Abu Kamara has gears to find in Norwich City mission

Four friendly matches in, Kamara's performances have yet to fully ignite. But there have been signs of what could be to come if Johannes Hoff Thorup and his coaching team can unlock his ability. 

Perhaps the most important attribute for Kamara will be patience. A quick glance back to the beginning of his time at Pompey provides a real example of how John Mousinho's perseverance with the youngster paid dividends in their run to promotion. 

Last October, sections of Pompey's support criticised Kamara for his performances after initially failing to reach the heights many hoped or anticipated upon his loan move to the south coast. 

Instead of leaning into that noise, Mousinho offered a robust defence of Kamara. It was a brave decision to take on supporters so directly. One that contained plenty of risk. But in the end, it produced massive rewards. 

Central to that impassioned defence of Kamara was a plea to supporters to encourage them to help his creativity flourish rather than diminish. 

“I said to him if he fronts up a right-back or left-back, he takes them on 100 hundred times and loses it 99 - I’ll live with that," Mousinho said. "I’ve got no problem with him wanting to be positive - I want him to get at players and it’s not always easy.”

From there, Kamara established himself as a key figure in Pompey’s side. Those early dissenters were pleading for him to stay permanently at the club by the end of the season. 

Kamara has returned to a new environment. His productivity level has increased, and it requires another period of adjustment to fuel the level of productivity that made his loan spell at Fratton Park so successful. 

Thorup has been willing to offer him that space, freedom and time. Kamara is viewed as a key part of the first-team squad, and that above context is consciously driving his development at Norwich. 

There is also another strand to unpick - at Portsmouth, Kamara played a slightly different role from the one that Thorup has deployed him in during the friendly matches to date. 

Like Thorup, Mousinho utilised a 3-2-5 build-up shape, but the rotations were flipped to what Norwich have tried to create, with the right side providing the width and the left inverting. Kamara was successful as the wider right option, isolated one-on-one against opposition defenders. 

So far, Kamara has been forced to invert to provide space for Jack Stacey. That means he is taking up different positions and being asked to perform a completely different role. Like the team more broadly, this requires time and patience before bearing real fruit. 

Thorup and his coaching team will need to coach and educate him on how best to extract that talent in inverted rather than wider areas. It will be about repetition, effort and time. 

During Friday night's game against Magdeburg, due to injuries elsewhere, Kamara was played through the middle as a sole striker. 

There were occasions where his first touch let him down, but his movement in and out of possession offered encouragement. It clearly isn't the position that Kamara will feature in regularly at Norwich, but it is an experiment that all parties will have benefited from. 

Kamara was deployed as a striker option against FC Magdeburg. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

Given Norwich struggled more generally in their build-up and intensity, Kamara was restricted to little in terms of goal-scoring opportunities, but there were examples of his movement creating space for both Jon Rowe and Borja Sainz, or moments when he occupied defenders effectively. 

But, like the majority of his pre-season outings so far, it felt like there are further gears still for Kamara to find if he wants to be in contention for a starting spot away at Oxford on the opening day of the Championship campaign. 

Despite the positive flashes, Kamara will need to show more consistency in the final two matches to muscle his way past Rowe or Sainz, who feel in the strongest position currently. 

But that doesn't mean he should be written off or consideration given to another loan posting. Kamara may well be a slow burner this season, one that excels the more exposure he gets in Thorup's new tactical system. 

Whether it is nervousness or other factors, Kamara has yet to really hit his stride this summer. The winger only turned 21 last week, but time is on his side, and his talent is indisputable. 

Abu Kamara was replaced in the second half by Liam Gibbs. (Image: Focus Images Ltd)

Games against Hoffenheim in Austria and next weekend's Carrow Road clash against St Pauli will be important moments for Kamara to put his best foot forward. If Thorup can find a way to unlock his creativity, then Norwich know they have a very talented young attacker on their hands. 

Norwich haven't yet discovered a way to unlock their attacking productivity in general throughout this pre-season, not aided by their limited striking options so far. 

It is another example of how they are a work in progress. As is Kamara.