‘Not good enough’: Philippe Clement delivers scathing Norwich City verdict ahead of Portsmouth contest
Pompey visit Norwich City on Saturday looking to earn their third win in six matches.
Philippe Clement is adamant his Norwich City side are far from Championship quality ahead of their game against Pompey on Saturday.
And the head coach feels members of his squad need to improve after an underwhelming start to the new campaign.
Despite a strong end to last season, which saw the Canaries secure a ninth-placed finish, Norwich have struggled to replicate that form in the opening weeks of the new term.
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Clement’s side sit 21st in the standings at present, having claimed nine points from their opening 10 matches before the visit of John Mousinho’s men.
The Canaries are out of form, losing all of their previous four matches, which includes defeats to Swansea City and Southampton since the international break.
But a 1-0 reverse to Tonda Eckert’s side in midweek has seen the pressure grow on the Belgian, with supporters unhappy with their recent run.
Norwich City ‘not good enough’ ahead of Pompey
Indeed, Clement was far from impressed with a number of his players for their midweek display and insisted his Norwich side are not good enough to win Championship matches.
Speaking to the Pink’Un, he said: ‘I will speak individually with the ones that was not good enough because they need to work hard the next weeks and months to come back to their best level.
‘They come also out of a long-term injury, but it's for the moment not good enough to win high quality Championship games against a good team.
‘I need to maybe put more defensive players in who can do the distances, who can press, who can run, who can fight, to put them in those positions. It's not what you want to do, but maybe I need to do it in the future.
‘We spoke about small margins and that we need to push those margins. I've seen a team that did that for sure, 60 to 70 minutes (against Southampton).
‘But the moment that you need to make changes, when some batteries are running low, we put a few players in who gave something extra to the team, but also a few who did not. For me, I miss that.
‘There's clearly with some players a lot of work to do to get them towards the level that we want to get them, otherwise you cannot make the difference at the end of the game.’
Norwich City have to ‘raise levels’ against Pompey
Pompey travel to Carrow Road, having claimed eight points from their previous five matches, which included a 3-2 triumph over Sheffield United on Wednesday.
And Clement is adamant his side need to raise their levels against Pompey as they look for a first win in five.
‘I'm convinced also that we're going do that this season, and it's a smaller turnaround than it was last season. A lot of things are better. We have less injured players. The group is fitter than last season, but we need to get more results, and we're working really hard.
‘It's nine points, and now in these next games we have to raise our levels and to push our luck, because it's not something that comes falling out of the sky in moments.
‘You have to earn that and then you can get a good momentum, and you can get a good drive. We need to create that momentum again.’