Norwich’s summer search was a lot of things; tedious, frustrating, embarrassing. Yet, I think it can be classed as a success. Just hours before the country was about to go mad for deadline day, Norwich City announced that they had signed Dynamo Kiev forward Dieumerci Mbokani on a season-long loan from the Ukraine side; with an option to buy.
It was clear from the get go that Alex Neil needed one, possibly two more strikers in during the summer window. Cameron Jerome had done superb for the club in the Championship but there were still doubts over his Premier League quality and Lewis Grabban, Gary Hooper and Kyle Lafferty were also wildcards. Alex Neil needed to go out and buy a consistent striker that could perform in the English top flight.
There were plenty of names linked, well, plenty is an understatement. There were some unrealistic ones, such as QPR’s Charlie Austin. Then there were some embarrassing links, such as Jonathan Walters. Yet, for me, one name stood out in my head as the almost perfect target. Dieumerci Mbokani. Out of all of the strikers that we were linked to, him and Dwight Gayle were the two that I thought were most likely to join Norwich. This was proven right as we signed Mbokani and if it was not for Glenn Murray leaving Crystal Palace; we would have had Gayle as well.
The reason that I thought Mbokani seemed the perfect target for us was simple. He was a consistent goalscorer. You see all these ‘hotshot’ forwards who are linked to all the big clubs because they have a good record at their current club. However, I am more impressed with the players who can keep a consistent goalscoring record across multiple clubs as it shows that they are able to adapt their play to different systems and leagues. Mbokani had that. his record for Liege, Anderlecht, Kiev and his national team are all very respectable and impressive. He has averaged around a goal every two games at the majority of his clubs. This convinced me that he was the man who Norwich needed.
So far, he has proved me right. He may only have started two games so far, due to Neil’s evident love for Jerome, but Mbokani has already yielded two goals and one assist in the Premier League. His first goal came against Leicester, it was a much better goal than people give it credit for. He did well to get away from his marker and then the technique to be able to leap so high and direct the ball into the bottom corner with the outside of his foot in mid-air was fantastic. His second then came as he scored the equaliser against Newcastle (We don’t want to know anything else about that match). This may be harsh, but it was a goal I don’t think any of our other strikers could have scored. He made a good run to get away from his man before showing great athleticism to beat the keeper to the ball and get it into the back of the net.
It is so easy to see his class when he plays for Norwich. His first touch is one of the best I have seen at Carrow Road and his movement and determination on and off the ball is just brilliant to see. This may not be a comparison that people may like to see but his movement is reminiscent of Ricky Van Wolfswinkel’s at Norwich. For example, on his debut against Everton, the Match Of The Day crew even picked up on and highlighted his superb movement off the ball. It is those clever runs across or in behind the defence that create yourself chances as a forward. Van Wolfswinkel’s problem was that none of our players seemed clever enough to pick him out, that dropped his confidence and then he spiraled, but that is another story. We have more intelligent players now than we did two years ago and they are beginning to pick out Mbokani’s runs; meaning that the goals will come.
I was hoping that Cameron Jerome would be able to prove people wrong this season and make that step up to the Premier League but he just hasn’t. The amount of clear-cut chances that he has missed this season has been unacceptable. I still love what he has done for Norwich and rate him as a player, but not as a starter on his own up front. He should be used as an impact sub or alongside Mbokani. The man from Congo has to be starting all the games that he is fit for from now on, he just has to. I think if he can stay fit till the end of the season then he will score over ten Premier League goals for us, which would be a good return for a bottom half team.
How good do you think Mbokani is?
