Norwich City were a force to be reckoned with during the 2018/18 Championship season, with Daniel Farke’s Canaries producing a swashbuckling style of football that took the second tier by storm.
The East Anglians were scoring goals for fun all season, with no team coming close to their 93 efforts that found the back of the net, despite a weak defence that saw them engaged in their fair share of humdingers on their route to promotion.
You have a shot, we have a shot; such seems to be the case at Carrow Road under the German in those early EFL years, leaving the Norfolk side reliant on their big Dutchman in between the sticks to keep them out of danger on a regular basis.
The arrival of Tim Krul made all the difference as City cruised to victory that year, with the seasoned shot-stopper proving invaluable as a free agent before the season began.
Tim Krul excellence helps Norwich City promotion push
Krul had regularly donned the gloves for Newcastle United in the Premier League earlier in his career, so it was no secret that he had the ability to produce in the Championship. However, after two years spent between his native Netherlands and the Brighton and Hove Albion bench, the Dutchman returned to Carrow Road looking to get back in the action and prove himself once more in the English game.
As seen by a 2-2 draw with Birmingham City and a 4-3 defeat to West Bromwich Albion, the new signing would have understood the task at hand, with an attack-minded outfield unit more concerned with moving forward than providing him with protection.
Another defeat to Sheffield United followed, but Farke was able to strike a balance between defence and attack, while Krul came into his own as the final line of defence as momentum began to build on the banks of the Wensum.
While the 57 goals he surrendered were far from the best in the division, it was thanks to Krul that City remained competitive in games and went on to win all three points, since he was called into action far more than many of his teammates who were also vying for promotions.
Krul had to face 192 chances during that campaign, which was equaled by 19th-placed Queens Park Rangers, but his ability to keep the ball out of the back of the net was what made all the difference in the long run.
| Tim Krul Norwich City league record (FBRef) | ||||
| Matches | 163 | |||
| Goals conceded | 228 | |||
| Clean sheets | 45 | |||
| Titles won | 2 | |||
With players bombing forward at every opportunity, it was up to the seasoned campaigner to fight off an opposition attack, resulting in 13 clean sheets.
With only one defeat in their last 20 league games, Norwich flew through the pack to clinch automatic promotion at the end of the season, with Krul often put into action and proving to be more than capable of handling whatever came his way.
Tim Krul earns another Norwich City promotion
As was the case with City at the time, promotion from the Championship was immediately followed by a slog in the Premier League, which eventually resulted in relegation, before Krul and the Canaries repeated the process in the 2020/21 season.
While a hamstring injury kept him out of action from November to January, the Dutch international returned to the fore in the new year, making 36 appearances as a new-look City team tightened up defensively.
Krul kept 17 clean sheets in his second successful season, conceding only 23 goals in those outings, as Norwich’s backline proved impregnable on their road to another piece of silverware for winning the title.
Krul, who joined Norwich for free, went on to make over 150 appearances for the club and was instrumental in achieving two Premier League promotions, as well as helping the club reach an FA Cup quarter-final.
Norwich City and Tim Krul bonded right away, and both parties benefited from a symbiotic connection over the course of their five-year partnership.
Leave a Reply