Norwich City returned to East Anglia on Saturday following the successful completion of their European preseason tour. The Canaries have travelled to countries including Germany and have taken on some of the elite teams across the continent.
The preseason is important for every team, but it is imperative for Alex Neil’s men to seize every opportunity to prepare for the tests of a return to the Premier League in 2015-16
Norwich began the run with two fixtures against non-league opposition, first travelling to Gorleston on July 11th. Neil commented that he needed his side to “hit the ground running” during preseason, indicating that the squad was in for a testing summer break. The Canaries sailed past the minnows of Gorleston with a comfortable 7-0 win. Cameron Jerome netted a hat-trick, along with goals from Tony Andreu, Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe, Lewis Grabban, and Jonny Howson.
The second preseason friendly came once again against a much smaller team, Hertfordshire-based Hitchin Town welcomed Norwich to their ground, Top Field, on the 14th July. The Canaries showed no signs of losing their touch from the successful 2014-15 campaign with a fine 10-0 thrashing. This time it was Andreu who scored a hat-trick, followed by braces from Jerome and Gary O’Neil, and finished off with goals from Gary Hooper, Wes Hoolahan, and Steven Whittaker.
The 17th July conjured a slightly different challenge, as Norwich made the short journey to meer Cambridge United at the Abbey Stadium. This was sure to be a tough test for the Canaries – Cambridge of League 2 were a well drilled outfit, and had held Manchester United to a 0-0 FA Cup result the previous season. A 120 minute friendly was played, with Norwich outlasting the home side in a 3-1 victory. Barry Corr fired the hosts in front just after the half hour mark, before Norwich turned the tables after the break, with goals from Hooper, Ricky van Wolfswinkel, and Harry Toffolo sealing the win.
Alex Neil’s side then jetted off to Israel to begin their short European preseason tour. Norwich were due to play Maccabi Haifa, who finished fourth in the Premier Israeli League, at the Kufstein Stadium. It was here that Norwich suffered their first defeat of the 2015-16 pre-season campaign, falling 1-0 to the Israeli outfit. Alon Turgeman fired past Declan Rudd to provide the only goal of the game, whilst Norwich were unable to find a way past the solid Haifa defence.
Following the disappointment in Israel, the Norwich team departed and travelled to Prien, in Bavarian Germany. The next hurdle lay in the form of German outfit FC Augsburg, a team who had surprised many during the 2014-15 Bundesliga season. Norwich new boy Graham Dorrans told the Eastern Daily Press, “they finished fourth or fifth in the Bundesliga so they must be a good side. It is another step up for us and it’s exactly what we need.”
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The Augsburg team contained many names of note, including 21-year-old left-back Abdul Rahman Baba, who has been subject to renewed interest from Chelsea, for FC Schalke 04 attacker Halil Altintop, and former Bayern Munich, Hamburg and Sevilla midfielder Piotr Trochowski.
Sporting their newly announced inaugural third kit, Norwich secured a 2-1 win over Augsburg in a rain-hit encounter against the Europa League side. After a stalemate first-half which garnered no discernible openings, Trochowski fired a 25 yard free-kick past Ruddy to give the home side an advantage. Norwich did not let this affect their gameplan, however, and continued probing for openings. they were rewarded in the 77th minute, when new signing Yussuf Mulumbu finished a wonderful counter-attacking team move to draw the game level. Norwich then capitalized on Augsburg’s high defensive line by sealing the win in the 89th minute, Lewis Grabban finding himself one-on-one with keeper Alex Manninger, whom he calmly slid the ball past to secure victory.
The Canaries now return to East Anglia for the final stretch of preseason preparations, before the Premier League season opener against Crystal Palace at Carrow Road. Norwich meet West Ham United on the 28th July in their first test against top flight opposition, before hosting Championship side Brentford for their preseason finale on August 1st.
Norwich are also continuing their pursuit of 23-year-old Hull attacker Robbie Brady, however, Alex Neil insisted there was more work to be done to secure the signing. The manager said “we’re trying our very best. Over the course of the start of next week onwards we would like to hopefully do a couple more bits of business.” He also distanced himself from reports stating the club were readying a move for Liverpool striker Rickie Lambert, following the end of the pursuit of Celta Vigo hitman Joaquin Larrivey.
It has been a successful pre season for Norwich City by all accounts, and with prospective new signings to be targeted in the month to come, there are many reasons for Canaries supporters to be staring into the forthcoming season with hope and wonder.
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Norwich went to Austria, not Israel, where they played an israeli team and a German team. Google is your friend journo