The Canaries may be without 11 players from their line-up against the champions, leaving the manager wanting to “cry in a cave”
Daniel Farke revealed the sobering state of his injury list could leave Norwich without up to 11 players for Saturday’s visit of champions Manchester City, but he remained surprisingly chirpy given the situation.
Farke’s pre-match news conference on Friday was verging on farcical, as the German steadily went through a list of players who are either injured or a doubt for the match against City.
The Canaries’ defence has been utterly decimated by the crisis, as they will definitely be without Max Aarons, Timm Klose and Christoph Zimmermann, while Grant Hanley is only fit enough for a place on the bench, Ben Godfrey is a major doubt after sustaining a groin strain on England Under-21 duty and Tim Krul is struggling.
That leaves them with only Jamal Lewis, Sam Byram and Philip Heise as recognised first-team defenders.
They also have problems in midfield, with Tom Trybull, Mario Vrancic, Moritz Leitner and Onel Hernandez ruled out, and Patrick Roberts is ineligible against his parent club.
Despite the issues, Farke has no plans to go all-out defensive in an attempt to salvage a point.
“Manchester City are exceptional, they are so special,” Farke told reporters. “If you just try to park the bus then you have no chance.
“It is important that you have periods where you control the ball and are in possession. We will have to be top class in our defending and be disciplined.
“It will be also important that we bring our style and try to dominate possession and be good with the ball.
“Even if I wanted to, I can’t park the bus because I have no defensive players anymore. We will have to concentrate on our skills.
“There were more lads today [Friday] on the physio bench than on the training pitch. It is a tricky situation for us.
“We are playing one of the best teams in the world, if not the best, and as a newly promoted side you always have to be at your best.”
DF: Timm Klose doesn’t need surgery. It won’t reduce his time out. He is out for 9 months but could be 1-2 months less. #ncfc
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) September 13, 2019
DF: Zimmermann is out until January. His ligaments are okay but it’s a complicated injury. #ncfc
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) September 13, 2019
DF: Grant Hanley is not available for the starting line-up tomorrow. He is back on the training pitch today and he could play 20/30 minutes tomorrow. #ncfc
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) September 13, 2019
DF: Tom Trybull is out. He damaged his ligaments against West Ham. He won’t come back before the next international break. #ncfc
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) September 13, 2019
DF: Patrick Roberts is ineligible. Moritz Leitner is out with his calf. He hasn’t trained for 2 weeks. #ncfc
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) September 13, 2019
DF: Mario Vrancic is not available for tomorrow, he has a calf strain. Max Aarons is also out, he could be back after the next international break. #ncfc
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) September 13, 2019
DF: Ben Godfrey came back with a groin strain from international and is a major doubt for tomorrow. It will be a short-term decision. #ncfc
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) September 13, 2019
DF: Tim Krul is a minor doubt for tomorrow. I may have to name three goalkeepers in the squad. #ncfc
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) September 13, 2019
Farke, though, was still able to remain light-hearted about Norwich’s situation.
“Our injury situation is not easy at the moment, but we will try to handle it anyhow. I will return to my darkened cave after this [news conference] and cry,” he quipped.
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