THE TUCKSTER shares his thoughts on Saturday’s win against Serie A side Parma
Hi all, this week I thought I would give you the first (hopefully) in a series of alternative style match reports. I figure that if you want a newspaper style report of in depth analysis you can read the Pink ‘Un, and that if you want more of a flavour of the match you can read this.
On Saturday I took my wife and 5yr old son Callum to see City play Parma, who came to play the third of a four-match UK tour. I think this had something to do with our new kit supplier Errea, who also provide Parma`s kit and were guests of the club for the day – it can`t be a coincidence then that the City side were wearing the new green away kit for the first time. Incidentally, I think it looks very smart and I like the retro style collar.
This was my first friendly of the pre-season. I`m not big on friendly matches and usually try to catch the last one or two as they generally give you a better idea of the first league match`s starting line up.
I was slightly surprised as the City team was only starting with new boys De Laet, Bennett, and Naughton (a late inclusion after Russell Martin was injured in the warm up). I guess I`d hoped to see more of the new players but in Lambert we trust.
The Parma side were playing in their white home kit and the first thing I noticed was their two forward players were a real little and large pair. No:99, Graziano Pelle must have been a good 6`5″ tall while no:10, Sebastian Giovinco was shorter than Wes Hoolahan – I kid you not.
We were sitting in what would normally be the away fans section in the Jarrold Stand and was slightly surprised to see quite a few Parma fans there. Carrow Road was only about half full with a 13,000 odd crowd – a very quiet crowd on the whole I must say – with the exception of about 20 Italians who were keen on singing and shouting vociferously from the start.
They were holding a large Parma flag in front of them and had their shirts off. I watched with slight bemusement as the real passion and vigour they showed for Parma continued. It made me think about football in Italy and some of the scenes I`d seen on TV in the last year or two.
I can imagine that being a British team visiting a Serie A club in European matches could be a pretty intimidating prospect for a fan. Don`t get me wrong, the Parma fans were great and it was nice to see that sort of passion, I`m just thinking?
The first ten minutes were good for Parma and although they were short of shooting opportunities they had some good movement and Giovinco was at the heart of it all. As with a lot of short players he has a good centre of balance and was a box of tricks and was basically their Wes Hoolahan. Pelle won a few headers but Whitbread and De Laet had it all under control.
As the game wore on City managed to find their feet and Simeon Jackson had the first real chance. Elliot Bennett put him in and he found himself one on one with the Parma ‘keeper, Antonio Gallinetta. Sadly, Jackson seemed caught in two minds and Gallinetta saved. My wife, Lisa said to me “Well, he takes a bit of time to get going.”
“Yeah, usually about three quarters of a season” I replied.
Seriously though, he`ll need to be sharper in the Premier League.
The game wore on and the City defence looked solid and accomplished. De Laet looks an excellent player and Whitbread looked assured next to him. Naughton also looks a great player and made several telling tackles to break things up before real danger ensued.
On the left, Marc Tierney didn`t look out of place at all, made some good tackles, played good passes with Surman among others and was a threat going forward – a real positive I think.
My best pal Lee, was also at the game in the same bit of the Jarrold stand as me with his two boys. He told me after the game about a conversation he had with an Italian fan he was sitting next to. It went something like this (please feel free to add an Italian accent to the Italian fan`s conversation) –
It fan – “Who is your number 9?”
Lee – “Grant Holt.”
It fan – “Ah, he is too big, too slow. He is, how you say?”
Lee -“A bit of a lump?”
It fan – “Yes, yes, a bit of a lump (with laughter).”
Lee – “He`s scored over 50 goals in the last two seasons and me and my mate (me) reckon he`ll get over 10 in the Premier league.”
It fan – “I do not think this is possible.”
Just at this point, Captain Marvel scored from close range.
Lee to Italian fan “Are there any more of our players you want to say are rubbish? So that they can score!”
Cue much laughter among all present.
The great thing about Holt is that he clearly looks to others as though he can`t cut the mustard – appearances can be deceptive. This was underlined again a few minutes later when Holt put Jackson in with a fantastic piece of play. He had two defenders around him and simply shrugged them off before playing a first time pass with what looked like the outside of his boot (it did from where I was sitting) and suddenly Jackson was one on one with Gallinetta again – he fluffed it again and the ‘keeper saved again, but Holt`s involvement was truly classy.
Half time 1 nil to City. Parma had been on the back foot for most of the half and not truly threatened at all.
Lee had another talk with the Parma fan at half time after the Italian had a mobile phone conversation with a friend of his inside the Parma dressing room. It turns out that this fan was a good friend of Parma`s no:13 Govicalo Brandao (an unused sub on the day).
It seems that the half time conversation among the Parma players consisted of a lot of moaning about how Holt was constantly fouling them and being too rough and that the referee wasn`t helping them – it seems the Italians don`t like it up ’em!
The second half started, predictably with Parma having a go. It didn`t come to much other than a few long range shots, one of which Ruddy did well to tip over.
The second half was also noticeable for some stereotypical Italian play. Simeon Jackson was kicked several times by the uncompromising Parma no:2, Rolf Feltscher and as is to be expected in a friendly, this was conveniently overlooked by the ref, less he have to bring a card out. Mind you, it was working both ways.
There was also some rolling about to be done by the Italians. At one point Callum said of one Italian player lying on the floor “Daddy, is that man dead?” I replied “No, but you`d think he is the way he`s behaving.”
As the second half wore on, City found their stride again and the midfield took charge as they had in the first half. Hoolahan was instrumental in the first half and produced a fantastic take down and turn in one move as well as a later nutmeg that underlined his flair and class.
David Fox looked comfortable and made some great passes throughout. He looks more than capable at this level which will surprise my mate Craig (Blackpool fan) after Fox was released by the tangerines prior to moving to Colchester. Craig is adamant he`s too lightweight – I say not.
Andrew Surman also looks at home here and after another great piece of work by Holt where he found himself on the left side of the box and presented Surman with a lovely cut back which allowed the former Southampton and Wolves man to side foot home past a stranded Gallinetta from 14 yards. 2 Nil.
Italian heads started to go down now but the fans still kept singing.
The second half saw a flurry of substitutions with City withdrawing Bennett – looked good, Hoolahan – fantastic, Whitbread – Solid and composed, Holt – awesome as ever, Jackson – full of running but poor finishing and Marc Tierney – solid and composed.
They were replaced by Bradley Johnson, Adam Drury, Leon Barnett, Steve Morison, Chris Martin and Anthony Pilkington.
Of the new players, Johnson looked solid enough in the centre but wasn`t tested. Steve Morison looked a little off the pace of the game and Pilkington looked pleasingly threatening when he had the ball. Indeed he set up the third for Surman with a nice run after being given the ball by wayward defending before cutting the ball back for Surman to side foot home from close range.
Full Time 3 nil.
The match shows me that we have plenty of options in our squad, which we will need. The strike partner for Holt still seems unsure, maybe James Vaughan will be the man when fit.
Our midfield looks good as does our defence which looked pleasingly solid today. There`s still a possible question mark over Ruddy but he`s young and improving – clearly Lambert trusts him and I guess we should as well.
The Parma fan tried to tell Lee after the third goal that they were playing a weakened team as they have another match on Sunday against West Brom.
I looked into this and it seems they were playing quite a few regulars and perhaps weren`t as weak as suggested. Fabio Borini (ex Chelsea and Swansea) played out on the left and was ineffective against Kyle Naughton. An Italian web site suggesting that the manager was trying out a different formation.
In recent days they have also played Cardiff City – drew 0-0 and then Luton Town – won 2-0.
Their season starts on 28th August so they`re a couple of weeks behind us, but even so, they didn`t look up to much.
They`re a mid-table Serie A side so I think it`s positive. We bossed the majority of the game and deserved the win.
Of course the time for experiments and practice is over. This is it; this is what it all comes down to. Time will tell but to me, we look ready.
One down point was that Hernan Crespo didn`t feature for Parma; I like to see great players so this was a slight disappointment. Although even if he had played I`m sure De Laet would`ve had him in his pocket throughout…
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