This was undoubtedly a dominant display from Johannes Hoff Thorup’s side. Ben Lee breaks down Norwich City's 4-1 Championship win over Watford.
Ben is a City season ticket holder and author of the NCFC Analysis social media account, who unpicks games with an analytical report highlighting tactical strengths and weaknesses.
This is what Ben made of a step forward in performance and, more crucially, result for the Dane.
Norwich Vs Watford: A convincing win
Score: 4 – 1
Possession (%): 55 – 45
Passes: 538 – 436
Shots: 19 – 11
xG: 2.72 – 1.67
- Man-to-man pressing situations.
- New positional rotations.
- Asymmetric pressing patterns.
- Avoiding disadvantages in the build-up.
Base formations
After a promising start to the season for Tom Cleverley’s Watford, the Hornets made the trip to face a Norwich side hoping to find their first home league win of Thorup’s tenure.
Cleverley made four changes to his side as the visitors set up in their usual 3-4-3 formation, while Thorup introduced Fisher, Cordoba, and Crnac to Norwich’s 4-3-3 base.
During Norwich goal kicks, the hosts built up through a 4-3-3 shape with both wingers positioned high and wide in the last line and three midfielders sitting deep.
In response, Watford pressed from a 3-4-1-2 structure, with Sissoko (17) advancing towards the first line of pressure to occupy McLean (23), as Chakvetadze (8) dropped deep, while Vata (11) and Jebbison (18) pressed from the front.
As Watford pressed both Norwich centre-backs, while Dele-Bashiru (24) and Chakvetadze (8) tracked Nunez (26) and Schwartau (29) respectively, the visitor’s wing-backs were ready to back up the press on Fisher (35) and Doyle (6) out wide.
Given this man-to-man high press, it was difficult for Norwich to find a free man. As a result, City targeted the wingers in space behind the initial lines of pressure, where the visitors left a 3v3 in the last line.
In open-play deep build-up phases, Norwich’s new positional rotations began. While Jack Stacey is more suited to overlapping into the widest channel on the right, the introduction of Fisher (35) meant City had technically proficient full-backs capable of inverting on both sides.
As such, the hosts created a 2-3-2-3 structure with Nunez (26) and Schwartau (29) advancing in the half spaces, while Crnac (17) remained wide instead of inverting on the right. In response, Watford’s wing-backs dropped back, and the centre-backs were ready to jump into midfield.
Early injuries to Sierralta (3) and Bachmann (1) saw Porteous (5) and Bond (23) enter the field while Norwich were dominating with long spells of settled possession in their 2-3-5 shape.
With Watford dropping into a 5-4-1 mid-block, the narrow 2-3 rest-defence created by Norwich’s inverting full-backs allowed for sustained possession, as City moved the ball from side to side to access the wingers in wide 1v1s and Schwartau (29) or Nunez (26) in space between the lines.
On occasion, Watford were able to move from their 5-4-1 mid-block into a more proactive 5-1-3-1 mid-press, with Vata (11), Sissoko (17), and Chakvetadze (8) advancing to press McLean (23) and City’s inverting full-backs.
But when Jebbison (18) pressed the ball-side centre-back, and Vata (11) jumped into the first line to press Duffy (4) on the opposite side, Norwich’s 5v4 overload in the build-up meant Fisher (35) became free to receive.
In addition to City’s initial 5v4 advantage, Watford’s pressing structure saw Dele-Bashiru (24) caught in a 2v1 when he pressed Nunez (26) on the ball-side.
While City create clear positional structures under Thorup, his players remain free to rotate, provided each position remains occupied. In this example, once Fisher (35) received from Duffy (4), he found Sainz (7) centrally after the Spaniard switched positions with Schwartau (29).
In the second half, this positional fluidity saw Doyle (6) play out wide to Sainz (7) before underlapping into the space behind the pressing wing-back. Having dropped deep to receive, Sainz (7) played infield to McLean (26) who clipped the ball in behind for Doyle (6) to chase.
Another benefit of Thorup’s positional adjustment – with Fisher (35) inverting alongside McLean (23) – was the more advanced role it afforded Nunez (26), as the Chilean midfielder became more involved in final actions rather than remaining in City’s rest-defence.
In this instance, Nunez (26) was free to advance into the final third and find the back of the net with an excellent first-time finish after Doyle (6) passed into the box from the left.
During Watford’s goalkeeper restarts, the visitors created a 3-2-4-1 build-up structure, with the wing-backs advancing and the wide centre-backs moving to the edge of the penalty area.
In Norwich’s high pressing phases, Thorup’s men set up in their usual 4-3-3 shape; but this time, only Crnac (17) pressed immediately, while Sargent (9) and Sainz (7) initially stayed tight to Dele-Bashiru (24) and Sissoko (17).
Unlike in previous weeks, where both wingers would press from the front as soon as the opponents’ build-up began leaving Sargent (9) isolated in a 2v1, Sainz (7) waited for a pass to the right centre-back before jumping to press.
This gave Sargent (9) time to press the ball-side pivot, allowing Norwich to successfully force Watford to one side, where Schwartau (29) pressed the dropping wing-back and City created a 5v4 numerical advantage.
On the opposite side, given Crnac (17) was responsible for pressing the goalkeeper via Pollock (6), the dynamics of Norwich’s press were different. On this side, City were left without a numerical advantage, but with every player occupied in a 5v5 on the ball-side.
When Bond (23) managed to evade pressure and return the ball to Pollock (6), Nunez (26) was forced to jump onto the left centre-back, while Fisher (35) backed up the press on the wing-back, and McLean (23) shifted over to occupy Vata (11).
While Watford should’ve done more to access their left – where Norwich didn’t often have an overload – their attempts to do so were impeded by the short distances between players.
When Pollock (6) played straight out to Morris (22), for example, the distance between them was small enough for Crnac (17) to cover both. This left Nunez (26) free to jump onto the wing-back, leaving Vata (11) in a 2v1 against McLean (23) and Fisher (35).
While proximity in possession is important, distances should be big enough to stretch the opponent’s press. Instead of occupying similar positions, Bond (23) and Pollock (6) could’ve split, giving the wide centre-backs freedom to move out to both touchlines.
Although it’s a risky approach, this setup would’ve forced Nunez (26) to press Morris (22) every time, thereby preventing Norwich’s numerical advantage ahead of the ball.
In open-play build-up phases, Watford moved into a 3-2-5 structure, while Norwich transitioned between a 4-3-3 mid-press and a deeper 4-5-1 mid-block.
In Norwich’s mid-press, the wingers pressed the wide centre-backs, leaving Nunez (26) and Schwartau (29) to jump out wide onto the wing-backs when they dropped to receive.
But when Watford advanced into settled possession, City’s wingers dropped into the second line of pressure to create their 4-5-1 mid-block. In these phases, Watford often attempted to isolate the far-side wing-back in a wide 1v1 before accessing him via a long diagonal pass.
Despite descending into an overly passive approach at times without the ball in the second half, this was undoubtedly a dominant display from Thorup’s men.
It may take time to find total fluency in his approach, but all the signs suggest the Dane’s game model is more conducive to sustained success than City’s approaches in the last few seasons.
This remains a work in progress for Thorup, but after a bleak recent past, the future looks bright for Norwich City.
You can read all Ben's previous analysis of Norwich City games via his social media accounts.
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