With only one goal in twenty-five games for Norwich, Ricky van Wolfswinkel has had a less than prolific start to his life in Norfolk. The question is, why? The man who was nicknamed ‘HatRicky’ with Vitesse and Utrecht because of the number of hat-tricks he scored failed to find the goal scoring touch in the Premier League.
It all started so well; a spectacular header on his debut against Everton on the opening day was what many thought to be a sign of greater things to come. So far, the Wolf has not delivered. This is partly due to a toe injury that caused him to struggle through a number of games before finally being declared unfit after a 0-0 draw against Cardiff. The supposed ‘minor’ injury caused van Wolfswinkel to play just 68 minutes of football in two and a half months.
The lack of playing time has been coupled with a lack of confidence. When watching the Wolf, one sees that his touch is off. He doesn’t seem to want the ball. Often, the opportunity to get into the penalty area and get on the end of a cross is there but van Wolfswinkel doesn’t take the chance. He stays away, afraid of failure. Overcoming this fear is easier said than done. van Wolfswinkel needs to be more determined and more aggressive than ever. More than anything, though, he needs to get on the weights. O Lobo needs to spend a long time in the gym working on his upper body strength, as at the moment he is too easily pushed off the ball.
Despite this, van Wolfswinkel has shown touches of brilliance. He looks good in the air, shows an instinctive finish and makes excellent runs. The problem is, these runs off the shoulder of the defender are not being picked out. The style of Norwich does not suit van Wolfswinkel. Chris Hughton prefered his teams to keep possession and not take risks. However, with Norwich’s poor goal scoring record last season, this needs to change – someone needs to take a risk. Whether the new boss, Neil Adams, will or not is another story – although the last four games of the season point to the fact that he will play a more adventurous style.
The one time Norwich did play slightly more direct was against West Brom at the Hawthorns. Leroy Fer played a through-ball to Gary Hooper and he produced a superb finish to put Norwich in front. Those are the balls Norwich’s strikers feed off, which further compounds the feeling that the style needs to change. Everyone watching Norwich’s games can see van Wolfswinkel making those same runs and I’m sure the players can too. Since this style does not seem to suit van Wolfswinkel, one would think it may suit the opposite style – theoretically, more of a target man (Kyle Lafferty would have done the job), but Grant Holt’s poultry tally of eight goals last season suggested this was not the case. Hughton clearly tweaked the formation and tactics, however, as more and more chances were being created. The performance against Man City was seen as a turning point at the time but the defeat against West Ham three days later brought City crashing back down towards the relegation zone – and subsequent demise to the Championship.
There was a change though. Towards the end of Hughton’s reign, Norwich created more than enough chances to win the game – such as Cardiff away – but did not had the quality and composure to put them away. van Wolfswinkel, if firing on all cylinders, would ultimately solve this problem, for I have no doubt if he had hit the same amount of goals as Hooper had Norwich would have been comfortably mid-table and preparing for another season in England’s top flight.
It was no coincidence that the Canaries’ run of one win in ten games coincides with Jonny Howson’s injury. The midfield maestro had dominated the middle of the park. However, Hughton’s cautious and safe approach to bringing injured players back into the fold meant that Howson wouldn’t see action again until Adams’ appointment. Ultimately, it was too late. Howson clearly wasn’t 100% fit and Norwich were overrun by the superior cash-strapped midfield of the “big four”.
The arrivals of Lewis Grabban – primarily a striker, but can play on the wing – and Kyle Lafferty show a change in transfer policy and possibly a rebuilding project. However, despite the backing of the majority of fans, it looks likely that The Wolf will be shipped out. He has been linked with a loan move to French club Saint Etienne – currently in the Europa League – with an option of a 6m euro purchase option. Hopefully, van Wolfswinkel will be given a fair crack of the whip this coming season, as if he starts scoring, he won’t stop. He’s proved that before.
