loss. He''s quick across the ground and he''s quick to read the game - significantly more so than Johnson in both departments.

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Fred, he''s the only one that was causing problems in our last two games and you can see from them how much his end product has improved. He should be sat on 4 assists at least from them games. His shooting leaves a lot to be desired, but i''d rather see him have the ball high up the pitch, pushing the defence back as opposed to another winger giving it away on the half way line and inviting pressure.

Even if redmonds passing etc isn''t the best, the indecision and panic he''ll have caused will leave the defence out of shape and we are likely at some point to get a lucky break like the Toure og yesterday. Our play this season has been far too structured and predictable and not spontaneous enough. I also noticed the lack of conviction our midfield showed in getting into the box to give ourselves the best chance of putting a speculative ball in to the middle into the back of the net.

A couple of times versus West ham, we had good positions and I envisaged Jonny Howson popping up late in the middle as Scholes used to specialise in and putting a ball in the net after Hooper had given the defenders too much to do. If we can get Fer doing this more often, we''ll score from some of redmonds supply even if the cross isn''t that great.

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Pilks may not have the pace of Redmond, but he does have such good close control that with his long legs he can get past many fullbacks. Howson, too, is deceptively quick, and over short distances even RvW.

Pace is only a real problem when Snodgrass is preferred to Redmond for the right wing berth.

In the end, the problem is not taking goal chances - we are creating many of the latter, even with slow progress forward, and also defensive errors - misplaced passes and being out of position.

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Gooid question, got me thinking...........many do think we could do with more pace, but even when we have it in the team we are not winning when we play well. So, for me what we are lacking is two things........good decision making and consistency, that''s the right ball, played at the right time to the right place....consistently. This is a problem not just our team has, but many others in our half of the league........and its hard to fix without spending huge sums on the likes of a Gerrard, Toure, Carrick etc...plus I genuinely feel we have had very very little rub of the green and luck this season............   

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I''ve been banging on about this for some time, but CH really does not seem to set the team up to vary the approach. In fairness we saw glimpses of it v Cardiff when we were chasing the game in the second half, and we went pretty direct, but otherwise we are rarely direct, and the build up is slow and ponderous.OK there are times when a methodical build up can reap rewards, but it rather depends on  accurate passing and movement...two things sadly lacking. We still are very guilty of giving the ball away unnecessarily (unforced errors in tennis terminology) . Only occasionally, usually via Redmond, do we really go direct, so this is where our chronic lack of pace is exposed, particularly down the RHS.I dont know why Hughton is so loathe to mix it up. It''s a bit more fundamental than having a plan B, but I still cannot believe that players/coaches who claim to be of Prem quality cannot operate different styles sporadically during games. Perhaps he too recognises that we have little or no pace, but there again, pacy players do not figure highly in his cautious , negative type game plan ?

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Not sure its pace we are lacking, players receiving the ball whilst standing still is, which is the issue many have with Snoddy.

We play a lot to feet and not in front of a player that''s already on the move.

Thought we showed improvement on that front against WH and created a couple of chances at least that way.

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agree we need more pace against mancity it was only redmonds pace that caused them any problems, be good to get benno back.

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[quote user="skippdogg"]agree we need more pace against mancity it was only redmonds pace that caused them any problems, be good to get benno back.[/quote]Take your point, SD, but , I suppose understandably in our predicament, there''s an increasing tendency on this forum to lay the blame on the absence of the likes of Ebenno and Howson. And, by inference that everything in the garden will be rosy with a phoenix -like rise when they return. Clutching at straws, if you like.This is problematical twofold. Without any firm statement about Howson''s condition, we must assume that he will not be fit for first team action any time soon and it may well be too late when he and Bennet do return. And secondly, it will heap terrible pressure on the absent players if and when they do come back. Emotions like this are sure to transfer to the media and crowd, heaping big expectations on them.

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