Norwich City's academy has also experienced plenty of change over the summer. Will Grant (@NorwichYouth) has dissected the key early season topics from inside the Canaries development factory.
Since pre-season, the academy has functioned differently, with a stronger alignment to the first team becoming present.
The arrival of head of football development Dean Rastrick has been significant. He's built a connection with the existing coaching set-up, ensuring everyone is on the same wavelength. This has maximised the development of several players while drastically improving the results.
The U18s revival
This time last season, the U18s remained winless in their opening seven games, conceding 27 goals.
However, this season has been entirely different, with the U18s collecting nine points from seven games and winning two of their last three matches. One of those victories was against Derby County, currently top of the U18 Premier League North.
Many would argue that the U18s have a significantly better squad than last year, but that isn’t the underlying cause. Greg Crane and his other coach staff have taken a more refreshing and positive approach, prioritising slick build-up play through the thirds.
Although the build-up play has been pleasant to watch, the U18s are scoring through sharp passing patterns in the middle third of the pitch, allowing the strikers frequent one-on-one opportunities.
During these passing patterns, the team has effectively increased the ball speed of its moves, forcing opposition players to make rash defensive decisions.
The midfield dynamic has been a key recipe for success, with Toby Chilvers, Foden Northover, Lloyd Ofori-Manteaw, Rio Mundle and more recently Sonny Rowland and Miles Bracking contributing to the balance of the team nicely.
One player who’s had an impressive season for the U18s is talisman La’Sean Sealey.
The powerful forward has scored four goals for the U18s this season and collected two assists. Sealey is a composed figure in the penalty box, as he regularly finds the corners when shooting from close range.
Additionally, his general play is outstanding, as he’s a massive physical presence at the top end of the pitch.
Sealey gives the team immense running power and strength, which helps the team reach the attacking third. He’s also applied his technical quality after his penetrating runs, as he’s brilliant at finding teammates from cut-back situations.
The U21s front line
The development side continues to play in the same manner as the senior team, with multiple resonating patterns displayed between both sides.
However, the players capturing the headlines are the front three, as new signing Brandon Forbes, Finley Welch and Errol Mundle-Smith continue to combine and perform at a high level.
Forbes's signing has been hugely significant for the U21s team, as the former Dundee United winger's profile differs from any other across the squad. He provides a genuine wide outlet, as his acceleration and dribbling qualities are a real strength in his game.
Norwich instructs Forbes to stay high and wide on the right flank, using him either as a different option to vary their attacks in settled possession or as an out-ball when they’re under significant pressure.
Mundle-Smith has also had a sublime start to the campaign, accumulating the most goal contributions across the U18s and U21s. The striker has scored six times for the U21s, with five of those goals coming in his last four matches.
The teenager started the season as a left forward and was hugely impressive, as he constantly got the beating of his full-back, making Norwich a dangerous side on the transition. Mundle-Smith has successfully translated that threat as a central striker, dancing past defenders easily due to his ability at riding contact.
As well as being a dynamic threat in general play, Mundle-Smith is a fantastic penalty box striker - taking his opportunities superbly.
Despite a slight setback in his career, Welch has played outstandingly during the early stages of the season, giving the team an added dimension in possession. The forward has combined with the midfielders and attackers fluidly, dropping into clever pockets of space, allowing the deeper midfielders to play passes into him.
Welch’s running power with the ball at his feet is one of his major strengths. He can take the ball from the defensive to the attacking third in seconds, and his agility and low centre of gravity play a significant role in those passages.
The major improvement of Welch’s game since the end of last season is his quality in the final third.
Welch's final ball has become more reliable, as the attacker finds his attacking teammates frequently. This was demonstrated against the recent clash with Reading when Welch perfected the weight of his pass for Forbes to smash home.
Tactical possession differences
The U21 side looks to emulate the first team’s style of play, with multiple similarities between the two teams.
The formation flexibility has been an apparent topic throughout the opening eight games of the season, as Norwich have rotated into multiple settled possession structures, something Johannes Hoff Thorup has implemented into the first-team.
Norwich often looks to build up in a 4-3-3 structure from goal-kicks, with the full-backs spreading wide, whilst the three midfielders drop deep towards the box - helping the centre-backs create a passing option.
Across the season, Norwich has progressed into a 3-2-5 formation after they relinquished control of the ball, but teams started to nullify them, resulting in the team having to vary their structures. Therefore, Norwich have added an extra man in a deeper area, giving them an additional option to retain possession while preventing counter attacks. This has been demonstrated in a 2-3-5 shape, a common pattern used by the first team.
However, the major tactical difference between the U18s and U21s is that the former plays one similar shape during build-up and settled possession, whilst the latter development side portrays multiple shapes on the ball.
The U18s rotate between a 4-1-2-1-2 diamond shape in build-up play and a 4-2-1-3 in attacking areas.
Once the U18s are in settled possession, the attacking midfielder joins part of the frontline, with the strikers playing on either side of the midfield runner. They also have a central midfielder who is more advanced than the two pivots, giving them a connection between midfield and attack.
Pathway dilemmas
It was magnificent to see Gabe Forsyth make his full debut against Blackburn Rovers in August, with Elliot Myles also making his debut four days before the Scot's first start.
However, the academy presence in first-team games has decreased as the Championship campaign has progressed, with both Myles and Forsyth heving been unused subs for several weeks. Although they’re still incredibly young footballers, there have been opportunities to bring them on—especially against Hull City and Watford, when those games were out of sight in the second half.
An important case study to add to this situation is the recent signing of Emiliano Marcondes. Whilst there’s no doubting the experienced Dane's CV, the need for this signing has to be questioned - especially as the management staff deemed Forsyth ready to start a Championship game.
With this in mind, they have adequate depth to cover the attacking and advanced midfield roles, due to the versatility of Oscar Schwartau, Amankwah Forson and Kaide Gordon. From an academy perspective, it’s incredibly demotivating given that Marcondes will be below those aforementioned names in the pecking order.
Brad Hills playing U21s football shouldn’t be a scenario that’s occurring. The ball-playing centre-back has proven his qualities at EFL level with a very successful first loan at Accrington Stanley. Although he’s part of the first team, the best solution for him is to play regularly, which will bolster his stock going into next pre-season.
A similar situation applies to Jaden Warner and Jon Tomkinson, with the pair demonstrating their ability to play at the senior level in loans and development match performances.
It feels like the club hasn't managed their respective situations as proactively as they could, as it’s not healthy or sustainable for them to play at the U21s level for the fifth season of their development.
While frustrating for the individuals, the academy suffers holistically as it blocks pathways for the high-performing players in the age group below. Whether this situation changes in January remains to be seen, but it’s something for the academy to consider.
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