Even best teams can be 'boring' - Norwich boss Thorup
Johannes Hoff Thorup was brought in after Norwich City missed out on promotion from the Championship
- Published
Norwich City head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup is content for his team to be "a little bit boring" at times if it leads to the results they want next season.
The Dane was appointed at the end of May on a three-year contract following the departure of predecessor David Wagner in the wake of the Canaries' defeat by Leeds United in the Championship play-offs.
Wagner's tactical approach was criticised by some supporters during a disappointing run of only one win in nine league games from mid-September to early November last season.
But Thorup told a fans' forum: "If we look at some of the better teams in the world right now there are still these moments in the game where it can be a little bit boring to watch."
He continued: "I'd rather go down that road than just give the ball away and then it is more up to random situations. The way we are going to approach the game is that it has to be not random.
"The way we see things is that we can train everything in football and we can prepare these players for more or less every situation in football, and that's the approach we are going to have. There is a risk that sometimes it can be a little boring."
Thorup joined Norwich from FC Nordsjaelland, having guided them to a second-place finish in 2022-23 to earn a spot in the qualifying rounds of the Europa Conference League.
And last season he took the club to the group stage of the European competition and a fourth-place finish in the Danish Superliga table.
He now has the task of leading Norwich to another promotion run, having been relegated from the Premier League in 2022.
They play their first pre-season friendly against Northampton Town on Saturday and will then face four European sides before beginning the new league campaign with a trip to promoted Oxford United on 10 August.
The club have yet to make any signings in the summer transfer window and Thorup said he was working with the existing squad on "finding the right balance".
He told supporters: "There will be games sometimes (when) we need to sit back a little more and defend. It can also be ok once in a while to open more space for counter attacks and if we have fast players up front they will have even more space to run into.
"You will see that we approach the game hopefully in a very obvious way, but of course we should always be ready to adapt while the game is on.
"At the end of the day it's the result the matters but I hope that if it's boring once in a while, you can live with the approach."
