My take on whether Wagner can follow this through would start with Sara, who was 23 when he arrived in 2022. He struggled early on under Smith but has developed into a multi skilled midfielder in the heart of Wagner's tactical system. He talks about how Wagner developed the defensive side of his play so that he can adjust quickly to different situations as the pivotal focus who others look to for progressing the ball up the pitch, as in our movement leading to the goal, when Sara passed the ball through a crowd of players to Rowe, who timed his pass into the path of Sargent closing on their goal and finishing the move perfectly. Under Farke and then Smith, Sargent was played out wide. Wagner moved him to the middle with Pukki and he soon looked like another player. With Pukki gone, he became the main striker and knocked in 3 goals in the first four games before the injury. He no longer looked the youthful striker who had trouble controlling passes to him and had progressed rapidly until the injury. I think we could be in the top six now if he hadn't been injured. Hopefully he can make up for lost time. Núñez, 22 when he arrived last year, is another who has progressed this season, especially after McLean was moved to CB. Suddenly our midfield is more dynamic with Kenny moving forward and Rowe, Hernandez, Fassnacht and now Sainz cutting in and creating movement around the strikers with Sara and Núñez pulling the strings. Even more impressively, Rowe has suddenly emerged under Wagner, as has Springett and we can only wonder what Sainz (another who's 22) might have done earlier had he not been injured. Perhaps the best case though is Kellen Fisher who arrived, aged 19, from down in the non leagues and was immediately promoted over Mumba as the backup at RB and he's never failed that trust. Jaden Warner is another who was promoted to the first team to cover for injuries and is still there now he has recovered from injury himself. There are other young players currently out on loan or in the U21s showing promise for the future as well and I'm hoping that with a nearly fully fit squad now, Wagner can really get us firing on all cylinders.
A well earned team point, though based on the stats, undeserved. However stats don't win prizes sorry, points. Not that I expect that type of setup & performance be repeated, though if it were chants to change the manager/board will grow and attendances decrease. What matters to me is whether the team can build on that performance against 'Ull City in a weeks time, we shall see
The stats don't tell the whole tale. My view is closer to this ACN article, which I posted on the season thread. https://www.alongcomenorwich.com/ar...cf3f9aa3558c02c040e9b297ddf35af#comment-11553
