Nottingham Forest loanee is not the answer for Norwich City and David Wagner right now: Opinion
Ui-jo Hwang needs patience but Norwich City need a striker solution now
There are plenty of positives that David Wagner will take from Norwich City’s Carabao Cup third round defeat to Premier League Fulham but the performance of Nottingham Forest loanee Ui-jo Hwang is unlikely to be among them.
The Canaries showed guts and defensive willingness to absorb plenty of pressure against Marco Silva’s side, with youngsters like Kellen Fisher and Jaden Warner looking particularly impressive, and were dangerous on the break in a display that has raised spirits after the weekend’s hammering away at Plymouth Argyle.
Ui-jo Hwang v Fulham
But if Wagner was hoping to see Hwang grab the opportunity given to him with both hands, then he will have been disappointed.
With Ashley Barnes joining Josh Sargent on the Carrow Road injury list, the Nottingham Forest loanee, who arrived on transfer deadline day, is one of just two available senior strikers in the squad.
Indeed, with the emphasis now on 22-year-old Adam Idah to step up and fulfil his goalscoring potential, the 31-year-old, who bagged plenty of goals at Bordeaux and in the K-League, looks on paper like a really useful player for the Norwich boss to be able to call upon over the next few weeks.
However, his disjointed display against Fulham suggests he may think twice about doing so.
In his 77 minutes on the Craven Cottage tuft, Hwang had just 12 touches, saw one shot blocked, completed two passes, and made one unsuccessful dribble (Sofascore).
There were multiple occasions where Norwich broke dangerously but the South Korea international wasn’t quite on the same wavelength as his teammates or lacked the sharpness to capitalise on the situation he found himself in.
David Wagner on Ui-jo Hwang
Wagner, himself, admitted that Hwang was something of a weak link for them going forward.
“It was important that he got another 75 minutes on board,” he told FLW after the game. “I think he worked hard. The understanding for our defensive shape he has. Offensively, he is maybe the one where I can say he is not, and he can’t be, on the same mindset like the other players in terms of how we like to attack.”
That can be attributed to the fact that it’s been less than a month since he joined the club and even that short period has been interrupted as Hwang spent the international break with South Korea – coming off the bench against Wales and Saudi Arabia.
The truth is that he looked like a player with just 97 minutes for Norwich prior to Wednesday evening’s game and not one that is ready to offer cover and competition up top.
Hwang needs patience – something that Wagner was more than happy to admit after the game – but unfortunately, the Canaries need a solution right now to ensure they’re not totally reliant on Idah up top in the absence of Barnes and Sargent.
The Forest loanee is not that right now but his coach hopes he can be soon and admits that his side will have to get creative in the meantime.
“This will need not a lot of time because he is a very smart guy,” said Wagner. “Important for him to get the 75 minutes.
“Obviously with the injuries to Barnsey and Josh, who will be out for a longer period, we have to be creative.”
Who else could play up top for Norwich City?
Wagner continued: “Ui-jo is one of the options but I think today we have seen Tony Springett, who was great in the second striker position, he is one of the players that has such a good understanding of how to press. He had opportunities and created opportunities as well – unfortunately, he didn’t use them.
“We have some alternatives, which we have to use and we have to be creative about what the striker position means.”
He added: “Every training, every game, every minute will help him to get a better understanding and obviously a lot of video work is place as well.
“He’s desperate to improve and to learn. He is now with us only for two weeks, less training and a lot of game time, obviously everything has to go quicker for him than we thought.
“Because of this it’s good to have the alternatives, which I said – Tony, [Garbriel Sara] played there as well, Liam [Gibbs] – and it’s great that Adam Idah is in top form. He made an impact in the 30 minutes he was on. He looked dangerous and very energetic, which is important.”
Beyond the names mentioned by Wagner, Borja Sainz’s Norwich debut, which saw him come off the bench and coolly find the net, suggests that he could be a goalscoring option while Przemysław Płacheta was arguably the Canaries’ best player against Fulham and could be used in a central area as well.
Those players need to be considered because right now Hwang is not the answer – he needs time and Norwich need a short-term fix.
Even so, there remains optimism at Carrow Road that he could still have a role to play this term.
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