Norwich City arguably dominated the EFL Championship last season by finishing the league with 94 points and scored 93 goals. Had they won four of their last six games — where they’re only able to get four points from Reading, Wigan, Sheffield Wednesday and Stoke City— they would likely hit the famous 100-point mark. The main reason was their possession-based and pressing tactics deployed by their manager Daniel Farke.
Furthermore, two Norwich players topped the individual awards; Teemu Pukki as the top scorer with 29 goals, and Emiliano Buendía topped the assists chart with eight assists under his belt. However, they fully understand that they have to improve in pursuance of staying in the Premier League. To do that, they have successfully signed the young English right-winger Patrick Roberts from Manchester City in a season-long loan deal earlier this month. This tactical analysis will inform you how Roberts could fit in Norwich’s tactics.
Not a one-trick pony
Previously in Glasgow Celtic, Roberts was the main right-winger choice for Brendan Rodgers in his preferred 4–2–3–1 shape. Playing in Celtic’s possession-based and high-pressing game, Roberts spent two fruitful seasons in Scotland as he finished his two-year spell with 15 goals and 19 assists.
Last year, Manchester City again sent Roberts to Girona on loan. In Girona, manager Eusebio Sacristán had a different tactical approach compared to Rodgers. Knowing that his side is nowhere near the top sides, Sacristán rarely asked his team to go out and press their opponents.
Formation-wise, Sacristán also used more variations than Rodgers; where Sacristán would likely to vary from using 3–4–2–1, 3–5–2, to 4–1–4–1, and 4–2–3–1 depending to the opponents they were facing. In those shapes, Patrick Roberts would also rotate; from his preferred position as a right-winger to attacking midfielder, to inside forward, or even a left-winger. Such rotations was an important part of Roberts’ development as a young player.
Deadly dribbler
Early in this scout report, we have to say that Roberts really likes to play from the flank. Either as a right-winger in Celtic or even when he started as an attacking midfielder or as an inside forward in Girona, he would drift wide to collect the ball. From there Roberts would try to engage in a one-versus-one duel against the opponents’ side-back and then cuts inside into the penalty box to create a chance.
Roberts is a tenacious dribbler, as shown by his dribbling statistics. Last season, he managed to make 7.4 dribbles per 90 minutes which on average four of them were successful. It’s a remarkable number as Roberts only got less than 600 minutes of game time under his belt in Girona.
With his dribbles, Roberts can attract numerous players from the oppositions. He does that quite often, even when he was playing against top teams with great defensive quality such as Atletico Madrid. By pulling the opponents’ players with him and eventually beat them in one-versus-many duels, he would open spaces in the final third; either for him to shoot or to create chances for his teammates.
