Last week's game at Spurs was very reminiscent of the early games last season: at Wolves a blistering first 20 minutes which then tailed off into 45 minutes of carelessness which allowed Wolves back into the game before Gabby settled it in stoppage time. For the first half dozen games at least City were simply not match fit for 90 minutes because of the extended season and no pre-season and at Spurs it seemed just the same. Of our squad last Sunday only 5 had not been involved in either the Copa America or the Euros and one of them had only missed out because he had Corona virus. Of the 13 who had, 5 had been involved in the final and a further three had been to the semis. The result is that of the starters at WHL only 4 had had a pre-season and only Mahrez and, arguably, Ferna would have started in normal circumstances. Spurs had one player who made the Copa America final and he came on as a 78 min sub and two players from the Euros, only one of whom made the last 16. City's chances of matching Spurs over 90 minutes at WHL were slim in the extreme and this is how it played out.
Yesterday was a different matter. Norwich don't have Spurs' quality but they are match fit. City's squad was much more "normal" than last week as was the starting eleven. What pleased and reassured me was that we dominated possession from the start, got behind their backs with comparative ease, scored twice in the first 20 mins approx but never showed any signs of letting the pace drop. Thar Norwich were poor defensively and non-existent offensively is irrelevant: City played 90 minutes at PL pace and intensity and that is a reason for optimism.
