Norwich made a big move in the transfer market in January to secure the services of midfielder Ondrej Duda on loan until the end of the season.
Duda scored 11 goals and assisted a further five in the Bundesliga during the 2018/19 campaign for Hertha Berlin, showing the kind of talent Norwich were able to acquire.
However, Duda has arrived at Norwich with the club in a precarious position in the Premier League. The Canaries are seven points adrift of safety, with just 13 games left to play.
In the three games Duda has played so far for Norwich, they have won one, lost one and drawn one – with the one loss only coming narrowly at the hands of Tottenham away from home.
This shows the kind of impact Duda has had on Norwich’s play, with the Slovakian helping to win two penalties in his first two games – against Bournemouth and Tottenham, respectively.
On his debut, against Bournemouth, he was denied a fantastic goal by the diving hand of centre-back Steve Cook. The Bournemouth skipper was subsequently sent off and Teemu Pukki scored from the spot, the only goal of the game.
Duda’s shot leading to the goal was a controlled, precise, effort from 25-yards which would have found the top corner had it not been for Cook’s quick reflexes and foul play.
Regardless, it did count as an assist for the Slovakian – which immediately made him the joint-most productive central attacking midfielder for Norwich in the Premier League.
The only other player to record a goal contribution in the position was Kenny McLean, who set up Pukki in the 2-2 home draw against Arsenal.
The player with the most minutes as a number 10 for Norwich this season is Marco Stiepermann, which means that it is fair to compare Duda’s start with him.
In his 17 Premier League appearances so far, Stiepermann has created 10 chances – resulting in zero assists.
Duda, meanwhile, has created nine chances in just three games – resulting in one assist. It is fair to say that this is a huge improvement from the Hertha Berlin loanee and shows that he is having a big impact on Norwich’s attacking play.
Another facet of play Daniel Farke demands from his number 10 is the ability to break up play and stop counter-attacks, whilst also pressing high up the pitch to win the ball back.
Stiepermann was able to rack up 10 tackles in his 15 games, whilst Duda has already managed 10 tackles in his three appearances. This further shows how much of a difference Duda has made to the team in the attacking midfielder position.
With these stats, it does suggest that Norwich could be in a better position in the league if they were able to sign Duda – or another attacking midfielder of similar quality – in the summer to replace Stiepermann heading into the Premier League season.
Stiepermann was the only natural attacking midfielder in the squad last summer, which meant that he had no competition for his place and no one to spur him on to improve his game.
Had the Canaries made a deal to sign Duda in the summer, they would probably find themselves in a better position points-wise in the league table.
