Tactical Analysis of the 2018/19 Championship: Norwich v QPR

Norwich continued his seemingly irresistible march to the Premier League with a stunning 4-0 victory over QPR, who dropped Steve McClaren after losing to Bolton last weekend.

Daniel Farke named an unchanged team from the one that won the Middlesbrough victory last weekend. QPR, ravaged by injuries, was looking to win for the first time in five games.

In this tactical badysis, we examine how Norwich adapted to the QPR form to exploit the weaknesses and emerge with a comfortable victory of 4-0.

Norwich overload large areas

Norwich sought to create overloads in large areas to penetrate behind the QPR defense. Marco Stiepermann was the key to this tactic. Positioned centrally as a central striker behind Teemu Pukki, he has consistently supported the ball owner in wide areas. While QPR led in a narrow 4-4-2 form, Norwich tried to combine wide areas with the ball near the bottom, wide midfielder, midfielder and Stiepermann.

These surcharges were facilitated by the positioning of Tom Trybull, who was the deepest midfielder and who often moved to the back line to create a third goal in possession of the ball. The two backs were therefore able to push higher and wider because they had sufficient coverage in case of loss of possession.

The offensive backs of Norwich

Norwich placed the high and wide backs once in possession of the ball, which caused QPR problems as they did not want to leave their narrow form of defense to score them. This allowed Emiliano Buendía and Onel Hernández to move in while the width was provided by the backbacks. The rotations between entering and staying wider have further disrupted the QPR as their midfielder was removed from his position. In the first 30 minutes of the match, the wide men were more often in wider areas, as Norwich already had a numerical superiority in the center of the field. If the two extended players had been positioned narrower, QPR could have more easily remained compact, leaving only the center backs as an outlet.

The first goal of the Norwich match was due to the move from the left side to Max Aarons. Stiepermann had moved to the right half-space as part of a possession sequence earlier, while Buendía had taken a more central stance. Luke Freeman and Jake Bidwell have both been hiding inside, leaving Aarons and Stiepermann a space to exploit on the outside. Aarons brought back the ball with one touch and played a low center for Buendía to finish.

The extra player Norwich had in the middle of the field allowed them to control the game. Jordan Cousins ​​and Geoff Cameron, in the middle of the QPR field, were unable to cover pbad options in the middle of the field. Buendía, in particular, has moved away from its starting position to the right of the field, which has overloaded the area. This allowed Stiepermann to position himself between the midfielder and the defense and drift to support in wide areas without anyone noticing. Since he was often unmarked, he could move to create an overhead without slipping another opponent near the ball. Norwich was therefore able to easily maneuver the balloon out of pressure before fully penetrating behind the defense.

Tactical adjustment of QPR

QPR changed training before the end of the 30 minutes to combat the problems posed by their form in 4-4-2. Eberechi Eze returned to the left midfielder position after being his attacker, while Freeman moved to the center. Cameron fell behind the midline to create a 4-1-4-1 form. Although it helped close the space in which Stiepermann was operating, Cameron was not the ideal person to help set up the game and was unveiled for the third goal of the Norwich match.

QPR was trying to build from behind by the two central defenders, under pressure from Pukki and Stiepermann. As a deeper midfielder, Cameron had to come closer to provide a numerical superiority and allow the ball's progression. Instead, he was too far away to propose an option that led to a "U" pattern between Joe Lumley, Toni Leistner and Joel Lynch. When he realized the need to get closer, he did it with a rectilinear motion towards the back of the center, easily followed by Trybull. Eventually, Freeman dropped to support but played a sub-hit pbad that was intercepted by Buendía, who played Pukki to finish.

Norwich fits QPR

Following QPR's change of form, Norwich adapted the positioning of its major players. While within 30 minutes of opening, they tipped between entering and staying wider, they both positioned themselves inside after the change. This was designed in part to allow entry into the box via low crosses or quick exchanges with back pbades.

The two big players were positioned behind the midline of four players and alongside Cameron. With Buendía, Stiepermann and Hernández all operating in central Norwich, they managed to create a numerical superiority in the center of the field, which allowed them to keep control of the match.

Conclusion

Norwich adapted its form and tactical plans to exploit the weaknesses of QPR tactics. The adjustments made by Farke allowed Norwich to keep control of the match and never to be really threatened by QPR.