City boss backs his young talent to handle huge step up to the Premier League
Daniel Farke is backing his Norwich City players to adapt to the Premier League Picture: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd - Credit: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd
Daniel Farke is convinced his Norwich City squad will prove to be fast learners in the Premier League.
City face a daunting opening night trip to Liverpool on Friday before early season tussles against both Chelsea and title holders Manchester City, but the head coach is tipping the likes of his young full backs Max Aarons and Jamal Lewis to relish the huge step up.
"We know these players are capable of improving," he said. "We wanted a tough series of pre-season games so the players can feel what it is like to play a club like Schalke 04 or Bergamo. You have to realise you must be better on the small details than we were last season.
"When we face Liverpool away in comparison to maybe Bolton at home perhaps Max Aarons was ten times in the opponents' box. At Anfield that will be very difficult, or the Etihad as well.
"The tactical approach must change. Last season they could play with unbelievable attacking intent 95pc of the time, now they might have to defend more and change their positioning. We have worked a lot on that in recent weeks. Against Schalke 04 I remember a period in the first half when they were on top and we switched our formation to three at the back, wing backs more than full backs and it is important then Max, Jamal, Philip (Heise) or Sam (Byram) get used to different roles."
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Farke aims to draw on his own experience working at Borussia Dortmund to ease the transition.
"It helps a bit because Dortmund is one of the top 10 clubs in Europe. We have a few of them in the Premier League so you have an idea how these clubs work, the approach, the mentality of the players," he said. "It will help us a lot to prepare the lads for Liverpool or Manchester City.
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"We are not a top 10 club in Europe, so our approach has to be different. We can't just press a button and the status quo changes. We know the steps we have to take to develop, and I am not talking one or two or three years but mid to long term.
"We know there are challenges in the Premier League. We sat down in the summer and thought about that a lot.
"Let's see if we have found the right answers. I think we are prepared for what awaits us but let's see on the pitch."
