Norwich 2019/20 Review: End of Season Report Card for the Canaries

It's been a painful watch for Norwich fans this year.

Daniel Farke's vibrant brand of attacking football was enough to give the supporters hope of achieving something memorable. But, as they say, it's the hope that kills you and, instead of becoming Premier League disruptors, they withered down in the gloomy depths of the table for the entirety of the season.

Well, at least it's over now, Norwich fans.

Here's an evaluation of the Canaries' calamitous season.

League Performance

Premier League - 20th

It was a wholly awful season for the Canaries from the get-go, really. By matchday eight, they were already occupying a spot in the relegation zone. By matchday 19, they were rock bottom - a position they would be glued to for the rest of the season.

Norwich tallied just five wins across the board, recording an abysmal goal difference of -49. That's 21 more goals conceded than their nearest rival for leaky defence. Farke's side finished the season on just 21 points, etching their name in the hall of shame as one of the league's worst teams ever.

A shock 3-2 victory over defending champions Manchester City was the highlight of their dreary Premier League campaign - a bizarre result when you look back on it now.

Domestic Cup Performance

Carabao Cup - Second Round

Their first test came away to mid-table League Two Crawley Town on a hot summer's evening in West Sussex. It was to be their only involvement in the tournament as Crawley came away with an upset win in front of a packed Broadfield Stadium.

Crawley took the lead early on in the half and defended exceptionally for the rest of the game. Farke's fairly experienced side dominated possession, but to no avail. The Reds ran out 1-0 winners as Norwich were sent home with their tails between their legs.

FA Cup - Quarter Finals

The FA Cup was indeed the highlight in an otherwise bleak season for the Canaries. They travelled up to Lancashire to take on Championship side Preston in the third round, where a hat-trick from Adam Idah fired them to a resounding 4-2 win.

A tough Premier League test came next as Norwich travelled to Burnley to take on the the Clarets in the fourth round. It's never an easy assignment heading to Turf Moor but the Canaries eased through 2-1 thanks to goals from Grant Hanley and Josip Drmic.

The mammoth task of Tottenham at their new stadium awaited the Canaries in the fifth round. The matched finished 1-1 after Jan Vertonghen's opener for Spurs was cancelled out by a late Drmic strike. After an edgy extra time period the match headed to penalties where Tim Krul was the hero of the hour, making three stops as Norwich rang our 3-4 winners in the shootout.

A quarter final tie with Manchester United was next. Odion Ighalo opened the scoring before the promising youngster Todd Cantwell equalised late on to send the match to extra time. However, Harry Maguire's late strike won it for the Red Devils, ending the Canaries' FA Cup hopes.

It was a sterling effort from Farke's side as they reached the latter stages of the competition against the odds.

Best Player

It's baffling to think that Norwich's -49 goal difference could have been much worse if it wasn't for the heroics of Tim Krul.

With the dodgy defence in front of him, the former Newcastle man was worked relentlessly. His valiant efforts this season earned him Norwich's player of the season award and rightly so.

His two penalty saves against United in the Premier League and three stops against Spurs in their FA Cup shootout have made Krul a fan favourite at Carrow Road.

Worst Player

As hard as it is to say because he is a magnificent young player with bags of potential, we need to talk about Max Aarons.

The 20-year-old has an undeniably bright future ahead of him, though this season has been memorable for all the wrong reasons.

Aarons has recorded the second least amount of tackles in his position; only Kyle Walker has less and that's because City are almost never without possession. It's not really acceptable, considering the season-long pressure Norwich were under.

He was hardly worse than most of Norwich's other players, mind. While their defence was porous, midfielders like Alexander Tettey and Kenny McLean rarely dominated and Teemu Pukki was terrible after a positive start to the season.

Manager

Farke's philosophy is something which suits a club like Norwich down to the ground. His shortcomings this year have been brutal, though the club's hierarchy have decided to keep him around because they obviously believe he is the right man for the job.

Overall Grade - D

If it wasn't for that exciting underdog FA Cup run it would be a straight fail, so in that case...a D is probably appropriate.