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Top of the class but Farke flags one area to improve
Norwich City have surged to the top of the Championship turning for home in the promotion stakes - Credit: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd
Hard task master Daniel Farke wants more from his table topping Norwich City side as the Championship promotion scrap hots up.
Farke’s half-term report made for excellent reading, with the Canaries’ 47 point haul matching their tally from this stage of the title-winning campaign in 2018/19.
City take a break from league action when they host Coventry City in the FA Cup on Saturday, but they remain the team to catch in the battle to reach the Premier League.
"You have to be delighted. It is remarkable and you can only give the lads compliments,” said Farke. “To be there at this stage of course is no guarantee we finish the season in the same top position. But a brilliant first half. It is probably one of the best first halves in the history of Norwich City.
"We certainly had a similar amount of points to this stage when we won the league two seasons ago. But to be here again after relegation and that disappointment, without a summer break or a pre-season, then many injuries is more impressive.
"We had to play nine games without our number one keeper and you could see how important he is to us just with his body language (against Barnsley). We had also some games without a senior striker and two and a half months without a left back.”
City’s narrow win over the Tykes, however, highlight one area Farke feels the leaders must improve.
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“We have to praise them but we could be more brutal in front of the goal, and if we do that than maybe we have a better goal difference. But overall in such difficult circumstances I am delighted," he said.
“We wanted to send a signal because momentum can change quite quickly. You could think after two games without a win, against a Barnsley side with nothing to lose and with a coach who is going win the manager-of-the-month (for December) perhaps we might be a bit nervous.
"But we dominated from the first to the last second.
“It might be unfair to say there is much more to come from this side, given we are top and with so many points at this stage. I am always excited to work with this group. It is a pleasure to work with them. I can’t wait for the next game.”
