Linked first following a successful season on loan to Brentford, two seasons later Alex Pritchard was the centre of a last-minute hijack from the Canaries and whilst many contemplate why another midfielder was in the plans of Alex Neil, a £8million price tag suggested it was a matter of a “do it before we lose out” moment – bearing in mind, any move this summer would have most likely been in the form of a permanent transfer for the 23-year-old.
Spending the majority of his youth career at Tottenham Hotspur, Pritchard was the next in line of academy hopefuls ready to test his luck in the first team, having spent his development years with with the likes of Harry Kane, Ryan Mason, Nabil Bentaleb and Andros Townsend, who have over the years experienced their fair share of time in the Premier League.
Instead, over the years, the diminutive midfielder had seen loan spell, followed by loan spell up, leaving many somewhat dribbling at the stand out performances and capabilities of the youngster over the previous seasons. But what has made the mouths dribble and why did Alex Neil hijack an albeit completed move to Brighton and Hove Albion for Pritchard?
His time at Peterborough United was limited, despite joining in January 2013, down to Pritchard suffering a massive blow just two games into his loan spell at London Road, leaving the midfielder sidelined for six weeks and returning White Hart Lane for treatment. When he eventually returned, the then-19-year-old still found time to win praises from fans and onlookers and a sense of missing out on what could have been had the midfielder saved the club from relegation.
The following lines were sourced from Peterborough Today:
Alex Pritchard: The little winger did a terrific job. Defended well when he had to in the first-half and kept popping up in space and using the ball wisely when Posh had possession. Shame he wasn’t fit to play in more games on this evidence
Alex Pritchard showed enough in two starts to suggest he would have been a good signing if he’d stayed fit.
The next loan spell would prove pivotal to Pritchard’s career – if anything would define the potential he could reach. At Swindon Town, Pritchard was above the rest of the league and was highlighted countless times as a key player to the club’s success, whether that be local journalists, fans, managers or players.
The most consistent performer by some distant has been Alex Pritchard. He is an obvious choice but that’s because of his ability to change a game all by himself, defenders hate playing against him with his pace and ability with the ball at his feet, he’s been our stand out player, and its been painfully obvious when he’s absent from the team, a real star for the future.
Scoring eight goals in 44 appearances in all competitions may be impressive when his calibre may not mean the simplest goals but some terrific free-kicks, but what sets Pritchard apart from the rest is his restless ability to create goal-scoring opportunities, seeing him leave the County Ground with eight assists to his name.
You look at Alex Pritchard – his last home game for the club – he came here a boy and he’s going to go away a man and I’m sure he’ll go on to bigger and better things.
At Swindon, Pritchard was used to playing on the left wing in the 4-4-2 formation, which saw him play 20 games for the Robins, scoring one goal and assisting four. However, on the occasions the 3-5-2 formation was opted for, Pritchard played behind the striker and as a secondary striker – this would prove successful for the young midfielder’s attributes to come into play, with four goals and six assists coming from this position after just 12 appearances. Whilst switching to the right wing, also usually through the 3-5-2 formation, he scored three and assisted one.
YouTube: Alex Pritchard scores for Swindon Town against Bradford City
By the end of the season, Pritchard left Town believing he should have scored more for the Robins, so when he moved back to London to join Brentford on a season-long loan hoping to complete his first full season in the Championship, it wasn’t too much of a surprise to see the midfielder step up his game. Under the management of Mark Warburton, Pritchard was given full reign of midfield once again, which saw the then-21-year-old add 12 goals and a consistent seven assists to his tally to help Brentford reach the Play-Off semi-finals against Middlesbrough – one of those goals being the decider when the Bees beat Norwich at Carrow Road 2-1 through a penalty.
However, in contrast to his versatility used at Swindon, the question of “why fix something which isn’t broken?” rang true through his total dominance of central midfield in the number 10 position. Out of 47 appearances for the Bees, he occupied central midfield 44 times as Mark Warburton opted to change his formation to 4-2-3-1, in which Alan Judge and Jota controlled the wings and allowed Pritchard to play free in midfield and behind Andre Gray. This saw Pritchard score 11 of his 12 goals (the other coming from left wing) and all seven of his assists.
YouTube: Alex Pricthard – Brentford FC 2014-15
But not only that, having missed out the previous season on League One Player of the Year and the Young Player of the Season to Adam Forshaw and Will Hughes respectively, Pritchard picked up the Brentford Players’ Player of the Year, along with an inclusion in the Championship PFA Team of the Year. By the end of his time at the Bees, Pritchard once again left with warm reviews and confidence that he was doing something right.
For Mark Warburton, it was a no-brainer that the midfielder is set for the Premier League, whenever his chance comes:
He can dominate a football. Alex is at his best with the ball at his feet. He sees a pass. He’s the best player I’ve seen in this division, certainly, to receive the ball on the half-turn at pace.
Left or right side, he has the ability to take it on the half-turn and for us, how we play, that hurts the opposition.
Technically he’s outstanding. For me, Pritch is nailed on Premier League. In my opinion, I think he is more than good enough to go and positively impact their (Spurs’) playing squad.
Having suffered from injury during last year’s European Under 21 Championship and being ruled out for the remainder of the tournament and early months of the 2015-16 campaign, what transpired once he returned to training was probably not the best for all parties, with a loan move to West Brom seeing Pritchard only feature twice with caution after Pritchard’s injury being the reason given – despite it ruining the midfielder’s chance of match fitness and first team experience.
Having now signed for Norwich City, Pritchard has already set his sights on first team football and promotion for his new side, with the opportunity to potentially play in the Premier League. Signing until 2020, he’s got plenty of time to find his feet, however in a traditionally strong City midfield built up of players who have been with the Canaries for several years, the addition of a new midfielder adds to the question of how the 23-year-old will feature for his new club. The answer: it’ll once again be a competition for places.
Twitter: We are delighted to announce the signing of @pritch_93 on a four-year deal!
#ncfc More: https://t.co/LTPU8yUvtA https://t.co/q7zoNzTBwo (@NorwichCityFC)
As seen through his time predominately at Swindon Town and Brentford, Pritchard plays across the midfield. He can play on either wing or just behind the striker.
Translate that back to Norwich, the formation of 4-2-3-1 is one emulated so far in all of City’s league fixtures and one expected to be used throughout this season’s campaign, repeating its use during the 2014/15 season. If that remains the case, Norwich would have made a signing who does fit the style of the team and one who could do extremely well for the Canaries.
Twitter: A first outing in City colours for @pritch_93 yesterday. #ncfc https://t.co/9UiScybk15 (@NorwichCityFC)
More so, against Rovers in the first game of the season, Pritchard replacing Wes Hoolahan was an obvious swap and the main competition during Pritchard’s time at Carrow Road, whether that be on the left wing or the centre of midfield, occupying the number 10 position.
For me, Pritchard could possibly become a younger Hoolahan in the eyes of City fans if his seasons at Swindon and Brentford are repeated, though Hoolahan’s longevity and extended contract until 2018 could mean a battle is ready to commence. Pritchard and Hoolahan bring similar attributes and when comparing Pritchard’s statistics from his time at Brentford to Hoolahan’s during the past two seasons, they can be said to be near identical per game, whether that be successful passes, pass completion, key passes or chances created, with Pritchard also improving his defensive side of his game.
Hoolahan is a huge contributor to City’s side in previous seasons so with the two players fairly identical in stature and qualities, could Pritchard bring the freshness to the side, along with the extra goals that his Irish teammate may have lacked in previous seasons?
At 23-year-old, Alex Pritchard joins Norwich City with experience from his time out on loan, willingness to learn and bringing plenty for City fans to be encouraged about.
