It is clear there remains room for improvement. Ben Lee breaks down Norwich City's 1-0 Championship defeat at Swansea City.
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 frustrating trip to Wales for the Canaries.
Swansea City versus Norwich City: Room for improvement
Score: 1 – 0
Possession (%): 46 – 54
Passes: 407 – 482
Shots: 9 – 13
xG: 0.71 – 1.13
- An intense pressing trap.
- Escaping via the far side.
- Man-to-man situations.
- Caught between roles.
Base formations
Following the first international break of the season, Norwich City made the trip to the south of Wales to face Swansea City in a clash between two sides led by progressive young coaches.
Luke Williams’ Swansea lined up in a fluid 4-2-3-1 shape, with Naughton and Cullen coming into the side, while Johannes Hoff Thorup made one change to his eleven as Schwartau replaced Crnac in Norwich’s 4-3-3 base formation.
During Norwich’s goalkeeper restarts, Nunez (26), McLean (23), and Forson (18) dropped to the edge of the penalty area in a deep-lying midfield trio.
The hosts pressed high from a 4-4-2 shape, with Cooper (31) joining Cullen (20) up front, while Forson (18) was ready to advance behind the second line of pressure when Norwich moved beyond their deepest build-up phase.
Once Duffy (4) began the build-up with a pass back to Gunn (1), Cullen (20) pressed with a curved run to block access to Doyle (6) on City’s left.
With the visitors playing out to the right, Cooper (31) blocked the passing lane to McLean (23), while Grimes (8) jumped into the second line to press Nunez (26), and Eom (10) tracked Stacey (3). Naughton (26) backed up the press by tracking Schwartau (29) out wide.
Given the Swans’ aggressive press, it was difficult for Norwich to escape with control, and they often attempted to play over the first two lines of pressure to access the space behind.
While there was also space for the visitors to target on the far side of Swansea’s press, Williams’ side tracked back effectively and frequently regained possession when Norwich attempted to advance into their opponent’s half.
In open-play deep build-up phases, Stacey (3) began to advance towards the last line on the right, while Forson (18) moved into space between the lines, and Chrisene (14) inverted.
With Cullen (20) pressing from the front and Cooper (31) dropping between Norwich’s pivots, Swansea created a temporary 4-2-3-1 structure. But when Cooper (31) pressed the ball-side pivot, Grimes (8) or Franco (17) jumped onto Norwich’s remaining midfielder.
Having created this more aggressive 4-1-4-1 pressing structure, Swansea were often able to force Norwich back before trapping the visitors against the touchline.
In these moments of intense pressure, the Swans’ press became more man-orientated as they created a near-complete man-to-man press in the wide areas. As a result, Norwich were often crowded out while attempting to escape on the ball side.
In the first half, Norwich often failed to escape Swansea’s press via the far side; instead, they played into pressure and became trapped against the touchline.
In one instance, when Norwich did manage to prevent such a situation by accessing Doyle (6) instead of playing into Swansea’s touchline trap, Thorup’s men were able to exploit weaknesses in the host’s press.
With Ronald (35) jumping to press Norwich’s left centre-back, Chrisene (14) became free to receive before finding McLean (26) advancing behind the second line of pressure.
As Grimes (8) jumped to press Chrisene (14), Forson (18) became free in space between the lines, while Norwich created a 5v4 overload in the last line.
Despite City finding the optimal escape route with a numerical advantage against their opponent’s back line, effective backward pressing from Swansea saw Cooper (31) position himself between McLean (23) and the ball to win a free-kick on the halfway line.
Williams’ men were often successful in their man-to-man high pressing situations when they forced Norwich back, but when they failed to, they consistently regained possession by tracking back towards their own half.
In another instance, with Cullen (20) pressing high while Cooper (31) and Franco (17) occupied Norwich’s pivots, Gunn (1) clipped the ball to Chrisene (14) in space behind Ronald (35).
Norwich’s left-back headed the ball to Sainz (7), who combined with Forson (18) before advancing into Swansea’s half. But, yet again, Cooper (31) tracked back to challenge the Canaries’ winger before winning a foul on the edge of the Swans’ half.
In more settled phases of possession, Norwich created a clear 2-3-5 structure with Stacey (3) and Sainz (7) out wide while Schwartau (29) and Forson (18) occupied the half-spaces.
In these phases, Swansea dropped in a 4-4-2 mid-block, but Eom (10) often tracked Stacey (3) into the last line, while Naughton (26) shifted infield to occupy Schwartau (29). This prevented a last-line disadvantage and created man-to-man situations with every Norwich player occupied.
As a result, Swansea were frequently able to force Norwich back into their deep build-up phases, where Cullen (20) continued to press from the front, Cooper (31) dropped between Nunez (26) and McLean (23), and the hosts restarted their high pressing dynamics.
During Swansea goal-kicks, the hosts created a 4-2-4 deep build-up structure, with Franco (17) and Grimes (8) in a double pivot, while Norwich setup in their usual 4-3-3 high press.
With one of the centre-backs playing goal-kicks to the goalkeeper, Norwich’s press began when the ball was at the feet of Vigouroux (22). Sainz (7) and Schwartau (29) immediately pressed from the front, while Sargent (9) stayed between the Swans’ pivots.
Swansea frequently attempted to bypass pressure by playing out to the full-backs early in the build-up, before accessing players in the half-spaces as Norwich shifted across to press.
In one open-play deep build-up situation, for example, the goalkeeper chipped the ball out to Key (2), who was pressed by Forson (18), before Franco (17) shifted over to receive and Ronald (35) ran onto a through ball behind Norwich’s back line.
With Swansea’s double pivot often occupying the space behind Sargent (9), the first line of the visitor’s press was bypassed when Vigouroux (22) played directly to one of the pivots.
In response, when Sargent (9) pressed from the front, Forson (18) advanced towards the Swans’ double pivot to create a 4-2-3-1 structure. On one occasion, however, Forson (18) was caught between his two pressing roles, leaving Key (2) free to receive behind Sainz (7).
In settled possession, with Norwich moving between their 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 mid-press, Luke Williams’ men also created a 2-3-5 structure with frequent positional interchanges.
Occasionally, both full-backs inverted on either side of Grimes (8), while Franco (17) advanced into the right half-space. Alternatively, one full-back could advance into the last line, provided another player dropped to maintain the 2-3 rest-defence.
Despite gaining control in the second half with more complete build-up play, Norwich missed numerous chances to equalise after late changes from Thorup saw City attack in a 3-1-6.
Swansea’s intense press made much of Saturday’s game about individual duels, many of which Norwich lost. This, combined with City’s tendency to play into the host’s pressing traps rather than away from them, made it difficult for Thorup’s men to escape with control.
Even after spending less time in their 4-5-1 mid-block – as requested by Thorup pre-match – Norwich continued to have pressing issues. As such, while a draw would perhaps have been a fair result on Saturday, it’s clear there remains room for improvement.
You can read all Ben's previous analysis of Norwich City games via his social media accounts.
Web: NCFC Analysis
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