Will Grant: A diagnosis on City's U21s limp season finish

Skip forward four months and they find themselves in 19th and unable to qualify for the play-offs. They have lost eight times in 10 games, a run of form that has left them four points short of the top 16 spots. 

There's a multitude of factors for this downfall, one of the biggest being the unavailability of key players. The most notable absence has been Emmanuel Adegboyega, the Irish defender leaving for Walsall in the January transfer window.

Adegboyega was undoubtedly the most important figure in the U21s during the first half of the season. Norwich have had to create a new formation, as the Irishman's departure meant limited personnel available in the defensive line.

At the start of the season, Adegboyega had a licence to come out of the back five and get touch-tight to the opposition striker. That resulted in him winning turnovers and then being able to drive the ball forward into the middle third, allowing Norwich’s build-up to increase in intensity.

Since his departure, Norwich have had to operate with only three central defenders - meaning there’s less flexibility to play in a back three due to the stretched squad. 

Not only did Adegboyega make Norwich a functional team from a structural perspective, his physical characteristics strengthened the defence hugely.

He had a high success rate at winning aerial and physical duels, as well as making vital interventions at critical times. His dominance across the backline improved the performance levels of defensive duo Charlie Wilson and Waylon Renecke, with those two individuals settling into the level well. 

Another player Norwich have missed recently is their talisman, Ken Aboh. Despite there being some politics around his and Finley Welch's game time of late, the U21s have lacked cutting edge as a result of their first-team squad filling.

This has been demonstrated from a numerical perspective, with the U21s failing to score in their last three games - with one of those teams being a step four local non-league side.

However, it’s not just the goals from Aboh which the Canaries have lacked, it’s the ability to protect and be proactive with the ball in the final third. In the last few weeks, the U21s have lacked a reliable focal point that can overcome physical duels with defenders, as well as having the ability to cause the opposition problems by running in behind and working the flanks.

Ken Aboh and Finley Welch's absence have been felt in the Norwich City U21s. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

The ball has been given away too many times in the attacking third, with Norwich becoming loose in that area. 

Norwich are currently giving opportunities to Errol Mundle-Smith, Alex Roberts and Dan Ogwuru, to play as the two strikers for the U21s.

Roberts and Mundle-Smith have predominantly played U18s football this season, meaning they’ve needed time to adapt to the level.

They’ve both shown glimpses of their quality, but Norwich would have wanted a healthier equilibrium with those individuals putting in more match-winning performances. With that in mind, City will look to strengthen in the summer, with more attacking firepower needed in the squad. 

The U21s' hugely disappointing result was the defeat against Reading. This defeat was more deflating, as an array of first-team players were involved for ‘fitness’ reasons.

Those first-team players failed to live up to expectations, with some substandard performances from Danny Batth and Sydney van Hooijdonk. That game was massive, because it would have established some breathing space in the league, as well as it being a greater chance to win due to the strength of the side.

The ironic factor to that game is that the U21s players, such as Welch and Pedro Lima, were the better performers.

Moreover, the U21s have had major issues at starting games positively, with the team going down by two goals on a frequent basis. The explanation for this is that opposition teams have started the game with fast intensity, with Norwich struggling to match the quick tempo starts created by the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham.

Norwich City have struggled for results in the closing weeks of the campaign. (Image: Jordan Blyth/Reverb Digital)

The irritating element to this debate is that Norwich have actually shown character to bounce back from these particular slow-start games, scoring a few goals as the game develops. 

The most frustrating part of this decline in form has been the performances of the last few weeks. It’s worth adding that Southampton and West Ham have strong U21s teams, but Norwich made their victories simple.

The West Ham game was a good example, with Norwich conceding a huge volume of territory in central areas, allowing the Hammers to play through them at ease. 

Another important factor which has been recognisable across the latter stages of the season has been the mis-profiling of certain individuals. This has been specifically visible in recent weeks, with key players playing in secondary positions.

With opposition teams becoming stronger and recalling their best players back to the U21s team, Norwich are immediately on the back foot, especially with their strongest players on the first-team bench. 

Adian Manning has been playing out of position for Alan Neilson's side. (Image: Newsquest)

Two vivid examples of mis-profiling towards the end of the season were the tinkering of Gabe Forysth and Adian Manning positions.

Forsyth has played as left back recently, which has been difficult to understand - especially with his outstanding form and quality of late. Instead, the coaching staff opted for Manning in the inverted right midfield role, which was peculiar due to the midfielder having a big effect on games as a deep-lying playmaker earlier in the season.

This experiment failed, as Norwich U21s have failed to score during the month of April.

It’s also worth noting that Wilson, Joe Duffy and Forysth have had a positive end to the season, and deserve a mention for their prolonged spells of consistency.