Norwich City lost control in the latter stages, given the players Johannes Hoff Thorup had available, he had little option but to change to a back five. Ben Lee breaks down a Cardiff Championship defeat.

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 cruel late twist.

Cardiff versus Norwich: Setback in Wales

Score: 2 – 1

Possession (%): 43 – 57

Passes: 389 – 540

Shots: 11 – 16

xG: 0.64 – 1.73

  • Deep build-up rotations.
  • Triggers and shadow manipulation.
  • Deep-lying centre-forwards.
  • Second-half changes.

Base formations

On a run of seven games unbeaten, Norwich made the trip to face Omer Riza’s Cardiff City, with the Welsh outfit hoping to go six games without defeat.

Following a goalless draw against West Brom, Riza made three changes to his eleven, as Siopis, Willock, and Rinomhota came into the side. Thorup also made three changes, handing starts to Schwartau, Sorenson, and Forsyth.

Cardiff 2-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

During Norwich’s goalkeeper restarts, rather than creating their usual 4-3-3, positional rotations saw the visitors create a fluid 2-3-5 shape with Doyle (6) and Fisher (35) advancing towards the last line, while Forsyth (41) and Marcondes (11) moved to the corners of the penalty area.

Cardiff’s man-orientated press meant Turnbull (14) and Siopis (3) were drawn from midfield to press out wide, while the wingers dropped back to occupy Norwich’s full-backs, as Colwill (27) stayed tight to Sorenson (19), and Willock (16) pressed from the front.

Cardiff 2-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

Rather than pressing from the front with intensity, the hosts allowed Norwich possession in their own penalty area, instead choosing to occupy every player outside of the 18-yard box. Only Willock (16) pressed the centre-backs, often curving his run to force a pass to Duffy (4).

As Duffy (4) received the ball under pressure from the Cardiff forward, City’s stand-in captain played out wide to Forsyth (41) who was pressed by Turnbull (14). With the hosts now pressing man-to-man on the ball side, only Long (12) and Cordoba (33) were free to receive.

Cardiff 2-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

Once Norwich escaped to the free man on the far side, they were able to advance into more settled phases of possession, with Doyle (6) dropping in front of the visitor’s press, while Marcondes (11) advanced into the space between the lines and Forsyth (41) shifted infield.

In these situations, Sorenson (19) remained deep, occasionally dropping just ahead of the centre-backs to support the transition from deep build-up phases into settled possession.

With Forsyth (41) remaining behind the first line of pressure while Schwartau (29) and Marcondes (11) occupied the half spaces, Norwich created a temporary 3-4-3 with a midfield diamond. In these phases, Cardiff moved between a 4-4-2 mid-block and a 4-2-4 mid-press.

Cardiff 2-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

Once Norwich completed their transition into settled possession, the visitors created a clear 3-2-5 shape with a double pivot of Forsyth (41) and Sorenson (19), as Doyle (6) shifted infield to create a back three, while Fisher (35) remained high and wide on the right.

Cardiff’s centre-forwards attempted to use their cover shadows to block passing lanes into Norwich’s double pivot and box midfield.

Cardiff 2-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

But once the host’s mid-press began with the right winger forcing a pass to Cordoba (33), who was then pressed by Colwill (27) with an angled run designed to force Norwich to their right, Forsyth (41) moved out from Willock’s (16) shadow to play a bounce pass to the free pivot.

At the same time, with Marcondes (11) dropping into Tanner’s (32) shadow, Siopis (3) left the Danish midfielder free to receive from Sorenson (19).

Cardiff 2-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

As a result, despite Cardiff’s attempts to block passing lanes and force Norwich to one side, in situations like this, Thorup’s men often used shadow manipulation and bounce passes to play to the opposite side to access the free man.

On occasion, however, Cardiff did manage to force the visitors back into their deep build-up phases, and they also attempted to profit from transitions by using the wingers to attack the space on either side of Norwich’s 3-2 rest defence.

Cardiff 2-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

When the hosts forced Norwich back into their deep build-up phases through a 4-2-4 mid-press, Thorup’s men dropped deep but remained in a 3-2-5 while The Bluebirds transitioned back into a more man-orientated high press.

But on occasion, the visitors were still able to find escape routes when the pivots moved away from Colwill (27) and Willock’s (16) cover shadows to receive from the centre-backs before playing first-time passes to the free man out wide.

Cardiff 2-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

With Norwich in their settled 3-2-5 structure and Cardiff moving between their passive 4-4-2 mid-block and a more aggressive 4-2-4 mid-press, the visitor’s pivots were either able to dismark the host’s centre-forwards or wait for one to press before isolating the other in a 2v1.

Cardiff 2-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

During Cardiff goal-kicks, the hosts created a 4-2-2-2 shape with the full-backs advancing out wide, the centre-forwards dropping into the space between the lines, and the wingers inverting into the last line.

In response, Norwich pressed from their usual 4-3-3 shape with Sainz (7) and Schwartau (29) pressing the centre-backs, Crnac (17) ready to press the ball-side pivot, and the wide centre-midfielders ready to press the full-backs depending on where they received.

Cardiff 2-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

But one build-up variation from The Bluebirds saw one of the pivots drop into the penalty area while the centre-back on that side moved out wide, allowing the full-back to advance towards the last line to overload one side of Norwich’s press.

On the host’s left, for example, Turnbull (14) dropped deep, Chambers (12) moved out wide, and O’Dowda (11) advanced. With Norwich’s pressing dynamics relatively unchanged, Fisher (35) jumped onto the advancing left-back, and Willock (16) made a run into the space behind.

Cardiff 2-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

On one occasion in their open-play deep build-up phases, the hosts managed to escape Norwich’s press via a bounce pass between Alnwick (21) and the far-side pivot when Schwartau (29) pressed the goalkeeper, leaving Chambers (12) free to receive.

Cardiff 2-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

When they advanced into settled phases of possession, Cardiff remained in a fluid 4-2-2-2 shape, with the centre-forwards often dropping between the lines to receive, as the wingers inverted, and the full-backs overlapped out wide.

In these phases, Norwich moved between a 4-5-1 mid-block and a 4-3-3 mid-press, with the ball-side midfielder blocking passing lanes to the deep-lying forwards while the far-side midfielder was ready to press Cardiff’s far-side pivot.

Cardiff 2-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

On one occasion, however, Cardiff played through Norwich’s mid-press when Marcondes (11) jumped onto Siopis (3), leaving Sorenson (19) isolated against the deep-lying forwards.

But as Colwill (27) received between the lines on the half-turn with the wingers inverting and no natural wide players, the young Welsh attacker had to wait for Rinomhota (35) to overlap, allowing  the visitors time to retreat into their 4-5-1 mid-block.

Cardiff 2-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

Later in the second half, several personnel changes saw Norwich switch to a 3-5-2 formation. While City were still able to create effective patterns in possession, it became harder to reliably apply pressure to the ball, with the visitors becoming increasingly passive.

In one situation, these difficulties became clear. With Siopis (3) dropping into the penalty area and Goutas (4) moving out wide, Cardiff played through Norwich’s 5-3-2 press via Turnbull (14), who was left free when both strikers pressed from the front instead of one remaining deep.

Cardiff 2-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

Norwich also had problems in their mid-block, with large gaps opening between the lines as players were caught between pressing and sitting back. This led to an increasingly disjointed setup as Thorup’s men attempted to protect their lead.

Cardiff 2-1 Norwich City: Ben Lee tactical analysis (Image: Ben Lee)

While it is undoubtedly the case that Norwich lost control in the latter stages of the second half, given the players Thorup had available, he had little option but to change to a back five.

Additionally, despite the issues with their adjusted structure out of possession, City had countless chances to double their lead, and, in truth, the discourse surrounding Saturday’s defeat would be very different had just one of those chances been taken.

You can read all Ben's previous analysis of Norwich City games via his social media accounts.

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