‘Norwich Can Play With A Bit More Freedom Now’
- Already-relegated Norwich City visit King Power Stadium on Wednesday evening (7:45pm kick-off)
- The Canaries are currently bottom of the Premier League table with three games to play
- The Athletic’s Michael Bailey analysed what went wrong for Dean Smith’s side this season
- There is still an opportunity to finish positively without the weight of the relegation battle, he adds
Their fate already sealed, the Canaries know that they will be playing Championship football next season, facing an immediate return to the second tier after promotion at the end of 2020/21.
Ahead of their penultimate away fixture versus Leicester City at King Power Stadium on Wednesday (7:45pm kick-off), which comes prior to games against Wolverhampton Wanderers (A) and then Tottenham Hotspur (H), Bailey explains why he believes playing on the road may suit Norwich more in the coming weeks.
“You can look at Norwich and say they have been inconsistent from the start,” the journalist admitted to LCFC Radio’s Matchday Live show. “It has been a slog for everyone involved, although you hope that in the event of relegation there can be a bit of freedom about what Norwich do and they may accrue some points.
“Being away from Carrow Road may help to a degree. Maybe we will see some of that. They’ll be able to go about their business without what some of the home fans feel about it, but that puts the emphasis on the players really to show if they’ve got anything left this season.
“They have got to go out as a team and show some collective pride in what they are doing. That’s what the fans will want to see. I think Norwich have shown at times some really good resilience away from home, they can be resolute while it’s still goalless.
“But also at Manchester United they did play pretty well and came back from 2-0 down to 2-2 and had chances to go on and take the lead.”
Dean Smith replaced Daniel Farke as manager in November 2021 but could not halt the slide towards the drop, even though he did initially trigger a positive run of form. Falling short in too many games has been the story of their season and Bailey offered his verdict on why it has not gone to plan for the Norfolk-based club.
“They were unbeaten for his first three games,” he assessed. “They won the first one against Southampton, had a goalless draw at home to Wolves which they probably should have won on the weight of chances and then it was a 1-1 draw at Newcastle when they were against 10 men for 80 minutes but couldn’t produce the performance required.
“There were some really promising signs in terms of the improved pressing. He was affecting games and altering them as they went along, and throughout his time as head coach, he has been trying to find some solutions with problems of formations and using different personnel.
“It has stuck occasionally but it’s not really proved sustainable at any point, due to the quality and certain injuries at bad times. A COVID-19 outbreak over the Christmas period destroyed any positive momentum that there was from him arriving as head coach.
“When you factor in how big a struggle it had been for Norwich anyway, they were swimming against a pretty strong tide in the end. It was a real shame and he is carrying a degree of responsibility for where Norwich are at because he has had the majority of the season with this group. He will be the one who gets to shape it going into the Championship next season as well.”
With 10 goals and three assists in 34 top-flight appearances this term, Finish striker Teemu Pukki has once again demonstrated his quality in front of goal for the Canaries, a bright spark in an otherwise difficult campaign.
Bailey also pointed to captain Grant Hanley as player showing he is up for the fight, while Smith has recently blooded some promising youngsters into the first team squad who could play a role moving forward.
He added: “Teemu Pukki has done everything to show he is a Premier League quality striker. His conversion rate is actually pretty healthily. He’s had two great seasons, with double figures in both Premier League campaigns. He’s been an outstanding signing.
“Grant Hanley has done well and been at a reasonably consistent level himself. A few youngsters have come through. Jonathan Rowe from the academy has made eight or nine substitute appearances and has been effective at times. There are a few Under-23s players who have got an opportunity to be involved next season.”
All times BST.