Norwich City Under-23s coach David Wright felt it was a tale of two halves in the U23s 1-0 pre-season friendly win against King’s Lynn Town on Tuesday evening.
Speaking on the match, Wright said there was plenty to improve on from the first-half performance, citing the young Canaries as "not being brave enough," before sharply turning their display around for the second-half.
“I wasn’t overly pleased in the first-half, because we weren’t brave enough," he said. "We weren’t brave enough to play our way.
“We’ve got a way we want the boys to play and we just weren’t brave enough to do it, not enough for the centre-halves to get on the ball and not enough to go into the midfield and then into the attacking players. We didn’t have enough players coming to link that. Out of possession, there wasn’t quite enough intensity in our press.
“We spoke about that at half time and the second-half, I was really, really pleased. That’s the way we want them to play in possession - brave, pass forward, run forward. Then out of possession, we want them to be on the aggressive front foot.
“That’s what we, now, as a group, need to keep consistent. Everyday, every match day, that’s how we should play.”
Asked about the additional standout individual performances from the likes of William Hondermarck and Reece McAlear, Wright said those performances are key in collectively improving the whole squad, not just single players.
“That’s exactly it, but we said to the players that if we play our way then they’ll get better individually, and they’ll get better collectively," he said. "That’s what we want them to do and that’s why the bravery is really important. Even in the first-half, I said I wasn’t particularly pleased, yet we created some really good chances.”
Looking ahead to next Tuesday’s EFL Trophy clash against Plymouth Argyle (7:30pm KO), Wright said it’s set to be a tough test, but the only focus is on the process, not the standalone result.
“It’s going to be a really tough game, Plymouth got promoted last year, I think third-place behind Swindon," he said. "It’s going to be a really tough test going there. We know what we’re up against. As I said to the players, I’m interested in the process. If we get the process right, which we did in the second-half, then the result will take care of itself.”