I think it is time to be more conclusive with analysis about the tactical decisions of Johannes Hoff Thorup at Norwich City.
In the autumn I had reservations about his formation and it was evident that, out of possession, his 4-3-3 was poorly executed. However, that was masked by passages of impressive attacking play.
In my opinion, Ben Knapper chose a head coach (like Stuart Webber did with Dean Smith) who prefers 4-3-3, and neither Smith or Thorup inherited a squad of players who possess the natural athletic qualities necessary to enforce that formation.
I watched several Nordsjaelland games prior to the appointment of Thorup and was impressed but it was evident that the standard and speed of the Championship supersedes the template he employed in Denmark, and his personnel tweaks to a conventional 4-3-3 appear to be significantly flawed in the Championship.
I don’t believe I see changes with his in-game management either, but I am excited to see him evolve his template.
Unfortunately, our players are often out of position with exploitable spaces in wide areas. Additionally, due to playing Shane Duffy, and recently with Jacob Lunghi Sorensen as a midfielder, our defensive structure is exploitable with poor recovery runs from the midfield and attack. Likewise, we are reluctant to step forward and compress play. Do the players seem to doubt the structure if they lose possession? This is perhaps most evident with Kenny McLean and Marcelino Nunez not supporting the attack, something they had done earlier in the season. Additionally, our deeper defensive block, in my opinion, is an incorrect application of a conventional 4-3-3 structure; corrected when the pace of Jose Cordoba is utilised in allowing a higher line to be played.
We lack (more often than not) the expected quick transition into the forward players and our midfield rarely – or ineffectively – supports our attacks. This creates a repetitive, stagnated structure with two lateral lines of five players each, which offers no angles and is precisely why some analysts have suggested the need for a number 10. Personally, I prefer Josh Sargent and Borja Sainz as an attacking two, with a ten, or a more narrow front three with wing backs. There are some within the group who seem to play despite not conventionally fitting 4-3-3 and others who always play as a substitute without changing the shape.
Traditionally, in a correctly applied 4-3-3, the defensive line must step into the opposition half, especially when opponents are in deep defensive blocks. We have, with Callum Doyle, one of the best at this level from playing from deeper areas but we cannot afford to play him centrally unless Cordoba is present to cover athletically, and that will not happen unless Thorup opts not to select Duffy. It all becomes stagnant quickly once opponents recover to deeper positions.
Thorup’s selection of Duffy limits the structure, in my opinion, and is compounded by having Kellen Fisher invert. Fisher is excellent, he reminds me of Adam Drury with his snap in the tackle, but once he has stepped inside to bolster the shape in midfield, we forfeit what a Jack Stacey offers, who epitomises the attacking full back in a 4-3-3.
Thorup’s unique interpretation of 4-3-3 was effective in Denmark with a creative fulcrum. Note how important Andreas Schjelderup (loaned to Benfica) was to that FCN team. Throup tries to do the same with Emi Marcondes but he, like so many in the current squad, is not a natural 4-3-3 player and in the Championship the lack of athleticism from anyone in the squad is exploited. McLean and Nunez do enough running but predominantly from a deeper role.
They epitomise what would be the perfect first pivot in a 4-2-3-1, but with our structure in the 4-3-3 means they can only influence passing into wider areas, and rarely do we see a snap pass into central attacking areas where Sargent could get in behind. Incidentally, we saw quicker, drilled and effective passes from Amankwah Forson earlier in the season. Fisher, when he joins Nunez and McLean, is not going to influence play incisively enough, in my opinion.
I find it all a little frustrating because I see many parallels in our current squad with Daniel Farke’s first promotion team; we had Alex Tettey and Tom Trybull or Mo Leitner, we now have similar in McLean and Nunez. Before when we had Marco Stiepermann, we now have Anis Ben Slimane, who moves the ball very quickly, but his impact is stifled by the starting positions from Sainz and Ante Crnac who are often 30 yards away from Sargent. We are far more dangerous when those two are in narrow channels closer to Sargent.
The importance of Stiepermann in Farke’s team in transitional phases, as he was effectively a second pivot after Trybull or Leitner, was massive. However, in a 4-3-3 the midfield composition of Nunez, McLean and Slimane doesn’t complement correctly. Interestingly, there are similarities if you compare Marcondes to Mario Vrancic, but again, it was a very different structure employed by Farke.
Unlike Emi Buendia or Onel Hernandez, who operated in a 4-2-3-1, we often see Sainz and Crnac hugging the touchlines, both well away from a lone striker in Sargent. At this point, Sainz becomes ineffective and easy to defend against and all three forward players are isolated, and all three are impossible passing outlets.
The best epitome of modern 4-3-3 was Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool, in my opinion. Extreme width in a conventional 4-3-3 came from athletic full backs (Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson). Yes, Alexander-Arnold can invert into a midfield role when Robertson pushed on, but Fisher cannot exert the same critical distribution from the position.
Additionally, the current Liverpool front three play narrowly with two central midfielders joining the attack from deep positions, especially when Mo Salah stays wide. For Norwich, it would work with a goal scoring midfielder like Gabby Sara or Bradley Johnson, but that is absent from this current team.
It seems like Thorup tweaks but stops his tweak one or two players away from an ideal solution. Against Bristol City, Throup changed into a 3-4-3. I have no idea what Thorup intended with his changes because at one point I counted four or five central midfielders making up that 3-4-3. Whilst this is a transition season, without the goals of his own SAS combination his team would be flirting with relegation. Likewise, with a 30 plus goals a season strike pairing, they should be challenging at the top.
We should not be blinded by ‘Hoffball’ because every team in this league is capable of their own neat passages of play at certain periods of a match. Unfortunately I think Throup’s perseverance and preference with certain players is perhaps our biggest hindrance, because with almost any other formation we would be far more effective.
I hope he experiments in the closing weeks rather than trying to keep re-inventing a 4-3-3 that, for me, is athletically flawed with the players he has available. He has my support, but we have to be robust in our assessments of his tactical strategy.
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