Kellen Fisher analysis after Norwich City defeat to Sunderland

As recently as May, Fisher was playing non-league football for Bromley in the National League – irrespective of City’s plight on the pitch, his story is one of success and excitement.

In fact, this time a year ago, Fisher wasn’t even part of Bromley’s squad. It took until Boxing Day for him to emerge as an option for the National League side.

The decision to hand him his first start since joining Norwich in the summer was long overdue. Fisher has impressed in Carabao Cup outings and Jack Stacey’s performances of late have subsequently dipped.

Couple that with a desire from David Wagner to freshen up the side after a string of poor Championship performances and results and there was an inevitability about Fisher’s deployment in the starting XI.

His attitude, application and performances in training have pushed him forward to the extent that City were content for him to a back up to Stacey in this Championship campaign. It has been quite a remarkable start to life at Carrow Road for Fisher.

Fisher’s first start was a baptism of fire against one of the division’s best wide players in Jack Clarke – who is the Championship’s highest scorer.

He came into a defence that is porous at present – both in conceding real opportunities and goals. A more experienced look to that side has done little to prevent the continually poor performances as individuals and a collective.

Clarke caused Norwich problems all afternoon, namely when he beat three men before teeing up Dan Neil to put Sunderland ahead just before half time.

There were warning signs. Clarke beat Fisher to the ball after Bellingham’s turn in the 19th minute. The winger was played in behind by Pierre Ekwah before striking the post.

As much as the onus was on his defensive responsibilities, given Norwich’s approach in transition there was a need for Fisher to show his offensive qualities in transition for the moments when they got themselves up the pitch.

That was documented for the opening goal of the contest, where Fisher intelligently used Gabriel Sara’s run into an offside position as a decoy to beat Ekwah to the ball. From there, the youngster displayed excellent composure to slow himself down before cutting the ball back to Hwang Ui-jo to finish.

Only substitutes Borja Sainz and Onel Hernandez recorded more progressive carries and runs with the ball into the penalty area than Fisher. Only Dimi Giannoulis, Hwang and Sara had more touches in the final third than the teenager.

Kellen Fisher was eventually replaced by Jack Stacey in the second half. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

There was difficulty in contending with Clarke’s quality at points throughout the game – but most at this level will struggle to defend against his close control, quick feet and directness.

Fisher made the most tackles of any Norwich player (four) and boasted a 60pc success rate against Clarke, winning three of his five attempted tackles against the dangerous winger.

Throw in two blocks and three interceptions and you begin to get a picture of the amount of defensive work that Fisher went through. The key was his resilience to keep responding to difficult situations and shaking off early nerves.

Irrespective of Norwich’s struggles, Fisher did not look out of place – even in spite of a lack of protection from Christian Fassnacht ahead of him. Every time he hit the canvas, he bounced up and kept going – that is a testament of his character.

The biggest compliment to hand to Fisher is that he looked more like a player who had hundreds of appearances against his name compared to some of his defensive counterparts. At 19, his mentality and approach to handling everything thrown at him is impressive.

Amongst plenty of flux and a hunger for change at Norwich, Fisher is a key player at the centre of their mid and long term future.

His performances and impact after signing for City was enough to convince the football figureheads to sanction the permanent of Bali Mumba back to Plymouth. They felt Fisher’s ceiling was higher and the early evidence has done little to prove that inaccurate.

Jack Clarke impressed for Sunderland against Kellen Fisher. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

Whether he will be handed the chance to start on a consistent basis remains to be seen – but Fisher’s contribution was one of few bright spots on an otherwise disappointing day for the Canaries.

VERDICT: A promising first Championship start in difficult conditions. Great lung-busting run followed by excellent composure to pick out Hwang Ui-jo for the opening goal. Enjoyed numerous tussles with Jack Clarke, some successful, others not, but kept going regardless. Didn’t look out of place despite City’s defensive struggles.

RATING: 6 out of 10