2 weeks Ago
Here is Samuel Seaman's verdict on Norwich City, who were beaten 5-3 by Portsmouth in front of their own fans. George Long His previous errors will always mean an added layer of attention on the City second choice, but even allowing for confirmation bias this was a dreadful afternoon. He certainly should have done better with Colby Bishop's opener, which had little pace on it and bounced before it had reached Long as he stretched for it.
He then parried back into the danger area before Marcelino Nunez gave away a penalty, and parried straight back to Josh Murphy as he set up the fourth. Long's distribution wasn't bad, but that made little difference in the end. 3 Kellen Fisher Offered drive and purpose in his side's relatively good start, operating on the front foot as City set out to show fans what they could do.
Two poor attacking moments seemed to kill his momentum, however, and he was quiet thereafter. The first of those came when he was fairly wiped out by Murphy as he attempted to go through on goal, the second with a simple header that really should have completed the turnaround but was saved by the legs of Nicolas Schmid. Combine those with the loss of Bishop for his header and a tricky first half against Murphy, and it wasn't his best afternoon.
Improved at left-back in the second half. 5 Shane Duffy There were errors from all over the defence, but as the most experienced member of it, there should have been fewer from the Irishman. Failed to read and clear the danger when Murphy cut back for the second, and was nowhere to be seen when a mixture of high and low crosses caused the hosts problem throughout.
In possession there were no disasters. 5 Jose Cordoba Inconsistency has defined Cordoba's season, and after a couple of good recent performances, this displayed exactly that. He set the tone early with a pass intercepted by the Portsmouth midfield, and what followed was done with a similar lack of quality.
All over the place when the ball came into the box, a pattern that's emerging as a weakness of his. 4 Kenny McLean (C) Showed tactical adaptability in a system where he tucked into midfield on the ball and had to defend wide out of it, but made much less of an impact than he usually does. Was returned to his usual midfield role by Johannes Hoff Thorup in a bid to solidify things in the second half.
Most of the defensive work came from Jacob Wright though, on an afternoon when City needed their leader to be a bigger presence. 5 Canaries captain Kenny McLean (right) was quiet (Image: Daniel Hambury/Focus Images Ltd) Jacob Wright A rare positive in an otherwise dire display. Got through plenty of work defensively with little help, and on the ball he had the quality to create plenty of chances and claim two assists.
The second was largely made by Emiliano Marcondes' superb header, but the first came from a typically impressive pass to open up the game for Jack Stacey. Showed the heart and desire his head coach admitted was lacking from the team at large post-match. 7 Marcelino Nunez With Thorup switching to a midfield two, it was essential for the Chilean to step up and make his presence felt.
That was the opposite of what happened, however, as he produced one of his worst displays in a Norwich shirt. Contributed little defensively, rarely got on the ball and gave away a penalty by making a challenge that had extremely little chance of winning him the ball. Hooked at half-time as a result.
4 Anis Ben Slimane Started very brightly but faded, as has often been the case during his City career. Started in an inverted right midfield role in his side's complicated system, making far more inroads from out wide than he did in the Burnley defeat. A few clever flicks and drives forward that put Norwich in good positions, but he couldn't quite apply the finishing touches and had very little say in the second half.
5 Oscar Schwartau Displayed the sort of tireless running and work ethic that was sorely lacking from too many of his team-mates. Flashes of technical quality, but they weren't what stood out in the context of the afternoon. Deployed in another new position on the left of the midfield and didn't do badly before being withdrawn close to the 60-minute mark, but really needs somewhere to settle and play a number of games without moving all over the place positionally.
6 Borja Sainz In many ways epitomised the problem with City's performance. Persistently engaged in the sort of off-ball tensions he's been trying to avoid, rarely did any running toward his own goal and made no secret of his frustrations when team-mates failed to find him. Combine that with the fact that he didn't really get into the game from an attacking perspective, and it's easy to see why many are wondering if his mind is on a potential summer move.
3 Josh Sargent Facing a similarly uncertain future as speculation swirls around his own career and potential suitors, but has gone about things in exactly the right manner and showed that against Portsmouth. Worked his socks off pressing, making runs in behind and trying to make things happen, and was rewarded when Freddie Potts' clearance popped up for him to smash home in the box. Did his defensive duty as well, and that's how he sustained the shoulder injury that meant he was withdrawn at half-time.
7 Josh Sargent was withdrawn at half-time with an injury (Image: Daniel Hambury/Focus Images Ltd) SUBSTITUTES Jack Stacey (on for Nunez, 45) In many ways not the right fit for the youthful, possession-based project his club have embarked upon, but he at least looked like someone playing for pride to the best of his abilities. Drove up and down the flank and should have had an assist when Sainz failed to connect with his centre late on, but the highlight came when he strode onto Wright's pass and rifled into the top of the net like a striker. 7 Emiliano Marcondes (on for Sargent, 45) Battled away up front with a frantic urgency that sometimes added pace to City's game but also got in the way of quality at times.
Lifted one header over the bar from Wright's cross, but made up for it with a fine looping consolation in stoppage time. 7 Callum Doyle (on for Schwartau, 58) A couple of decent passes forward, a couple of not so good ones, but ultimately didn't shore the defence up much. 5 Jacob Sorensen (on for Cordoba, 67) Offered some more balance when Thorup switched to a back five, but similarly struggled to stem the flow.
Amankwah Forson (on for Fisher, 89) N/A.
