Although Norwich were defeated by Liverpool at Anfield and Chelsea at Carrow Road, Daniel
Farke’s team have impressed with a commitment to the attacking football that saw them promoted
from the Championship.
Teemo Pukki has scored five goals in three games for the Canaries and his movement and
finishing has gone some way to settling the debate around whether the Championship’s
top scorer last season could make the step up to the Premier League. Emil Buendia has
also excelled, setting up two of Pukki’s goals with crisp through balls, while young
left winger Todd Cantwell also has two assists for Pukki goals – Pukki has assisted Cantwell
once.
Norwich have retained the 4-2-3-1 that served them well in the Championship. They press
high and aggressively, looking to pin opponents into the corner with intelligent responses
to pressing triggers such as balls passed horizontally to the full backs.
The mid-block also features pressing, and sees Norwich assume a 4-4-2 with Marco Stiepermann
pushed up alongside Pukki, or Tom Trybull dropping behind the midfield four – the
wide players will still look to push up, while the midfield two also try to compact the space
and mark passing lanes. New signing Moritz Leitner is adept at this, while Trybull tends
to anchor and try to prevent too much space opening up in front of the back four.
The aim, as with all pressing, is to win back the ball while the opponents are in transition
and therefore not themselves in a compact defensive shape. While teams tend to want
to defend with a compact line or lines, once the ball has been regained they move apart,
trying to lose their opponents and find space in which to receive a pass. These spaces are
what pressing teams then want to exploit should they be able to regain possession with the
press, and Norwich are well suited to this.
In attack, Norwich still derive much of their width from the full backs, Max Aarons and
Jamal Lewis, while Ben Godfrey excels at bringing the ball forwards to bypass the opposition
press and open up passing opportunities. Norwich look, where possible, to attack the wide channels
at pace or create probing vertical passes forwards. A fine example of this was Pukki’s
finish against Chelsea, where Hanley’s quick movement to the right opens a passing lane
up the pitch to Cantwell. He moves it on to Buendia who carries and then slides a pass
in behind the Chelsea to defence to Pukki who finishes.
Pukki’s run to take Buendia’s pass against Chelsea was fairly direct and vertical, and
one of the reasons that the ways these two work so well together is that the Argentinian
midfielder can anticipate Pukki’s movement, which is often at an angle to the direction
of Buendia’s pass. Against Liverpool, Pukki’s run is again fairly straight, but, as with
his pass against Chelsea, Buendia’s through ball is at a right angle to the Finnish striker’s
run. Pukki positions himself well between two Liverpool defenders and, as Henderson
steps out a fraction to close or mark a pass inside, Buendia is able to angle a perfect
pass behind him and between the two defenders – Pukki’s run begins at almost the exact
moment that Buendia plays the pass, leaving Liverpool no time to react to the movement
in behind.
This movement in behind and the use of vertical passes at an angle to runs is also clear from
Norwich’s third against Newcastle. Buendia receives the ball in space and plays a 45
degree pass up the field, bypassing two Newcastle defenders to find Stiepermann. As the German
midfielder receives the pass, both Cantwell and Pukki set off on angled runs that take
them behind Newcastle defenders while Stiepermann’s pass is totally vertical – Cantwell then
sets up Pukki, who finishes well.
The off-the-ball movement, combined with a willingness and an ability to play vertical,
progressive passes that bisect opposition players, is key to Norwich’s attack.
But also key is that Norwich players make runs that are at angles to the passes – a
45 degree pass for a straight run, a straight pass to meet an angled run. This requires
excellent anticipation and skill to execute from the passer, and intelligent movement
and understanding from the runner. When done at pace and with other runners making movements
that distract the defence, as with the third goal against Newcastle, it makes it very hard
for defenders.
Pukki’s willingness to consistently make runs in behind, combined with Buendia’s
superb ball-carrying and passing, make Norwich’s right hand side a particular threat. Buendia’s
ability to drive with the ball adds dynamism and puts defenders on the back foot. However,
the role of Cantwell on the left shouldn’t be overlooked, and the passing of Norwich’s
deeper players is also crucial. Nor is this the only way that Norwich attack, as they
can push wide with pace and deliver crosses, either low and pulled back, as with Pukki’s
assist for Cantwell, or deeper.
Norwich are a dynamic attacking side who press well and move intelligently with and without
the ball. Whether they will compromise some of their attacking and pressing instincts
as the campaign continues remains to be seen but for now, the Canaries are sticking to
what saw them promoted and playing some wonderful football.