BBC NEWS: “Way better” -Johannes Hoff Thorup identifies Norwich City element that he’s not happy with.
When the Canaries fell behind 2-0 early in the encounter at Deepdale, they set themselves a difficult challenge. In the opening five minutes of the game, Emil Riis Jacobsen was hauled down in the area by Norwich goalkeeper George Long, resulting in a penalties that Sam Greenwood converted.
Six minutes later, Kellen Fisher was caught with the ball in his own half. Duane Holmes quickly took over play, doubling Preston’s lead.
Borja Sainz and Shane Duffy scored to help City come back into the game and earn a point in Lancashire, but it might have been more if they had begun better.
Johannes Hoff Thorup is displeased with part of Norwich City’s performance.
The Danish manager has stated that his players must be better than they were at the start of Tuesday night’s game. He was pleased with his team’s fightback and thought that they had a chance to win the game following Duffy’s equaliser, but stated that they can’t afford to give up such easy leads away from home.
In a post-game interview with Pink Un, he stated that being 2-0 behind after 10-15 minutes indicates a challenging situation. We must ensure that we are much better than that.
“On the other hand, I was happy with the group’s mindset and the domination we shown, particularly in the first half, and it was essential that we scored right before halftime.
“But, overall, I think the group’s energy and team spirit are fantastic.” When we spoke at halftime, there was a strong conviction that we could turn things around and score three points.
“That is the most crucial. We know how tough it is to fly away from home, and we made it much more difficult with these initial ten minutes.
“We have to look at (the start) from all sides without getting carried away.” Of course, you may concede goals in football. That’s how things are. So we don’t have to modify our rhythm or preparation or anything like that; we simply have to make sure everyone understands what to do and how to start a game.
“I believe that everything from our start to our judgements in the first few minutes was inadequate. So it isn’t only the aims. There’s more to it, and we need to approach it critically. And then, as usual, we make care to explain to the players how we should approach the initial portion of a game the following time.
“I believe the belief and spirit would have remained the same at halftime, even if we were 2-0 down, because we could see on the pitch that the players were interacting and supporting one another.
“I’d like to emphasise a circumstance in which we lose the ball away in our buildup and Ante (Crnac) dashes back 50 meters and makes a tackle on the edge of the box to recover it. That is precisely what we want to see, and I also said it to the lads at halftime.
“I don’t believe I needed to say anything because there’s such a positive attitude in the squad, and there’s a strong conviction that we can turn things around and get the three points. And, of course, following Shane’s goal, I felt we were going to take all three points.”
Norwich has the elements to be a competing team.
The exits of Gabriel Sara, Jonathan Rowe, and Abu Kamara on deadline day may have placed Norwich in a precarious situation. Hoff Thorup did not appear to be as well-positioned for success as previous Championship coaches, but he has made it work.
They are now just outside the play-off spots, and after such a strong start, the objective will be to emulate what they accomplished last season under David Wagner.
| 2024/25 Championship table (as of 22/10/24) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | P | GD | Pts | |
| 1 | Leeds United | 11 | 11 | 22 |
| 2 | Sunderland | 10 | 11 | 22 |
| 3 | Burnley | 10 | 12 | 21 |
| 4 | Sheffield United | 10 | 7 | 19 |
| 5 | West Brom | 10 | 6 | 18 |
| 6 | Blackburn Rovers | 10 | 5 | 18 |
| 7 | Norwich City | 11 | 6 | 17 |
They are absolutely capable of achieving that aim. They continue to look fiery on attack, and they have excellent defensive pieces. When injured players return, they might be a force to be reckoned with rather than the play-off contenders they are now.
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