In the summer break, with David Wagner receiving the sack following Norwich City’s 4-0 away defeat in the play-off semi-finals to Leeds United, currently under the tenure of former head coach Daniel Farke, many fans were eager for a new era in NR1.
With the managerial rumours flying, linking Norwich to former Hull City manager Liam Rosenior, Sheffield Wednesday head coach Danny Röhl and current Arsenal assistant manager Carlos Cuesta, the board, still under the control of Delia Smith and Michael Wynn Jones, opted for an unknown from outside the traditional “top five”.
Johannes Hoff Thorup, 36, arrived in Norfolk from Danish Superliga side FC Nordsjælland with a vision for the future. To turn around the poor form away from home, whilst upholding the dominant home record that saw Norwich reach a calendar year unbeaten at home in November 2024.
A key highlight of “The Hoff’s”, as many Norwich fans affectionately call him, philosophy is promoting the youth pathway and utilising young players within his setup, an ideology that saw him take Nordsjælland into the UEFA Europa Conference League, and with his arrival leaving him only a few months older than the oldest player at the club, Ashley Barnes, who returned to Burnley in the January transfer window, fans were eager to see what changes would be made ahead of the start of the season.
Tactical Analysis
During his spell with Nordsjælland and now honing his trade with Norwich City, Hoff Thorup favours a 4-3-3 formation which demonstrated a high level of player-profile understanding, with players often roaming out of position to provide cover and returning to their optimal playing positions in a settled-play structure.
Playing out from the back and retaining possession is a significant marker for teams wanting to dominate possession and control the game, and for Hoff Thorup, this is no different. Utilising two centre-backs splitting the goalkeeper with the two full-backs going wide, and unusually for this style of football, the three midfielders remained tight at the back, often lining up with a single CDM in the middle and two roaming midfielders on either side, with the front three stretching the oppositions backline.
The unique structure created allows the goalkeeper, defence and midfield to perform a series of bounce passes to draw the opposition out of position toward the penalty area, creating space and opportunities for players to escape, via a player advancing or dropping into the space behind the defensive line for a through ball.
In settled phases of possession, Hoff Thorup’s side transition into a multitude of formations depending on the opposition, their quality or formation and depending on which players were utilised within Hoff Thorup’s lineup, with the most common settled formation being a 3-2-5 formation, with the left full-back operating a hybrid left full-back/left centre-back role. This can be seen at Norwich through 19-year-old English defender Lucien Mahovo, who since breaking through into the first-team in November 2024, often roaming as far as the half-way line before dropping back to provide cover at the back if Norwich lose possession.
On the opposite flank, the right full-back advances into the wide positions, with the winger inverting into the right-half space, with the left central midfielder advancing into the opposite-half space, leaving the left-winger wide on the left flank. Kellen Fisher, 20, often finds his post-match heat map near the half-way line, despite lining up as a full-back, with his versatility within the tactical switch-up allowing more attacking versatility, and this was rewarded for the young full-back, earning the assist for American forward Josh Sargent’s headed goal against Hull City in February 2025.
What does Johannes mean by “clear positional structure”?
In one of his first interviews with the club back in July 2024, Hoff Thorup highlighted the importance of creating a “clear positional structure” within Norwich City, and to fully understand this concept, it is important to understand positional play.
For Hoff Thorup, his concept of positional play utilises “zones” that the players can roam in and stick to throughout the game, similar in style to how Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has his players line up in a zonal structure, with his players allowed to roam in a personal “bubble” and never leaving more than ten metres of space between his players.
In offensive states of play, these phases can be categorised through breaking the pitch up into five vertical “phases”, which requires at least one player to occupy each channel. The system allows players the freedom to roam and transition out of position if it favours the attacking scenario, but the basic structure should remain intact. The use of a secure positional structure also helps provide a solid resting defence, which is something that David Wagner’s side notably lacked, and by utilising this structure to provide protection against counter-attacks, a secure rest defence allows Norwich to facilitate control over the tempo of the game.
High-pressing football
In high-pressing situations, Hoff Thorup opts to switch to a narrow 4-3-3 style formation, often comparable to former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp’s or Eddie Howe’s Newcastle side – with the initial line of pressure creating a 3v3 situation in the opponent’s penalty area.
With the high-press, when the opposition play the ball out to one side, the ball-side winger presses the receiving centre-back, with the central midfielder bouncing out to the wide position to cover the opposition full-back.
Behind the line of pressure, the remaining midfielders then shift across to the ball side, with the back line supporting the press with the nearest full-back tracking the opponent’s winger.
Settled possession – how does Hoff Thorup line up?
When the opponent enters into a settled possession phase, Hoff Thorup opts for a continuation of the 4-3-3 formation, with similar patterns in their mid-press formation.
Depending on the opposition’s backline, Hoff Thorup utilises a variety of different styles. For example, if the opposition line up with a back three, the winger is tasked with pressing the wide centre-back, with the nearest central midfielder backing up the pressing on the wing-back, leaving the full-back for Hoff Thorup’s side to press the attacking midfielder.
If the opponent lines up with a back four, the ball-side winger for Norwich presses the full-back, whilst the near-side central midfielder tracks their counterpart, with the full-back occupying the opponent’s winger.
In transition from a mid-press to a deeper mid-block, the wingers typically drop back alongside the wide central midfielders to create a 4-5-1 mid-block, and to prevent a last-line numerical advantage, one or both of the wingers are prepared and expected to drop alongside the full-backs, creating an occasional 6-3-1 formation.
Variations of “Hoff-ball”
Notably during his time with Nordsjælland, especially against bigger opposition (such as their 6-1 home victory against Fenerbahçe), Hoff Thorup opts to line up in a 3-5-2 formation, with the wing-backs dropping into a 5-3-2 formation out of possession.
The willingness to change things up against much stronger opposition might have been a major quality that drew the Norwich board to the appointment of Hoff Thorup, especially with the aims of returning to the Premier League, and the ideology of attacking football Hoff Thorup brings to Norfolk lines up with sporting director Ben Knapper’s vision for “attacking, proactive football where teams try [to] control the game with the ball [and] they want to go and win the ball back high [up the pitch].”
Overall verdict
The unique style of football Hoff Thorup has brought to the Championship has caught teams by surprise, most notably with the 6-1 victory against Plymouth Argyle back in November 2024, or the 3-2 victory away to Derby County in September 2024. Hoff Thorup’s vision of promoting youth pathway progression, leading him to be labelled “Trust in Youth” top coach on TransferRoom, sets a clear precedent for those in the academy, that there is a clear pathway for progression into the first-team, something that lacked under both Wagner and his predecessor Dean Smith.
With the style of football highly rated by the fans, and with entertaining fixtures (bar those with injuries to many crucial players) at almost every fixture this season, it’s safe to say that “Hoff-ball” has gone down a treat with the fans, and with the fans still reminiscent of the “Farke-ball” era from 2016-2022, a refreshing, clear mindset brought by Hoff Thorup marks a new era in NR1.
