I need you to trust me when I say that I thought of this week’s column’s theme prior to the Watford match.
I had wondered about our defenders’ lack of volume and had been a little worried about the Canaries’ goal drought leading up to their visit from the Hornets.
I hadn’t checked the number of times the City back four had found the net in the Championship the previous season at that point.
After Ben Chrisene added City’s fourth goal late on and Callum Doyle scored his incredible goal in just the third minute, I decided it was time to review the 2023–24 season’s statistics.
And I found out that the two goals against Watford accounted for exactly half of the total goals scored by defenders in all 46 games throughout the previous season.
Prior to their matchups with Leeds in the play-off semi-finals, Norwich scored 79 goals for the most of the season.
Of those that were recorded, just four were from the boys in the back (that would be Jack Stacey, Sam McCallum, Danny Batth, and Shane Duffy, if you’re curious).
This demonstrated that my pre-Saturday thoughts were rather accurate, especially considering that no defender had scored a goal in the first five games.
One could argue that it makes no difference where goals are scored on the pitch.
Nonetheless, I believe that the team will perform better if the onus of discovering the net is distributed more widely.
And without a doubt, Saturday’s spectacular performance provided solid proof that defenders are an essential component of attack in Johannes Hoff Thorup’s strategy.
I must admit that I was a little miffed when I learnt that Doyle had been moved from his central position to full back on Saturday as I was driving to NR1.
One of my good friends is an ardent Manchester City supporter, and when Doyle joined the team on loan, he declared that centre back was unquestionably his strongest position.
Early in the season, he had several outstanding performances there thanks to his strength, agility, positioning, and amazing passing abilities.
If he moved to the flank, I thought some of these qualities might be lost.
What do I know, really?
That goal in front of us at the River End so early on exuded class and confidence.
Doyle was obviously allowed free reign to attack, and he became the first City defender to score and provide an assist in the same game in seven and a half years (since Steven Whittaker in January 2017) with the help of research from #ncfcnumbers.
Doyle is undoubtedly a talented man. It’s said that you should never fall in love with a loan player, but it’s difficult.
Thorup made a wise move when he decided to change things up at the back by moving Doyle across and adding Kellen Fisher.
Fisher was outstanding in my opinion and deserving of the title of man of the match.
There were some of the loudest cheers of the afternoon during the sequence in which he was caught off guard and lost the ball, only to quickly recover with a superb tackle.
He and Stacey will face off in an intriguing match for the right back position, and Thorup is making a wise decision.
I feel like they might switch around a bit based on the competition and how they approach various games.
Stacey provides a good attacking option, as his Norwich performances have shown.
Not only did Doyle and Fisher perform admirably on Saturday, but Jose Cordoba also lived up to the high expectations placed on him.
Even though he did get caught a few times, he still dominates that back line and is incredibly strong and self-assured.
The Panama international will only get better and that has to whet our appetites.
The Canaries have an extremely busy week ahead of them, starting with the midday trip to Derby and continuing with trips to Carra of Leeds and Hull.
Although the defense’s major focus may be on the back line, offence can play a significant role in defence as well.
OTBC.
Euro-junk
This season has undoubtedly seen some minor football history being made.
Has there ever been a league table with 32 teams in any game level?
That’s exactly how many names there are in the new Champions League.
Since Inter Milan bundled us out of the UEFA Cup 31 years ago, I have not been a fan of European club football.
In my opinion, the way tournaments are arranged throughout the continent this year has achieved a new absurdity.
It seems crazy to have so many clubs in one league.
It seems absurd to add more games to the calendar when there is so much discussion about there being too many played.
Furthermore, given that a large number of the participants are not even close to being national champions, how can it be called the Champions League?
And let’s not even talk about the joke that is the Conference League and the Europa League.
Call me archaic, but I didn’t see anything wrong with the UEFA Cup to reward those who placed highly, the European Cup for the winners of domestic leagues, and the Cup Winners Cup for domestic cup winners.
We could all tell where we were after you were gone.
Talk to the manager
Since he arrived earlier this year, Thorup’s speech has truly pleased me.
His calm, clear, and focused demeanour, in my opinion, is partly why his supporters have taken to him so well.
Thus, the news that Thorup and his sidekick Glen Riddersholm would be honoured guests at the upcoming Norwich City supporters Social Club supporters’ forum is very intriguing.
On Wednesday, October 23, Darren Eadie, a city legend and club ambassador, will host the evening at the Gunn Club located at Carrow Road. 6.30 p.m. door opening; 7:15 p.m. start time.
Adult admission is £5, while children under 16 pay £1.
The Community Sports Foundation will receive support from the event.
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