Another friendly, another convincing win for the Canaries—the Norwich ones—who toppled Hitchin Town 0-10 in a friendly marking their 150th anniversary. Here’s five things learnt from the second friendly.
Big Cam and Little Tony
City are in fine form upfront, particularly Cameron Jerome, who has five goals in his first two matches. But Tuesday’s match ball went to French midfielder Tony Andreu, who fired home a hat-trick in just 30 minutes of football. After a quiet debut season after joining with manager Alex Neil from Hamilton, Andreu has fired on all cylinders this preseason. If his form continues, he can easily climb up the bench and compete with Jonny Howson or Wes Hoolahan for minutes.
From the back…
With left-back Martin Olsson coming off surgery, the only left-back on the roster is Harry Toffolo. While Steven Whittaker can slide over, as he does for Scotland, Tuesday’s featured man in the first half was Bradley Johnson. Perhaps it’s a weird position for him, but we know the 2014-15 Player of the Season is more than capable of shifting into different roles…
Hooper hops in
It was nice to see Gary Hooper start the second half and score. Since he’s been in yellow, it’s felt like Hooper has been the latest man linked with another club. Under Neil’s reign, Norwich have played with a lone forward, a position Hooper hasn’t completely mastered. Yet Tuesday night proved there’s still a place for Hooper as City inch closer to the Premier League.
You can’t blame the youth
As the score lines grow in size, the chances of City’s youth players making the squad decrease. Not to say this is a bad thing—it’s actually an indication of how strong the first team is. But it’s a blow to the links of Toffolo, Louis Thompson and the Murphy twins. Perhaps Toffolo has the best chance solely because the lack of depth at his position.
The Pink Panther
The new away kit was unveiled…and I like it! Queue the complaints that it’s a lack of creativity, but it sticks to club colours. Although the pink keeper kit might seem a bit strange with Jon Ruddy. Maybe it’ll distract opponents shooting in the Barclay End.
