Unless they survive the long night, Daniel Farke and Norwich would just win hearts

Websites are built for the sole purpose of trying to tell teams exactly how to play against another, telling managers that the job, they’re being paid hundreds and thousands of pounds/rupees weekly to do, is not being done well enough. Few other modica of entertainment have this kind of dedication with sport possibly the lone exception to the argument. Even then, nothing comes close to what football fans, theorists and philosophers churn out on a daily basis. It’s why, from the moment they were promoted up to the top tier, both Norwich City and Sheffield United saw nothing but advice sent their way.

The joint third highest that a Championship champion has ever managed (since 2010) with only Leicester City (102) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (99) outdoing them. But only one side scored more goals than Norwich City and that was Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth (98), which is a testament to what they achieved. But unlike the Cherries, the Canaries have made a grand total of zero changes to their philosophy and style, carrying that into the top tier. “You have to be convinced by your style. We built the squad in that way, so you can’t expect us to just park the bus or put the balls in the river.”

Admire so much about Norwich City. Passionate loyalty of their fans. Aspirational style of play. Investment in Youth Development paying off. Tternal optimism in face of bottom of the table doom which begets old philosophical question: Why do bad things happen to good people? pic.twitter.com/iETuFAAWap

— roger bennett (@rogbennett) February 15, 2020

It was one of four boxes marked in a shade of green, alongside Liverpool’s title, Manchester City finishing second and Leicester City finishing third. It’s a bleak situation for the Canaries but for once this season, Lady Luck is on their side. After a never ending stream of injuries, unlucky clearances, deflections that could have gone the other way, shots that on another day would have sneaked and hit the net instead of finding their way outside. The little things but yet, nothing went Norwich’s way. That is until now, because for once in a really long time, Norwich City finds themselves in a fantastic relegation battle.

Not the greatest the league has ever seen but certainly amongst the top ten with not one or two or three or even four sides but six teams in the running. Only two points separate Brighton from the drop zone, while both West Ham and Watford are above the zone only on goal-difference. Norwich, on the other hand, does have a rather large mountain to climb but it’s not out of their reach just yet. But they need to change things a bit. Despite what Daniel Farke has said, insisted, and even hammered into the brains of supporters, Norwich need to adapt and maybe focus more on defending.

It’s called the Eddie Howe and Bournemouth way and it’s doing exactly what the Cherries did when the first rose to the league. It was considered to be attractive and expansive football but it was built on a strong defensive base and with the same players they had from the Championship. For Norwich, few teams have had this chance especially with the season on break over the coronavirus outbreak. But Daniel Farke has already confirmed that the club will be training at a lighter load. That shouldn’t make a difference to absolutely anything and it gives Norwich a chance to tweak things a little. 

They've slowly moved into that style over the weeks and that hard fought draw, then win over penalties, saw exactly what Norwich City could do. And now they need to do it more. Nobody is asking them do dump their philosophies and football in the trash. Nobody is asking them to forget what they mean and how they do it on the field. Nobody is asking them to sell their soul to the devil and play nothing but long ball football although that would help their cause. All their fans want is top tier football and all the club wants is more money to help them thrive.