‘Kill the intensity’ - Johannes Hoff Thorup demands Norwich City response at Portsmouth after costly QPR loss

Johannes Hoff Thorup has claimed that his Norwich City team are raring to go against Portsmouth and would have played immediately after the QPR defeat at the weekend if they could. The Canaries travel down to Fratton Park looking to make amends for Saturday’s 3-0 loss to relegation threatened QPR in the capital.

The result left the Yellows 10th in the table and six points adrift of the play-offs places but Thorup insists he doesn’t have to rip up the script. When speaking about his team selection at Fratton Park, he told the Pink Un: “We don’t have to change everything just because we lost one game. We are in a good place and they are trying everything they can, so it’s also down to me to show that commitment to the team. It’s all about balance.”

Thorup is known for playing an attacking brand of football with a huge emphasis on short passing and dictating possession. He insists that style is here to stay but adds that he is working to make his team more pragmatic at times due to football being a results based business. Thorup added: “It still comes from the same structure and exactly the same things, but as a coach you need to be a bit pragmatic, because we are here for results. Sometimes we need to take a step back to be able to develop. It’s about building new variations. Not a new style of play, not at all, and we need to be even more clear when we are building.”

Norwich have been a mixed bag this season, which is reflected by their league position. At times they have been formidable going forward and they are the top scorers in the league with 35 goals. However, at times their defensive frailties, particularly from set pieces in recent weeks, have cost them results. Overall, the Canaries have conceded 30 goals - the most of any team inside the top 17 places.

Thorup insists this is something he is working to resolve ahead of Portsmouth: “The players have been very, very solid defensively on set pieces. Now we’ve had a couple of games in a row where we’ve conceded set pieces, but a lot of teams in this league are very good at them and it’s not the game of every player we have. But we have also given throw-ins and free kicks too easily at times. We won’t get carried away with that side of the game or change the way we work.”

Portsmouth have picked up eight points from their last six league matches, in an impressive turnaround which leaves them ninth in the six-game form table. Pompey were at their formidable best in a 3-0 victory against Bristol City last time out - and Thorup claims the best route to victory for his team is trying to nullify the Fratton Park crowd as much as possible.

He explained: “That’s my approach to everything as a coach. If we don’t succeed then we need to be better, so that’s of course something we’ve talked about. The best way to kill the momentum in a stadium is to make a lot of passes. You kill the intensity and the atmosphere in that stadium. It can turn into something that is not in their favour, because they will feel it if the support is not there. We have to stick together, and that is a big factor definitely.”