Alex Neil is never satisfied. His pursuit of perfection does not come at the expense of others—and certainly not in the squad he’s been handed to assemble. Rather, the Norwich manager’s greatest attribution is his desire for more. More points. More clean sheets. More in-form players. More routine dissection of the opposition.
Perhaps the second international break is a reasonable time to evaluate the Scottish-born manager, not for the points he could’ve commandeered, but the creativity he’s painted Norwich City’s attractive, forward-thinking football with. He’s brushed in a no-nonsense sense of reckless courage. Neil chases results at Anfield when other managers—certainly Mr Chris Hughton—accept a small-minded stature and willingly give the bullies lunch money.
Under Alex Neil Norwich have regularly sought out an opponent’s weakness and pounced. Against Middlesbrough it was about snatching momentum early and making the Teesiders claw their way back—something the northeastern club couldn’t do. Against Sunderland, another northeastern side, Neil sent out an aggressive line-up that could boss the midfield, slice through Black Cat territory and seamlessly earn a 3-1 romping.
Neil sticks to his comfort level—a relatively vast area considering the options at his disposal—making different selections for different situations. He knows no sense of pressure from the fans. When Steven Whittaker struggled at right-back under ex-manager Neil Adams, Russell Martin was pushed out wide, sliding another centre-back into the melee.
The new Neil, even when he has an in-form international striker bag a brace, will keep him cozy on the Carrow Road bench. Given Robbie Brady’s stonewall defending—arguably one of City’s best players thus far—Martin Olsson was never going to get the spot immediately after recovering from shoulder surgery. Neil even dropped Wes Hoolahan, his best performer, at Anfield. It wasn’t an educated guess. It was a thoughtout plan, mapped to success. The same could be said for using Nathan Redmond as a substitute.
But the manager does have his flaws. Though in some cases, they aren’t issues he can directly control. A lack of transfer investment has given Neil not the best squad possible, but a squad he’ll have to mould. When Norwich went down 2-0 to Leicester on Saturday, Neil moulded a new formation for the club in their Premier League return: an additional striker. Cameron Jerome was paired with Deiumerci Mbokani, a duo that constantly pressured the Foxes’ backline. Eventually the Congo international got his deserved goal.
Yet that doesn’t mean the manager will steer the ship in a new direction. Perhaps Mbokani will start next Saturday. Perhaps he won’t. Either way, Neil has mapped the coordinates exactly to his choice.
Resting on nine points from eight matches, it’s a pace that could suck City into a relegation whirlpool. But Norwich will pull their way out. After all, Neil is in command. He always is. And this is all just part of the plan.
