Into Row Z - Liverpool’s Midfield Problem

 Liverpool’s opening transfer of the summer took everyone a little by surprise, taking Sunderland’s rising star Jordon Henderson away from the Stadium of Light. The second player to join the Reds was anything but a surprise, with the seven month chase of Charlie Adam finally resulting with the Scot signing a 4 year deal with the Reds. Both Henderson and Adam go into pre-season training with Liverpool on the backs of two fantastic seasons, but no matter their quality, adding two new central midfielders to a squad so clearly lacking in depth in other areas is going to be seen as a strange move.         

Speaking to many Liverpool fans over the past few months, the number one thing that they consider the team to lack is width. The arrival of Stewart Downing will go a long way to rectify this, but the team is still in desperate need of an opposite player to go on the right – a true winger – not a forward or midfielder forced to play out of position. Equally, if Liverpool want to catch the teams above them in the league, they need some way to replicate the attacking fullbacks that are becoming so important in recent seasons, and a left-back has to be a priority buy.     

So why was the first £47 million of Liverpool’s summer cash spent on an area which looks saturated already? Let’s take a look at who the Liverpool squad contains, and who is likely to make-it or break-it this season.  

It’s been a while since we saw Steven Gerrard smash a goal in from 30 yards out, and while his influence on the pitch has certainly diminished, his inspiration and leadership remain intact. He is, and will be for several more years, the heartbeat of this team, and when he’s fit will be first first name on the team-sheet. Perhaps second, but only behind Pepe Reina.

But here is where the certainty ends. With a combined total of £78 million spent on Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez in January, we can predict that Kenny Dalglish sees these two playing the majority of matches together. Assuming (fairly confidently) that Liverpool play with four at the back, this leaves just another four spaces in midfield, three when you place Gerrard into his preferred central role. Add to that the £20 million acquisition of Stewart Downing to run down the left wing, the spaces may be limited to two. For a team which currently houses Adam, Henderson, Lucas, Meireles, Aquilani, Shelvey, Spearing, Poulsen, Joe Cole and Maxi Rodriguez, the problem of keeping a steady and reliable team becomes apparent. 

Charlie Adam can feel more confident than the others of a starting position. With set-plays contributing to some 30% of all goals scored in the Premier League last season, his left foot will likely see him starting a high number of games, especially while Fabio Aurelio remains perennially injured.        

Lucas is another who is unlikely to miss too many games. Winning Liverpool’s Player of The Year by a massive margin, Lucas achieved some 172 successful tackles last season, more than any other player in the league. As well as this he completed over 300 passes more than any of his team-mates. Lucas is completely unspectacular in what he does, but he does the job that needs to be done extremely well, and the Liverpool midfield would miss him far more than they realise were he to be replaced by someone with a little more flair.    

Meireles enjoyed a decent first season at Liverpool, but there’s already talk of him leaving, and this is simply because he is too good not to start thirty or forty games a season.  It would be through no fault of his own if his Anfield career was limited to just a year, but he suffers greatly from the fact that his best position is the same attacking midfield position as Gerrard and Aquilani. Aquilani had a successful loan spell at Juventus and looks to have shaken off his injury problems which caused his season in a Liverpool shirt unfairly labelled as a “flop”. So far in pre-season he has continued his Italian form with Liverpool. Against a Malaysia XI, there were times when Aquilani looked visibly angry at the lack of performance by his team-mates, and in the 45 minutes he played, he single-handedly dragged a lacklustre team and pushed them forward into one that scored 6 goals. Aquilani himself was instrumental in 3 of the 5 goals he was on the pitch for.        

Along with Downing, this probably sums up the men that are realistically fighting for a genuine chance of starting the majority of the games. It’s hard to imagine that both Aquilani and Meireles will both be at the club next season, and perhaps what will be most interesting is who will play opposite Downing on the right wing – a position which has been given to Dirk Kuyt in recent seasons. However, now with the wealth of talent the Liverpool Midfield possesses, it’s highly likely that Kuyt will be pushed back into being a striker, swapping in and out with Carroll and Suarez. Henderson has played on the right before for Sunderland, but Liverpool have already stated that he is “one for the future”, and it’s doubtful whether he’ll start too many games in his first season – another suggestion that Liverpool could well buy a right winger.  After this, there are a number of fringe players to consider. Jovanovic looks to be close to a move away from Anfield, while Joe Cole has been promised he still has a future at the club. And we can say what we want about Poulsen’s performances at Anfield so far (and they have been poor at best), but he remains the only rough, combative midfielder that Liverpool have, and so continues to offer something different to those around him.    
       
What is certain however, is that this collection of similarly positioned players cannot be good for the youngsters in the squad. The emergence of Jay Spearing as a real first-team player last season will surely come to an abrupt end if there aren’t a couple of departures elsewhere – a shame as he is a real favourite among the crowd. Similarly Jonjo Shelvey, Joe Cole and Maxi Rodriguez are going to struggle for game time, and it will almost certainly mean the end of Anfield careers for the players even further on the fringe such as young Dani Pacheco.

It’s close to impossible to predict just how Liverpool plan to cope with this problem, but a lot of it is down to other clubs. Fiorentina continue their interest in Aquilani, while Meireles has certainly gained some fans in Milan. There’s no guarantee of either leaving, but it’s likely as least one will.
              
It is certain that while Andy Carroll is on the pitch, Liverpool need wide men to feed him, meaning that Downing is likely to get a lot of regular game time. After this, the rest could be down to form. With many of the fringe players desperate to have one final chance to prove themselves at a big club, it’s possible that a few may wait until January before making a final decision, and Liverpool could find themselves with a very large squad at the beginning of this season.

By David Astley

Today’s Greatest Footballing Rivalries

The world of sport has created some amazing rivalries for us to watch, enjoy and be infuriated by. Think India against Pakistan at cricket, Formula One’s epic races between Prost and Senna, or even a whole continent uniting as Europe battle America in the Ryder Cup. But for me, nothing quite matches the passion that football can create, and so here are my top 4 football rivalries of today:

4 – Liverpool - Manchester United (England)

Probably the biggest footballing rivalry in England, many people may wonder why it hasn’t reached higher on this list. The truth is though, that while the hunger and commitment of both players and fans is clear for all to see, this isn’t truly one of the “greatest” rivalries, but instead simply the most commercialised. There is of course a lot of hatred between the two clubs - listen to the songs of both sets of supporters for proof of that, but a mutual dislike isn’t enough to turn a rivalry into one of the greats.

The rivalry lives on through the two teams being the most successful in English history, United leading Liverpool 19-18 on top flight trophies. But in recent years Liverpool have been largely dominated by their fellow reds. While Liverpool can occasionally pull off a good result in single matches against United, it in truth matters very little as they have finished above them only once on points in the last 20 years.

The meetings between these two are always two of the biggest games of the season, and will quite rightly remain this way forever. However, when you see pictures of United and Liverpool players away on holiday together, you begin to realise that this rivalry is far stronger among the fans and media than the clubs themselves.

3 – Boca Juniors - River Plate (Argentina)

According to a Buenos Aires newspaper, over 70% of all football fans in Argentina support either Boca Juniors or River Plate. The general stereotype is that Boca Juniors represent the working class, common citizens, while River Plate (nicknamed Los Milionarios) are the team for the upper-class weathly fans. In reality though, other than the locations of their stadiums, there are few class differences remaining between the two teams. This is echoed by the fact that because tickets are so highly sought after, many sell for upwards of £150, a price which both sets of fans queue for days to pay.

With such a high proportion of fans following just two teams, it’s fair to say that the city of Buenos Aires, and even the whole country, grinds to a steady halt on match day. Local TV stations start the build-up shows over 3 weeks before the actual match, and by the time the day actually arrives, the tension in the city is at fever pitch.

Watching this short clip from about 0.15 onwards should give some idea of the atmosphere (and the massive clean-up job)  that these teams create when they meet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE_V9Sl84NU&feature=fvst

This season incredibly saw River Plate relegated from Argentina’s Primera Division, and so the 2012 season will be the first in history without a guaranteed Superclasico. Will this weaken the rivalry? Of course not – it’ll only make it even more intense when the clubs more than likely face each-other  in one of the other cup competitions that they’ll both be involved with.

2 – Barcelona - Real Madrid (Spain)

Just as with Manchester United and Liverpool, much of this rivalry stems from the long histories of successes between the two clubs. They are the two most successful sides in Spain with a stunning 149 trophies between them, Real Madrid narrowly leading Barcelona 79 – 76.

As with many sporting rivalries, politics lies at its heart. Barcelona are seen by many to represent Catalan nationalism, an ever-growing movement aiming to gain full independence from the rest of Spain. Madrid, as the country’s capital, represents to many Catalans the very thing they want independence from. In a 2009 referendum 96% of Catalans agreed they would like Catalonia to be christened as a country of its own that would recognise their culture, history and language as separate to that of Spain’s.

Of course the politics off the pitch only make the action on the pitch even more intense, with games never goalless and players inevitably seeing red cards at some point. At the moment, Barcelona and Real Madrid can lay fairly good claims at being the two best club teams in the world, and with both looking to spend big this summer, this doesn’t look set to change. Barcelona have supposedly spent in the region of £40million on Alexis Sanchez and it looks possible they could spend a similar amount taking Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas away from London too. Similarly, Madrid have already signed five players this summer, including Fabio Coentrao, Hamit Altintop and Nuri Sahin.

This much big spending demands results, from owners and fans alike, and tensions are sure to be at an all-time high as the rivalry renews for the start of the 2012 season.

1 – Celtic - Rangers (Scotland)

When there are only two truly world class teams residing within a country, tension between them is inevitable. The Old Firm’s dominance over their fellow clubs is such that no other team has ever won the Scottish Premier League, and in fact only once has either of them ever finished outside the top two. This total supremacy above the other Scottish teams is, however, just one tiny part of an enthralling rivalry.

There is no other sporting rivalry in the world which has the same number of political, ethnic and religious undertones as the Old Firm Derby in Glasgow. The match is very rarely seen only as a 90 minute contest between two teams, but embodies so much more: Protestants against Catholics, Republicans against Loyalists and the rich against the poor. The history of the rivalry is rooted deep into 200 years of British and Irish conflict, and while the wars in Northern Ireland are over, the ferocity of passion and anger lives on within the Glasgow derby. In the past year bullets, parcel bombs, death threats and public assaults have plagued the staff and players of both teams, and a recent police report suggested that over Old Firm weekends, violence and domestic abuse in Glasgow increases by up to 900%.

This match is one of the few times where sport truly transcends itself and symbolises hundreds of years of historical, political and religious feuding. Often the football isn’t even of a very high quality – matches are often cagey affairs – but the raw passion, the frayed tempers and the clear emotion make it un-missable, every time.

In truth, this article could have been ten times the length, there are just so many fantastic football clashes around the world. Honourable mentions must go to the Milan derby, Olympiakos vs Panathinaikos, Galatasaray vs Penerbahce and of course the great East-Anglian derby which is Norwich City against Ipswich Town.

Maybe the final one less so.

By David Astley

How will the three promoted teams fare in the Premier League 2011/2012?

Monday 30th May marked the final game in the English domestic calendar – the Championship playoff final. Often dubbed “the 90 million match”, this year Swansea outshone Reading and joined Queens Park Rangers and Norwich as the Premier League new-boys. While The Premier League may be the most watched league in the world, the Championship isn’t as popular, and so for those wondering who exactly their favourite teams will be playing next season, here’s a quick summary of the lucky three.

Queens Park Rangers - There was, in fact, nothing lucky about QPR's rise to the Premier League. They ran out comfortable winners, and in truth the margin of 4 points probably isn't enough to represent the gulf in performances between QPR and the best-of-the-rest. In Paddy Kenny, QPR have the best goalkeeper the Championship saw last season, and in captain Adel Taarabt they have an inspirational attacking midfielder who not only has the full range of passing, but also pops up with a huge number of goals too (19 this season). The problem, as it always is with a smaller Premiership team housing an outstanding player, could be holding on to him. With numerous larger clubs struggling to create an attacking presence in midfield, it’s highly likely there will be bids for Taarabt this season.  But QPR are by no means a one man team, and Iceland’s Heiðar Helguson and Scotland’s Jamie Mackie both provided a decent number of goals too.

One thing that has to be mentioned though, is that QPR have two things that neither of the other newly promoted teams have. Firstly, QPR have money. And more to the point, they have no small amount of it either. The club is owned by Formula 1 tycoons Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, assumed to have a combined wealth of close to £2billion. They may not be Roman Abramovich, but you can expect a decent investment in the QPR squad over the summer to ensure that they stay put in the Premier League.  Secondly, they have players with previous Premier League experience. Pascal Chimbonda,  Danny Shittu and Peter Ramage are just three of a number of players that have played in the top flight before, and this experience will give the club a massive advantage over Norwich and Swansea.

After the furore and upcoming fine about the transfer of Alejandro Faurlin, QPR will hopefully have learned how to follow the proper protocol with any summer signings they make, and these could include some fairly big names. Robbie Keane, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Yakubu have all been mentioned in the same sentences as QPR recently, and whether you think them realistic or not, the club certainly have ambition. Of the three promotees, it has to be said that they are easily the best placed to follow through with this ambition too.

Norwich - Norwich became the first club in over a decade to achieve back to back promotions into the Premier League, and while this is a phenomenal achievement, many think that the Premier League may have come a season too soon for the Canaries. Manager Paul Lambert has already stated that the club can realistically manage no more than try to survive in such a competitive league.


Norwich do however have their stars. Captain and top goal-scorer Grant Holt has been in sensational form for the team, but still has a reputation of being a lower-league player, and like the vast majority of the squad has no previous Premier League experience. The outstandingly versatile Wes Hoolahan has played all over the park in recent season, and this year found the next 10 times. The incredibly fit Russell Martin played every single minute of every Norwich game this season, and both he and Hoolahan will have to continue their excellent lower league form if the club is to prosper in the Premier League.
Manager Paul Lambert has claimed that he aims to bring in as many as seven new signings in order to avoid the drop, and a deal has already been done to bring Everton’s striker James Vaughan to Norwich, at a cost of about £2.5 million – in my opinion an outstanding buy. However, with Vaughan already arriving, a very public courting of Millwall’s top scorer Steve Morison underway, and captain Grant Holt guaranteed a starting position, the future doesn’t look so bright for Norwich’s close-season star Simeon Jackson.
Many expect keeper Fraser Forster to rejoin Norwich after a season's absence away at Celtic, this time on a permanent deal.  Another realistic target is Joe Ledley, who could fill the gap left by Henri Lansbury returning to Arsenal after his loan finishes. Liverpool's Dani Pacheco, a January 2011 loan signing for Norwich, has openly said that if he is not given the chances at Liverpool this season, Norwich will be his preferred destination, whether it be through a temporary or permanent deal.


Norwich barely escaped going into administration a couple of years ago, and even with the increased wealth of the Premier League, money is tight, so you can expect them to raid the lower leagues’ better players, rather than the top leagues’ mediocre. More specifically, the fellow Championship clubs which fell short in the playoffs (Reading, Cardiff and Nottingham Forest), and the three clubs demoted from the Premier League (Birmingham, Blackpool and West Ham) are likely to be the main sources of players for Norwich. One name being touted more than most to join the Canaries is Cardiff’s midfielder Peter Whittingham.


Swansea – Swansea did things the hard way, having to go through the nailbiting play-offs to reach the Premier League. Things didn’t look good when they had a player sent off within 2 minutes of the opening match, but the 10 men played the next 88 with huge commitment to see a 0-0 draw and ultimately win in the second leg. In the play-off final, a Scott Sinclair hat-trick helped them to a 4-2 win, in a pulsating match in which they suffered numerous nervous moments considering they led 3-0 after 40 minutes.


This said, it’s a refreshing change to be able to say that for once, the best team in the play-offs won and reached the Premier League. Swansea become the first Welsh team to reach England’s top flight and now we have the fantastic prospect of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and more visiting Wales for Premier League matches for the first time.


Swansea gained a lot of fans from their attacking style of play. After going 3-0 up in the play-off final, most teams would sit back after half time and play out the win, but it was said numerous times by the commentators that Swansea simply don’t know how to do that, and in the end this turned out to be a problem for them as they conceded two quick goals and the game suddenly looked loseable. Like Blackpool, it was their exciting, attacking style of play which got them promoted, but equally, and again like Blackpool, it will probably be the same thing that sees them demoted too.


I know many Chelsea fans who were livid when Scott Sinclair was allowed to leave the club, and his 27 goals this season for Swansea could be good evidence that they were right to be angry. Darren Pratley and Stephen Dobbie hauled in another 22 between them, and it’s clear that there is no shortage of goals from this team. A big problem however, may come in the loss of Fabio Borini, a youngster on loan from Chelsea. He only joined the team in March, but was instrumental in their late surge of good form, which saw them leapfrog Cardiff, Reading and Nottingham Forest and end up 3rd in the Championship. Playing just 10 games but scoring 6 goals should give you an idea of how effective he has been for them, and after seeing how much of a better team they have been with him since March, a priority transfer has to be a Borini replacement.


Thankfully, manager Brendan Rogers used to be a coach at Chelsea, and so it is highly likely we will see a couple of other promising youngsters join the Swans for their Premier League adventure.  Permanent transfer targets supposedly include Sebastian Bassong and Danny Collins.


Overall – Overall, I’ll go out on a limb and say that as teams st
and at the moment, both Swansea and Norwich would head straight back straight down after a brief holiday in the Premier League. The Championship has produced some outstanding football this year, but the entertainment has come in the competition, and the gulf in class between it and the top flight is still enormous. My prediction doesn’t have to be so, of course. If Paul Lambert’s six other transfers to Norwich prove as shrewd as his tactics, and if Brendan Rogers can hold on to players such as Scott Sinclair, they could both cause upsets and knock out a couple of the Premier League’s longer-staying competitors.

I have faith that QPR are probably big enough to survive the drop. I would say that they are certainly better than their two promotees, as well as Blackburn, Wolves and perhaps Wigan as well. Add in the extra occasional points from big matches and home performances, and I can see them happily surviving the next season.
As always, the summer transfers will be fixating. There were a number of players who were demoted from the Premier League who are simply too good for the Championship (Adam, Vaughan, Bowyer, Larsson, Noble, Parker) and among others, these would all be exceptional transfers for our newly promoted three. As it stands, however, all we can do is welcome QPR, Norwich and Swansea to the Premier League, congratulate them on reaching it and wish them good luck. Because boy, they’re going to need it.

By David Astley

From Suarez to Poulsen - Best and Worst of the EPL 2010/2011

As we near the end of what has been a Premier League season full of surprises, let’s take a look at the best (and the worst) transfers we have seen this season. Just remember though … hindsight is a wonderful thing.

The best:

Javier Hernandez – C.D. Guadelejara to Manchester United for £8 million

Hernandez, or as his shirt says “Chicharito” arrived at United at the same time as another young striker Bebe, for about the same amount of money. No prizes for guessing which player most people are still speaking about. Hernandez didn’t have an easy task ahead of him, being up against Rooney, Berbatov, Owen and Obertan as competition for a place in the first 11 seems pretty intimidating, but he has managed 26 appearances scoring an impressive 13 goals, including the Hollywood moment 36 second goal against Chelsea. He’s only 22 and is on a long term contract with United, which could well mean the end of Berbatov’s career with the Red Devils.

Luis Suarez – Ajax to Liverpool for £23 million

In January Liverpool were in desperate need of some fresh firepower and Suarez was their first choice throughout the month, finally completing his transfer just hours before the deadline. When Torres left, Suarez was suddenly dubbed as his replacement, a daunting title, but one which he has managed to live up to with some style. His movement, speed, trickery and more has made him a real menace to defences and at under half the price that Torres sold for he looks more than twice as good. £23 million isn’t cheap, but at this point you’d have to say it was money well spent by Liverpool. Suarez will be central to any hope Liverpool have of continental qualification next season.

William Gallas – Arsenal to Tottenham on a free transfer

As free transfers go, they don’t get a lot better. Signing an experienced player from your bitterest rivals who will end up captaining your team to victory against them? Yes please.

Peter Odemwingie – Lokomotiv Moscow to West Bromwich Albion for £1 million

Odemwingie has to represent the best single million pounds spent in years, let alone just this season. West Brom are not a rich club and this season were in real danger of having to fight to avoid relegation, so any signings they did make had be both fiscal but effective. Odemwingie is both – 15 goals this season, 9 more than any of his teammates has meant that West Brom are going to survive the drop comfortably. Sadly, he only signed a 3 year contract, 1 of which has already gone. West Brom are surely already considering offering him an extension to this or they could lose him cheaply in just a year’s time. Somehow, I don’t think they’ll find as good a replacement with another million pounds.

Daniel Sturridge – Chelsea to Bolton on a loan.

Bolton have had an excellent season and may actually be a little disappointed to currently be sitting 9th in the Premier League. If domestic cup results hadn’t ended up securing European football for Birmingham and Stoke, Bolton would have been in with a real chance of scrapping for Europa League qualification. Sturridge signed for Bolton in January, scoring 7 goals in 10 appearances, not a bad return for minimal effort on the club’s part. Sturridge’s future depends largely on what will happen with Chelsea’s striker situation this summer, but it is more than likely he will end up staying in London next season, rather than being sent out on loan. Even if his Bolton career is limited to this half a season, it’s been a good loan spell for him, scoring some important goals and really helping them cement their place in the top half of the table.

The worst -

Edin Dzeko – Wolfsburg to Manchester City for £27 million

I don’t understand this one. What does Dzeko have which Adebayor, Balotelli, Santa Cruz or Jo combined don’t? Apart from the third highest transfer fee paid in the Premier League this season. Dzeko has managed only a single competitive goal so far, making him an extremely expensive bench-warmer.
I suppose when you have so much money and you’re buying so many players (some 22 first team players since 2009), you’re bound to make a few bad purchases. Some players, especially strikers just aren’t the type who will flourish in the Premier League, and Dzeko’s encouraging performances for City in the Europa League suggests that the best thing for his career may be a move back to the continent.

Fernando Torres – Liverpool to Chelsea for £50 million

When you’re a big name striker and a big name club makes a big money offer for you, you have to perform. Taking almost 1000 minutes to score your first goal, failing to link up well with the other top striker at the club and disappearing from games for 20 minutes at a time, doesn’t count as performing. At Liverpool, Torres was able to have a bad 89 minutes but still score in the 90th. At Chelsea , he has a bad 89 minutes and then a bad 90th as well. Having been played instead of Drogba seemingly because of his price than his form, it’s easy to imagine that Drogba may be interested in leaving Chelsea this summer. There have been rumours of him returning to France, and Real Madrid, coached by Drogba’s old coach Jose Mourinho, are also in the hunt for a top striker. If Drogba leaves and Torres doesn’t find form, Torres could become a whole lot pricier than the 50million Chelsea paid.

Stephen Ireland – Manchester City to Aston Villa for £8 million

I remember watching Stephen Ireland’s Manchester City career and thinking that it was only a matter of time before a top club took him somewhere else. Then City got rich and suddenly he was surplus to requirements. An 8million move to Aston Villa seemed perfect. He was put into a team that was desperate for a big presence in midfield, still feeling the pain of losing Gareth Barry and fresh from losing James Milner too. Sadly, Ireland managed just 10 appearances for Villa before being loaned out to Newcastle. Injury has played a part in his poor season, but attitude problems and form seem to be the overriding factors.

Christian Poulsen – Juventus to Liverpool for £4.5 million

Someone said to me at the beginning of the season that all defensive midfielders are the same. If that’s the case, why did Barcelona pay 18million for Mascherano and Liverpool ’s replacement Poulsen cost only 4.5? His displays have been poor at best, giving the ball away cheaply and failing to provide any cover for the defence. It didn’t take long for him to be benched, and of his 11 first team performances so far, he’s made none since January when Jay Spearing emerged as a real candidate for first team action. With Gerrard, Meireles, Lucas, Spearing and Shelvey all preferred to Poulsen, it’s hard to imagine he will get another chance to justify the money spent on him.

By David Astley

"Into Row Z" - Norwich's Promotion!

This week saw Norwich City secure second place in The Championship and automatic promotion to the Premier League, following an uncharacteristically low scoring 1-0 win over Portsmouth. Norwich became the first team in over a decade to manage back to back promotions into the Premier League, but for a team who were widely tipped to struggle in the Championship, how exactly was it that they managed to achieve this incredible feat? Equally, now they’ve reached the promised lands of the Premier League, what are the chances of them still being there in a year’s time? Here are what I consider the most important pieces of Norwich’s success, and my assessment on what chance they have of Premier League survival:

T          The manager - Paul Lambert.

It’s August 2009, and Norwich begin their first season in The Championship by crashing to a 7-1 home defeat to Colchester. One fan runs onto the pitch and tears up his season ticket in front of the then manager Bryan Gunn, and it is clear that changes are needed. Soon after, Colchester manager Paul Lambert is recruited by the Canaries, and despite the opening day thrashing, Norwich go on to have the best home goal difference that season in all of the English leagues, at time averaging scoring 4 goals a game. Lambert brought a new type of football to Carrow Road, a free flowing, fast passing game centred around technical players like Wes Hoolahan and with the focal point of captain and top goal-scorer Grant Holt up front. Unsurprisingly, numerous struggling Premiership clubs were rumoured to make approaches for Lambert throughout the season, but with the Canaries on such a high, he has no reason to leave at the moment.

2.       The Captain – Grant Holt.

Every team needs a talisman, someone to lead from the front and to steal the crucial goal, even when the team doesn’t play well. Think of all the times Gerrard has rescued Liverpool from goalless draws or defeats with a last minute wondergoal and you still won’t be close to realising Holt’s importance to the Canaries. A scoring record of 44 goals in 81 games is already an impressive statistic, but it’s made all the better when you realise that he’s usually the first goalscorer – the player who breaks the deadlock and open the floodgates, rather than the player who taps in the fourth or fifth goal when the team is already home and dry.

3.       Momentum and Home Form

As touched on before, Carrow Road has become a bit of a fortress for Norwich City. They are yet to lose a league match at home in 2011 and between November and April played 25 league games with only 2 losses. Their presence in the race for an automatic spot wasn’t really noticed until close to the end of the season, and most considered them only play-off contenders. But where some teams (here’s looking at you, Arsenal and Cardiff) tend to fade off at the end of a campaign, Norwich finished strongly, maintaining a season-long high quality of consistency. While captain Grant Holt has scored an impressive 20 league goals this season, in the final games where he began to struggle to find the net, other players stepped up to the plate. Simeon Jackson, the man who scored the promotion-securing goal against Portsmouth scored a fantastic 9 goals in their last 7 games.

4.       Late goals

This one doesn’t need much explaining. Norwich have scored 12 goals in the last 10 minutes of league matches this season, mostly winning goals too. Most recently and famously, Simeon Jackson completed a hat trick in extra time against Derby County, earning the Canaries a 3-2 win, keeping them in 2^nd place, ahead of rivals Cardiff. Norwich’s never-die attitude will be crucial to their hopes of Premier League survival.

5.       Loan Signings

This is one area where I have a lot of respect for Paul Lambert. His loan signings this season have been impeccable, but we’ll concentrate on just two of them - Henry Lansbury, a midfielder on loan from Arsenal, and Dani Pacheco an attacking midfielder or forward, on loan from Liverpool.

Of the two, Lansbury has obviously had the bigger impact, making 14 more appearances and scoring 4 more goals than Pacheco, but he has also spent double the time at the club. The cleverest thing about these loan signings isn’t their current performances however, although they have been excellent. Paul Lambert is looking to the future – he has taken two excellent youngsters who are unlikely to get many chances at their original clubs (Lansbury has youngsters Wilshere and Ramsey among others as direct competition, while Pacheco is repeatedly and constantly overlooked by Liverpool), and given them a home at Norwich. He has shown confidence in both, and if either are unhappy with the amount of chances they get at their big clubs next season, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them return to the Canaries, perhaps on a permanent basis.

 

And so we’re left wondering, can Norwich actually avoid immediate relegation from the Premier League? The club have already admitted that they don’t have the financial backing necessary to do anything other than try to survive, but this season was the same – great things were never expected of them. They have a settled team, most of which has played together for at least 2 years now, and it would only take a couple of clever signings to see them with a real chance of surviving the toughest league in Europe. Of most importance has to be a defender. They may score enough to hide it, but Norwich also concede their fair share of goals, some 56 this in the league this season. They will be one player short when Zak Whitbread returns to Blackpool after his loan spell ends, and I am sure Paul Lambert will already be looking at potential targets. The only issue is, now that they are in the Premier League, it will be far harder to sign top youngsters from clubs who now see them as direct competition. 

Overall, they have a chance. They’re by no means the worst squad to reach England’s top flight, and they show a resilience necessary for survival. The fitness of Holt and Hoolahan in particular will be crucial, but with a decent start, a good home record, and a strengthened defence, you wouldn’t want to bet against them being another surprise package next season.

By David Astley