Ricardo's report v Celta Vigo

[ricardo 7,328]

Ricardo finally succumbed to the lure of Carrow Road and decided to stroll up and run the rule over the new boys. It was a lovely night for it although rather warm and the boys looked resplendant when they ran out in their new away garb.It was a bright start with both forward lines looking lively. Lafferty almost got on the end of a Whits cross while at the other end the Spaniards went close after a swift move down the left. It was a fast and open game and with barely 6 minutes on the clock Redmond fed Olsson and a quick through ball found Grabben in the clear to slot a low shot past the keeper.Impressive stuff, and it soon got better as Wes and Lafferty combined nicely in the area to set up Grabben again who netted easily from left of the six yard box. What a refreshing change from last year as City moved the ball quickly forward and attacked with pace. It should have been three on the quarter hour but Surman didn''t connect well enough when Redmond''s pass found him in space and the keeper saved easily.Celta Vigo took a while to get into their stride but when they did they forced City back and only resolute defending kept them at bay. They were now dominating play and it was really no surprise when they at last combined speed and accuracy and a first time ball found a forward in space to easily beat Ruddy. It should have been all square a couple of minutes later when City were again cut apart but the woodwork came to the rescue after Ruddy was beaten by a shot from 20 yards.The Spaniards were certainly showing their class and City could have no complaints about the quality of tonight''s opposition as they were kept firmly on the back foot for the remainder of the half. I ecpected a half time change to combat their midfield dominance but it wasn''t until the 55th minute that Lafferty was withdrawn and the formation altered to accommodate Elliot Bennett. Celta had brought on a whole raft of subtitutes so it was difficult to tell if City''s change had redressed the balance but the game became a bit less one sided for a while. Redmond had a couple of efforts but in truth our goal looked the most likely to be breached.Hooper came on with 20 minutes left and immediately out muscled a defender to set up an attack. Johno''s hard shot was parried by the keeper and Hooper''s follow up hit the post. The flag was up for offside in any event. At the other end Ruddy had to earn his money on a couple of occasions and in the dying minutes only a Pilks clearance off the line kept it all square.All in all it was a lively and enjoyable friendly and from this brief outing it looks to me that Lafferty and Grabben will be amongst the goals this season. We started well but Vigo were definitely a class above anything we will meet in the Championship.

[Guest]

All eyes on the Wolves game tomorrow now to see if anything anbe gauged from that.

[Dubai Mark 0]

Thanks Ricardo, actually came on here this morning to see if you had posted a report.

[York Canary 28]

Lovely little report Ricardo. Glad to see Hoops using his timber to outmuscle players. I hope he stays and competes strongly with Grabban and Lafferty. Those 3 strikers could do some real damage in this division and with Loza as an alternative young, pacey and strong option things look half decent up front. I imagine we''ll offload Becchio and get maybe 1 more striker in seeing as we were previously going for Wilson.

Personally, I would be playing our best passing centre-back Ryan Bennett ahead of Turner. He''s never let us down and it''s a real weapon to have someone pinging out good passes from the back. He''s always looked solid to me and it''s time he''s was given a real chance to prove his undoubted potential. He was captain at this level for P''boro and I would like to see him back in there. However, I also rate Turner as a solid option and wouldn''t feel uncomfortable with him in there.

[Mr Jenkins 0]

Good report Ricky, thanks.

What was your view of Elliot Bennet''s contribution when he came on?

[CANARYKING 634]

Welcome back, nice to read a decent post on here as opposed to the vitriol we''ve been bombarded with most of the summer. Always find your reports an interesting read. Who would you start up front and what formation should be used ?

[ron obvious 1,495]

Thanks Ricardo. Your mention of Hooper ''out- muscling'' an opposition player intrigues me. Last season that was the first thing of note I saw him do; unfortunately I didn''t see him repeat it.

I suspect that in the Champs. he is good enough to force his way past players on a regular basis - that''s why he was so successful - but the defenders are that much stronger & quicker-witted in the Prem. (strength isn''t all about pure muscularity but more about balance & co-ordination).

It''s also one of the reasons why I''m not sure RvW will ever be a success in England. Classy he undoubtedly is, but I don''t think he''s got the necessary sheer physicality for our game.

[ricardo 7,328]

Sorry I missed out the description of the Celta equalizer but Mrs Ricardo was nagging me to get to bed and I was a bit rushed.

It came after a lot of pressure and from my view right behind John Ruddy It was clearly deflected beyond his grasp. A bit unfortunate but in other respects we were rather lucky to finish with a draw.

[crabbycanary 2]

If Mrs Ricardo was wanting you to go to bed, then hell, the Celta equaliser can wait......................

[ricardo 7,328]

[quote user="Jenkins"]Good report Ricky, thanks.

What was your view of Elliot Bennet''s contribution when he came on?[/quote]I think Adams was forced into bring him on when we were being over run. He looked strong and fit after his long lay off and I hope he will feature prominently this season. We looked more balanced with him in the side.

[ricardo 7,328]

[quote user="CANARYKING"]Welcome back, nice to read a decent post on here as opposed to the vitriol we''ve been bombarded with most of the summer. Always find your reports an interesting read. Who would you start up front and what formation should be used ?[/quote]From the fact that Adams didn''t change anything until the 55th minute I think that we saw his starting line up in action last night. Grabben and Lafferty looked ok until they were starved of possession by Celta''s later dominance. My guess is that he will start those two up front at Wolves. Surman is getting a lot of game time so I think it''s him and Wes in the middle.Pilks didn''t get much of a run so is either not yet fit or on the way out. Hooper still looks like he needs to shed a few pounds.

[Iwans teeth 18]

Have to agree about Hooper he came on and straight away chucked two of there guys about looked very strong . Bring on the wolves

[BroadstairsR 2,136]

I don''t know about others, but I am not over-the-moon about having both Surman and Hoolahan together if the middle of midfield.

A bit too lightweight, IMO, and perhaps this was partly the reason that CV became dominant as the game progressed. It is stated above that the ''supply to the strikers'' dried up.

It seems to be evolving that Andrew Surman is an Adam''s favourite and I''m not too sure about this either. Decent player but his limitations of pace and strength will not have gone away.

I actually would have preferred him to have remained at Bournemouth and consider bringing him back a regressive move.. Perhaps even the near £1m they seemed prepared to pay for him could have been dangled somewhere under Fer''s nose to prevent his agent agitating a move.

WishfuI thinking though. It doesn''t work that way.

Fer easily replaces either WH or AS for me, but that''s a story waiting to unfold.

[Badger 2,405]

Thanks Ricardo

[Dubai Mark 0]

Just picking up on the comment regarding Hooper, perhaps the new shirt design is giving the impression he is carrying more weight? Last seasons shirt design certainly helped slim down those porkier players, where as the design this year will do the opposite....just a thought?

[Mr Jenkins 0]

nkins wrote:

Good report Ricky, thanks. What was your view of Elliot Bennet''s contribution when he came on?

I think Adams was forced into bring him on when we were being over run. He looked strong and fit after his long lay off and I hope he will feature prominently this season. We looked more balanced with him in the side.

Subject

Thats excellent news, fingers crossed this could be his season,

[barclay_boy111 0]

[quote user="BroadstairsR"]I don''t know about others, but I am not over-the-moon about having both Surman and Hoolahan together if the middle of midfield.

A bit too lightweight, IMO, and perhaps this was partly the reason that CV became dominant as the game progressed. It is stated above that the ''supply to the strikers'' dried up.

It seems to be evolving that Andrew Surman is an Adam''s favourite and I''m not too sure about this either. Decent player but his limitations of pace and strength will not have gone away.

I actually would have preferred him to have remained at Bournemouth and consider bringing him back a regressive move.. Perhaps even the near £1m they seemed prepared to pay for him could have been dangled somewhere under Fer''s nose to prevent his agent agitating a move.

WishfuI thinking though. It doesn''t work that way.

Fer easily replaces either WH or AS for me, but that''s a story waiting to unfold.[/quote]

I agree compleatly, not only with the light weight theme but last night hoolahan caused a lot of space in the midfield as he was aloud to pretty much go where ever he wanted leaving us exposed to the counter.

Celta Vigo walked through the midfield on several occasions last night very similar to last season leaving our defence compleatly exposed, Ollson was left to deal with 2 players by him self constantly down the left with no one coming back to help him out.