OGC Nice

[Bill 1,788]

there was sucha positive air about the place - both on and off the pitchplayers like Surman who many must have thought would not be in a City shirt again, not only back but looking like we''ve just made a superb signingand Wes looking like he''s enjoying himself again the whole set up looks like it is geared towrads automatic promotion, if not the titlei still think we may lose one or two but the squad look strong enough as it stands, if they did goonwards and upwards

[morty 0]

[quote user="delta bravo"][quote user="morty"]Surman was the man of the match, which isn''t maybe a bad call. He played on the left of the diamond, then more centrally, and made some good, bustling runs into the box. The season on loan has done him good, it will be like having a new signing this season.On the whole no negatives (apart from maybe Russel Martin''s crazy handball for the penalty) it was slick, pacey football, especially so in the diamond.Wes was decent, but drifted out of the game a bit as changes were made. It seems, as ever, that there really is one formation he can play in.[/quote]

Bradley Johnson handball, not Russell Martin[/quote]I thought it was Bradley too, but wasn''t 100% sure. One of the journos on twitter said it was Martin, so I went with that, assuming they had a better view.

[morty 0]

[quote user="GJP"]

Enjoyable game of football and nice to see a few goals.

 

Hard to know how much to take from it because it was very much a pre-season friendly and Nice generally lacked a bit of physical presence - quite lightweight and not a lot of height for us to deal with.

 

Thought Grabban showed glimpses that he could be a good player for us at this level and I don''t think Nice will be in a hurry to face Redmond again. Slightly "disappointed" with Josh Murphy, I still don''t think he shows enough to look like he should be a big part of our season.

[/quote]To be fair to Josh we made a lot of changes before and after he came on. If you put him on with a full strength team around him, from the start, he would have looked a lot different.

[GJP 79]

I disagree.

 

It was like most of his other appearances in the first team. Get him the ball to feet and he might beat a defender or two but he doesn''t offer much beyond that and sometimes you can tell he doesn''t really know where to go when he hasn''t got the ball.

 

He remains a way off being ready and quite a long way behind Redmond still.

[Phillip J Fry 0]

A few points:

1) Wes movement was magnificent. It''s the kind of thing that doesn''t really show in highlights, but his dropping into deeper positions made the Nice defence shift up, offering more space to run in on.

2) Johnson played a lot better than I expected. His passing was simple and precise and he made a few excellent tackles. There are still some issues though. He takes too long to maneuver the ball and looks likely to either give the ball away or knock it long when placed under pressure. Against a Nice side in pre-season this wasn''t a problem but against a Championship side during the league season it could become an issue. He still is far too agressive with his positioning, often leaving his back-line exposed as he looks to make tackles. He doesn''t seem quick or agile enough to play as a lone-holder and doesn''t drop back to make a 3 man defence when the full-backs push forward. As part of a two man midfield, he''d be fine but I can''t see him as a long term solo-holding midfielder. 

3) Surman was his usual self, very technical and intelligent, but more agressive than I''ve previously seen him and looked more determined to get involved. Some moments that stood out for me were his assist for Grabban, an excllent run in which he beat 3 Nice players and wona free kick and an amazing turn in the penalty area that left the Nice defence for dead in the 2nd half. Bennett showed that he deserves to start on the right

4) Bennett needs to start on the right. His best moments saw him drift out to the wide-right zone and play some excellent early crosses to attack. When you have someone with that crossing ability, you''ve got to get the best out of it. Unsurprisingly, his goal also came when he drofted out to the right.

All-in-all, it was a very fun pre-season friendly. Previous posters have already talked about how good we were going forward, something with which I full concur, but I remain worried about our defending when in a diamond. It seemed to me that we lacked any defensive structure when defending and were often leaving 3 players very high up the pitch, taking no part in the defending, meaning that we had just 7 players actually trying to stop the opposition. The balance between defensive rigidity and attacking fluidity is a fine one and we''re not quite there yet, but I think it''s far closer than I expected it to be. A few changes in tactics and personnel and we''ll have a team that can both attack and defend very well. 

[mrs miggins 0]

cheers phillip

[morty 0]

[quote user="GJP"]

I disagree.

 

It was like most of his other appearances in the first team. Get him the ball to feet and he might beat a defender or two but he doesn''t offer much beyond that and sometimes you can tell he doesn''t really know where to go when he hasn''t got the ball.

 

He remains a way off being ready and quite a long way behind Redmond still.

[/quote]Oh I agree, he''s not at Redmond''s level, yet.Watch this.Or this.Or this.

[GJP 79]

I watched them and I''ve seen Josh play in person a number of times.

 

I think Josh is talented but I don''t think he''s ready to be called upon too heavily and especially not if we want to get promoted.

[morty 0]

[quote user="GJP"]

I watched them and I''ve seen Josh play in person a number of times.

 

I think Josh is talented but I don''t think he''s ready to be called upon too heavily and especially not if we want to get promoted.

[/quote][Y]

[Paul101 93]

Surman was like a breath of fresh air

Grabbin Excellent movement and always looked to run of the shoulder

Johno kept it simple and closed down well

things are looking good

[whoareyou? 0]

Looks promising. Plenty of movement and the ball being played with pace and it has to be said that the side is without the big name players at the moment.

[NCFCgardener 0]

The team were very fluid, played with freedom and lots of pace and movement. Compared to the static formations we have been used to the last few years, it was wonderful to see.