Robin Sainty: Consistency is the next box Norwich City need to tick

Last Saturday’s performance at Wigan in a game that in terms of entertainment was slightly less exciting than watching paint dry, wasn’t that of a team with pretensions of returning to the Premier League, with golden chances gifted to the home team by awful passing and poor decision making, and a total lack of creativity.

Despite loud and unwavering support from a packed away section, led by the excellent work of the City Elite fan group, the energy in the stands was never matched on the pitch as City plumbed increasingly greater depths of ineptitude, and were spared an embarrassing defeat only by the home team’s inability to finish.

While a point, however unmerited, is better than nothing, it hardly did anything to convince anyone that City are good enough to make the play-offs, let alone succeed there.

So, once again, we all trooped to Carrow Road on Tuesday wondering which Norwich City were going to turn up, only to be pleasantly surprised by a first-half performance that had all the ingredients that had been lacking at Wigan.

Having looked completely flat at the DW Stadium, City showed energy, inventiveness and a level of desire that had been conspicuously absent at Wigan, and should have been ahead well before Marcelino Nunez’s wonder-strike.

Much of that was down to a more positive approach, but the fact that their shape was much better also played a big part.

At Wigan, City’s midfielders could have used semaphore to communicate, such was the distance between them at times. Kenny McLean was invariably dropping in to the full-back or centre back positions to pick up the ball and was then unable to drive into midfield with the ball or to find a short passing option, with Wigan dropping into a low block.

That meant that Gabriel Sara and Kieran Dowell were left to cover a huge amount of ground and the problem was exacerbated by the fact that both full-backs, who are key outlets in City’s system, had poor games, riddled with errors.

Dimi Giannoulis (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

While Max Aarons put that behind him on Tuesday evening, Dimi Giannoulis seems to be suffering from a crisis of confidence and is currently more often playing backwards than forwards.

On the other hand, the game against Birmingham saw a return to the Nunez who started the season, and he clearly relished the number 10 role and the ability to play closer to his fellow South American.

Sara has continued to grow into the role that David Wagner has given him, having been shuffled from pillar to post by Dean Smith. He was outstanding against Birmingham and increasingly looks like the sort of player that City can build their future midfield around.

Much like Emi Buendia, he seems capable of blending flair with an ability to negotiate the physical challenges that are a trademark of the Championship and I believe that there is much more to come from him as his confidence builds.

Tuesday night might also prove to be a watershed for Christos Tzolis. Although he hasn’t spent much time on the pitch since his return from loan, the goal against Birmingham will do wonders for his confidence, as will the fact that he got the call to replace Onel Hernandez, despite Marquinhos also being on the bench.

So, plenty of positives, but Wagner will be less happy with how his side lost control after half-time. The introduction of another striker in place of a midfielder by the visitors led to a shift in the balance of play and a few nervy moments before City regained the initiative in the latter stages.

Wagner will know that stronger opposition would have made more of that opportunity and that City must retain intensity for the full 90 minutes if they are to beat better teams.