Johannes Hoff Thorup joked at his pre-match press conference that they appeared to be ‘cursed’. This season, Norwich have been unable to achieve any rhythm or continuity in those three midfield positions.
The numbers graphically illustrate the problems and prove where the central area of the pitch has been their major Achilles heel throughout this campaign, hindering their progress and contributing to the inconsistency that has been one of the few constants.
Remarkably, City have fielded 11 different central midfielders in those three positions throughout this season.
In Tuesday’s defeat to Preston, Jacob Wright, Anis Ben Slimane, and Oscar Schwartau came together as the 16th combination to have played in the 32 Championship matches. If McLean fails to make it for Hull, that will likely be the 17th trio to feature.
All of those 11 are still on the Canaries’ books, meaning they could field a whole starting XI if the unlikely circumstance of them being fit and available were ever to come to pass.
The three with the most starts are Slimane, McLean and Nunez with six, but it’s a different combination for consecutive games played – that is made up by Amankwah Forson, McLean and Nunez with four, way back at the start of the Championship campaign.
Many would consider City’s ‘best’ midfield trio as McLean in a deeper position with Nunez and Emi Marcondes playing as more advanced number eights. Individually, they’ve performed well, but collectively, they started just three times as a trio. Norwich have won two of those matches.
Forson’s late heroics against Coventry felt like a sliding doors moment for his City career, but a knee injury has halted that momentum. Gabe Forsyth was enjoying a breakthrough campaign in Norfolk, only for a nasty tackle at Cardiff, after the whistle had been blown for another foul, to derail his progress.
Others, like Liam Gibbs, re-aggravating a hamstring injury eight minutes after coming onto the pitch, felt like a moment for investigation into their recovery and rehabilitation process, whilst Jacob Sorensen has struggled for fitness throughout his Norwich career.
The McLean suspensions, albeit one very controversial ban, were of his own making. Slimane hasn’t been 100pc fit since he arrived. Marcondes has been playing through the pain barrier due to a lack of options. Nunez has suffered two hamstring injuries.
Compare that to last season, where Norwich had both McLean and Gabriel Sara available for every league match. Nunez joined the party from January onwards and produced consistent performances.
That consistency was key to City surging into the top six under David Wagner. Even during the spells described as an injury crisis by the German last term, both McLean and Sara were available and playing.
Thorup hasn’t been afforded the same luxury. That is the area arguably most important to assuming control within matches and, in a possession-heavy style of play, is key to making the whole process flow effectively.
