Johannes Hoff Thorup will be hoping for more consistency, as Norwich City seek to maintain the high performance levels they showed before the recent international break. Ben Lee breaks down a Stoke 1-1 draw.
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 testing trip to the Potteries.
Stoke versus Norwich: Escaping the press.
Score: 1 – 1
Possession (%): 39 – 61
Passes: 335 – 548
Shots: 14 – 12
xG: 1.25 – 1.52
- Playing through pressure.
- Positional interchanges.
- Limiting central progression.
- Accessing the free pivot.
Base formations
Returning from the second international break of the season, Norwich made the trip to Staffordshire to face Narcis Pelach’s Stoke City.
Thorup made just one change to his side as George Long replaced the injured Angus Gunn, while Pelach made two changes as Enda Stevens and Million Manhoef came into the host’s eleven.
During Norwich’s goalkeeper restarts, where the visitors created their usual 4-3-3 shape, Stoke transitioned from their 4-4-2 base formation into a 4-1-3-2 high press.
Moran (24) advanced into the second line of pressure to occupy the space between the wingers, while Burger (6) remained deep. The centre-forwards pressed from the front, while the wingers were ready to jump out wide to press Norwich’s full-backs.
For the most part, Stoke pressed with aggression in Norwich’s deepest build-up phases. When the visitors played out to the left, for example, Cannon (9) pressed Cordoba (33); Manhoef (42) pressed against the touchline out wide, and Moran (24) shifted across to track Slimane (20).
With Moran (24) drawn to press high, Burger (6) jumped onto McLean (23) to prevent him from becoming the free man, and the hosts managed to force Norwich long.
On the opposite side, Norwich’s typical build-up dynamics became clear. City played around the first line of Stoke’s press when Duffy (4) played out wide to Fisher (35), who, in turn, passed back infield to access Nunez (26).
Norwich’s Chilean midfielder then played through the second line of pressure to find Crnac (17) dropping out wide, before City’s winger played into the path of McLean (23). However, the visitors were unable to complete their escape without an interception.
Without Burger (6) backing up the press in the second line, Norwich were able to access a free midfielder via a bounce pass from the last line. In one such situation, Nunez (26) played through to Crnac (17), who played back to McLean (23) in space yet again.
With Burger (6) remaining deep and Manhoef (42) caught between two Norwich midfielders, McLean (23) was free to find Slimane (20) moving into the left half-space unoccupied, before the visitors accessed Doyle (6) overlapping into space out wide.
On another occasion in their deep build-up phases, Thorup’s side managed to isolate Burger (6) in a 2v1 situation behind the second line of pressure.
With the ball on Norwich’s right, the visitors created a narrow 2-3-2-3 shape as Doyle (6) inverted from left-back while Nunez (26) and Slimane (20) advanced. But Stoke remained in their 4-1-3-2 press and, as a result, allowed Norwich to advance through their 2v1 overload.
A few minutes later, the visitors attempted to access the same 2v1 advantage but with Doyle (6) inverting beyond Slimane (20) into the space between the lines.
This time, Stoke did well to shift over to occupy every player ahead of the ball. Jun-Ho (10) moved infield from the left to occupy Nunez (26), allowing Burger (6) to commit to pressing Doyle (6) when he received from McLean (23).
Halfway through the first half, however, Norwich attempted to exploit Burger’s (6) aggressive jump into the second line of pressure.
With the visitors in a 2-3 build-up shape, Nunez (26) dropped into the second line while Slimane (20) remained high. As Burger (6) tracked Nunez (26) on the ball-side, creating a 4-4-2 press, Slimane (20) became free to receive between the lines as Fisher (35) overlapped out wide.
In more settled phases of possession on the edge of their half, Norwich created a 2-3-5 structure with both full-backs inverting on either side of McLean (23).
In response, Stoke transitioned between a 4-2-4 mid-press and a compact 4-4-2 mid-block. With their mid-block designed to limit central progression, the hosts often forced Norwich to play wide or to chip the ball over two lines of pressure into the half-spaces.
Neither approach is the quickest or most efficient route into the final third, and, as a result, the majority of Norwich’s dangerous progressions came from deeper build-up phases rather than from these settled phases of possession.
But the visitor’s settled-play structure did allow for numerous positional interchanges. One variation saw Nunez (26) and Slimane (20) drop into the 2-3 build-up, while Fisher (35) moved out wide on the right and Doyle (6) advanced into the left half-space.
But as Norwich played to Fisher (35), City were unable to profit from their 5v4 last-line advantage as Stevens (3) remained narrow rather than pressing out wide and leaving the half-space open for Crnac (17) to receive on the underlap.
Instead, Stoke waited for Jun-Ho (10) to track back and occupy Fisher (35), effectively creating a 5v5 in the last line, thereby negating Norwich’s initial numerical advantage.
In response, Norwich’s settled-play shape became more expansive as Nunez (26) and Slimane (20) advanced towards the last line, while Doyle (6) dropped back to create a 2-2 rest-defence ahead of six players in the front line.
This time, when Fisher (35) received out wide, Stevens (3) moved away from the half space, leaving Burger (6) to track Crnac (17) underlapping in the right half-space.
In Stoke’s deep build-up phases, Pelach’s side typically created a 4-2-4 shape, with the wingers often dropping deeper than the centre-forwards. In response, Norwich pressed high from their usual 4-3-3 structure.
When Stoke played out to their right, the visitor’s pressing dynamics became clear. Sainz (7) pressed the centre-back, Slimane (20) jumped out wide to press the full-back, and Sargent (9) shifted across to occupy the ball-side pivot.
On one occasion, however, with Wilmot (16) in possession on the right, Moran (24) advanced beyond the full-back, dragging Sargent (9) out of position. This manipulated Norwich’s press by opening a passing lane to the free pivot before Crnac (17) had time to close him down.
Once the hosts advanced beyond Norwich’s high press, they transitioned into a 3-2-5 settled-play structure. Stevens (3) overlapped past Jun-Ho (10) on the left while Wilmot (16) shifted infield to create a situational back three.
In these phases, with Norwich transitioning between a 4-3-3 mid-press and a 4-5-1 mid-block, Stoke attempted to exploit the space behind the pressing full-backs.
While many would have hoped for all three points on Saturday, in the context of the game, including injuries to Gunn and latterly Nunez, a draw seemed a fair result; particularly after a second half in which Norwich lost much of their first-half dominance.
Heading into a demanding set of fixtures, with three away trips in the next five matches, Thorup will be hoping for more consistency, as City seek to maintain the high performance levels they showed before the break.
You can read all Ben's previous analysis of Norwich City games via his social media accounts.
Web: NCFC Analysis
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