Norwich City: Stuart Webber and fans on style of play debate

More than a 1,000 supporters took part in a Pinkun survey covering a range of topics that included the style of play under David Wagner.

The majority of respondents made it clear they want to see a brand of ‘high intensity’ excitement at Carrow Road from a coach who built a reputation for ‘full throttle’ football at Huddersfield.

Sporting director Webber had his say in his post-season debrief on the shift from a purer possession model under Daniel Farke that landed two titles but came up short in the Premier League.

“Have we gone away from that? Yes,” said Webber. “But I think that's been normal because we were either chasing results, when Dean Smith first came in, to try and stay in the Premier League.

"That was the objective – to try and stay in the Premier League and make us more difficult to beat and make us more ‘Premier League capable’ because in the previous 49 Premier League games under Daniel we’d won six. That doesn’t keep you in the league. Never.  

“If we're going to keep doing that we're going to keep going on this cycle. So we had to change that. And then probably last year in the Championship we ended up being caught up in that sense of ‘We have to go up, we have to go up’, and we didn't control that narrative well enough of, ‘No, actually let's go back to getting your processes, right, then you perform, and then you win. And that's a bit we have to go back.”

Webber, however, rejects any suggestion the Canaries abandoned a club wide drive to develop a ‘Norwich way’ playing style.

“We've had swipes at us sort of performances where you go, ‘Hang on a bit, that's unfair, we’ve had 28 shots on goal. Does that mean we're not attacking?’ Come on,” he said. “Manchester City very rarely have 28 shots on goal. So I think sometimes it becomes an easy stick, it becomes an uneducated stick to beat us with. If we lose it is because we have no style of play.

"We have games where we won with brilliant style of play where we played pathetically and won 1-0. That’s not about DNA. You have to see through that. And we have to see through that. But for us, it's about having a way of playing that we can build and be successful on.”

For the City sporting director it would appear less a philosophical choice as a necessity to attain that elusive shot at Premier League sustainability, within the current self-funded model of ownership.

“What you have to remember is we're trying to strive to be in the Premier League, and stay there. That's our aim against all the odds, because it is against all the odds for a club like this with the investment levels compared to our competitors,” he said. “But that's what we're striving to do and that's what we're here for every day, every member of staff, every player.

“What we have to do is also have a way of playing which can help us be successful with that, or else we get caught up in, ‘Well, they play great football but lose. So I’d rather we played like Brentford and win’.

"Okay, we change to play football like Brentford and win, but you will still have people who then say, ‘Okay, I’d rather watch champagne football and lose 4-3’. We have to make sure we ignore that and we try and find a way where we play and the fans can hopefully relate to. And enjoy, knowing that you'll never please everyone.

“You also have massive differences between generations of fans. Some may have grown up watching the unbelievable Barcelona team from maybe 2009 to 2011, still the best team I've ever seen in my life. You'll have the current Manchester City team.

"But then you'll also have people brought up back in the 1970s who would have loved the Leeds or the Chelsea teams, where they basically just kicked lumps out of each other.

"We heard it in Daniel’s first season. It’s all well and good this passing side to side but I want to see someone make a tackle or break someone's nose. You're never going to please everyone.”

Implicit in Webber’s comments on the topic is a clear sense from the top of the club they have been buffeted by events and the all-consuming quest for results with no clear space until this summer to get off that treadmill.

“Luckily football has thrown up a great opportunity now because for the first time in a long time we have a big pre-season,” he said. “With Covid and the World Cup the calendar has been mixed up. Then when you come out of the Premier League you finish later, and in the Championship you start earlier.

“One of the positives of our season being defined earlier than any of us would have liked was at least it was crystal clear - this is where we start back, this is the league we are in, with a proper six week lead in for the first time in a long time, where David and the rest of the staff can work on what we want to be.”

You can still take part in our big Norwich City survery HERE