One of the biggest talking points over pre-season for Norwich has been about who will start between the sticks at Anfield on Friday.
The Canaries face off against Liverpool in the opening game of the 2019/20 Premier League season, but who will be lining up in goal for Norwich?
Tim Krul was Norwich’s undisputed first-choice goalkeeper in the Championship last season and played every single minute as the club secured the title – racking up 94 points and scoring over 100 goals in all competitions.
The Dutchman, however, made a number of high-profile errors and conceded 57 goals in the league – the most by any title-winning Championship side since the league’s rebrand.
Krul joined Norwich from Brighton after failing to dislodge Matt Ryan at The AMEX, but faced little competition from Michael McGovern in Norfolk – who previously failed to take John Ruddy’s place on a regular basis under Alex Neil.
In Krul’s three years before joining Norwich, he amassed just 30 league appearances during spells with Newcastle, Ajax’s reserves and AZ, following a series of injuries whilst on Tyneside.
Come the end of the 2018/19 campaign, Daniel Farke moved quickly to bring in Schalke goalkeeper Ralf Fahrmann. As per Simon Hughes, of The Athletic, Farke pushed Stuart Webber to make a move for Fahrmann, who he believed would be available following the emergence of Alexander Nubel at Schalke.
Fahrmann captained Schalke in the 2017/18 and 2018/19 campaigns, although he lost his place in the second-half of the latter season as he struggled with issues off the pitch – as explained to Read Norwich by Schalke insider Hassan Talib Haji.
Hassan explained that Fahrmann was one of the best goalkeepers in the Bundesliga before the start of the 2018/19 season, but was thrown off his game by concerns about the commitment of his teammates to the cause.
The fact that Farke encouraged Webber to bring Fahrmann to the club suggests that he wanted an upgrade on Krul heading into the Premier League. Given Webber’s comments that Norwich have the smallest budget in the division, it appears unlikely that he would pay a €3m loan fee to sign Fahrmann if Farke did not believe he would be an improvement on Krul – the current number one.
If you are to compare Fahrmann and Krul’s performances for their respective clubs last season, the German comes out on top. Despite losing his place as Schalke’s first-choice, Fahrmann ranked eighth out of all the goalkeepers in the Bundesliga – as per StatsBomb’s analysis on shot-stopping – as he conceded 1.70 fewer goals than he was expected to.
Krul, on the other hand, seemingly underperformed in the Championship. StatsBomb claim that he conceded 3.44 more goals than the average goalkeeper would be expected to save, which placed him 18th for shot-stopping in the second tier of English football last season.
Being a goalkeeper for Norwich under Daniel Farke is more than just about how good you are at saving shots, though, as they are also used as an 11th outfield player. Farke likes his goalkeepers to be comfortable on the ball and be able to start attacks from the back, exchanging passes with the centre-backs and hitting diagonals out to the fullbacks.
Krul often struggled last season when he was pressed whilst in possession of the ball. He was forced into an error against Hull earlier this year, which led to Marc Pugh scoring just before half-time, and was also caused problems by the likes of Dan James, of Swansea. A perfect example of Krul’s poor use of the ball hindering Norwich was his performance away to West Brom. He hit several diagonals over Jamal Lewis and Max Aarons, gifting possession back to West Brom, and continually overhit his clearances straight out of play. This led to West Brom being able to dictate the game, with a late Jordan Rhodes equaliser snatching a point for the visitors on the day.
That is not to say that Fahrmann is the next Manuel Neuer, though. The German also seemed to be hesitant on the ball during pre-season for Norwich this summer, although that could be put down to the fact he is just settling into the way Farke wants to play and learning the English language. Once he is fully familiar with the style and is able to communicate efficiently with the back four, we will see the best of Fahrmann.
So, who should start at Anfield?
Tim Krul. Although I believe Fahrmann will eventually take over from the Dutch shot-stopper, due to all the evidence provided above, Krul is a safe bet to start the season.
He already has a relationship with the back four and is, at this moment in time, more comfortable with how Farke wants to play out from defence. With Norwich facing Liverpool, they cannot afford for any hesitation from Fahrmann, as the likes of Mo Salah and Sadio Mane will pounce in an instant.
It must also be said that Krul did impress at times in the Championship. Despite the errors, Krul was still capable of producing magical saves, with a terrific reaction stop from Neal Maupay away to Brentford in January one of his main highlights of the season.
Farke and Webber have also shown this summer that they are prepared to reward the players who won the Championship title – only making four additions to the squad so far, with Fahrmann, Patrick Roberts, Sam Byram and Josip Drmic coming in. They have also handed out new contracts to the majority of last season’s squad, including a three-year deal for Krul.
If, however, Krul struggles against Liverpool and appears to be a weak link in the side, Norwich know that they have a top-class goalkeeper in the form of Ralf Fahrmann waiting in the wings to take his place.
