Norwich City: Cardiff City Will Be a Larger Indication of Season Than Arsenal

It’s never nice to see your side in the relegation zone of the Premier League, especially after they have been ripped apart by the league leaders.

I didn’t have the pleasure of watching the game due to a family engagement, and it seems, in retrospect, that was a good thing.

But it’s always important that we maintain a bit of perspective after results such as the Arsenal one.

The same really can be said of the Chelsea defeat that occurred prior to it. Of course, we can talk about the improved squad that Norwich City now has and how that should allow the club to compete better against the best sides.

However, we know that in reality things are a lot harder than that. The Canaries have won two games this season against sides they would have been confident of beating before the game. That is the sort of situation that will occur next against Cardiff City, a team that Norwich will know that they have a good chance of beating.

And it’s this sort of match that will hold a lot of importance towards the season as well as the future for Chris Hughton.

The Norwich manager has recently admitted that he is under pressure with the club in the relegation zone and suffering four league defeats in the last five games, including losing the last two.

This is why the game against Cardiff is such an important one for him to prove that he continues to be the right man to lead the Canaries forward.

The team has struggled to score goals this season and Gary Hooper and Ricky van Wolfswinkel really need to get amongst the goals in order to improve the league position.

This is especially the case considering the level of investment paid for the two, although the service to the strikers has also been an issue. Certain players have shown ability this season, but it doesn’t all seem to be working as a cohesive unit just yet.

There are, of course, ways that the team can be adjusted in order to improve form.

For example, Wes Hoolahan is a player who hasn’t been heavily involved this season but could well hold the key to getting better results. Jonny Howson and Leroy Fer have also looked pretty good, so there are reasons to be optimistic.

That all being said, the problem with taking no points from Chelsea and Arsenal is that it increases the pressure on the more winnable games. So hopefully that will not affect the team when they go into action against Cardiff.

It might be premature to call it a must-win game, but the pressure will increase with every missed opportunity. And that pressure will clearly come from both the fans and the board.

I think we will all feel a lot better if we can just claw our way out of the relegation zone.