Remember the goal that Nathan Redmond scored against Southampton last season? The one where he cut inside and unleashed a rocket from outside of the box to give us the 1-0 win. And we all thought “With football like this we will easily stay up!” About that…
It was his first goal for the club, and almost a carbon copy (but on the opposite wing) of Saturday’s goal against Brentford. With Saturday being his first trip back to the St. Andrew’s Stadium since leaving Birmingham, it now seems like a perfect time to put him into focus.
Nathan Redmond is our most important man, because he is the only player that I think opponents fear. It is just that simple. The only player opposing fullbacks shudder about is Redmond. No matter the position, I think every team needs that one player that just by showing up changes the dynamic of the game, and Redmond is ours.
When you have a player with pace like he has, opponents are less ready to commit guys forward, and stay back to cover the threat of the pace. Our fullbacks are not our strong suit, as covered in a recent article. Redmond’s pace prevents their fullbacks from committing forward and joining the attack. That is exactly what Liverpool have with Daniel Sturridge, and without him they have struggled. To me he is almost a ‘fifth defender’ that attacks through the wings.
Those are just the in-game reasons why he is of huge significance; off the pitch I think his contribution could be just as big. For me, he can be the reason our next two stars blossom. Josh and Jacob Murphy could definitely benefit from learning from him. Seeing the little things about timing your runs, noticing defensive schemes, and all of the mechanics that teenagers like the Murphy twins need to go from players with potential to players that perform.
The final prong of the Nathan Redmond importance fork is that he is without doubt the hungriest player at our club. In his first four years as a footballer he has experienced two relegations, a promotion play-off loss, and a mid-table finish. Now in his 5th season he wants nothing more than something to bounce his way. When it comes down the stretch, his young legs will keep him going, and his determination and memories of failures past will keep him hungry.
Even for his young age the teams that he has been on have helped make him a little bit of a leader in my eyes. He has international experience with nine goals in his time in the England youth ranks. I would go as far as saying he could be up for selection for the 2018 World Cup if he continues at this rate. That might be a little lofty, but with hard work I think he can do it.
This is not to say that he does not have a lot of lessons to learn and development to take place. He is just 20 years old, and by no means is he a Cristiano Ronaldo. But he is the best player Norwich have right now, and could turn into something even better. However, that is not going to happen overnight. He needs to continue to put in good shifts and show why he is so important. He can start against his old club Birmingham on Saturday and fire our promotion charge up again. OTBC!
