Ahead of Saturday’s trip to the Land Motorways Forgot, we spoke to Vital Norwich supremo Nathan Tuck to get a look at the Championship leaders.
Norwich are top – was the home defeat to Leeds a turning point and what is behind the success?
I’m not sure if it was the Leeds defeat alone. Despite losing that game 3-0 we comfortably outplayed them for the first 20 minutes before sloppily conceding. I think it was a matter of just bedding the summer signings in and then the arrival of a couple of academy youngsters into the side who immediately hit the ground running at extraordinarily high levels.
Max Aarons (RB) and Todd Cantwell (LM) came into the squad due to injuries to others and haven’t looked back, especially Aarons who has been sensational. Emiliano Buendia was eased in due to a lack of a pre-season and then Teemu Pukki replaced Jordan Rhodes as the lone striker and that has gone rather well.
After the first international break we suddenly couldn’t stop scoring and the winning habit has continued. The team spirit is hugely important and every player has bought into Daniel Farke’s philosophy of possession-based attacking football. We are now seeing the style of football that he promised when he joined 18 months ago. There were a few raised eyebrows when his assistant Eddie Riemer described Farke’s style of football as being similar to Pep Guardiola’s, I can tell you.
How do you expect to set up on Saturday?
I’d expect us to set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with the following players: Krul; Lewis, Klose, Zimmermann, Aarons; Leitner (if fit) Tettey; Cantwell, Stiepermann, Buendia; Pukki
It’s a formation that has served us well and we’re creating chances and scoring them.
Which Norwich player should we look out for?
There are a few at the moment. Teemu Pukki scored five in four games in November and has been a sensational free signing. Emi Buendia has been scoring and providing assists and then there is Moritz Leitner, who makes the side tick from his quarterback-like role. He has missed the last two games through injury but fingers crossed he returns on Saturday.
What is your score prediction?
Confidence is high at the moment and we are scoring quite freely at the moment. I’ll go for a 3-1 home win.