Opinion: Sara de Janeiro
Steve Sanders, @ncfcnumbers
Cards on the table. This week’s column was going to be a homage to the winner of the Barry Butler trophy, Kenny McLean. But if the pre-match trophy handout was the Lord Mayor’s show then Saturday’s game itself was very much, well, after it for Norwich City’s captain.
Instead, let’s reserve the words for the guy who came second in awards season and who took centre stage on Saturday: Gabriel Sara. (If there’s a way of assuaging my guilt of not voting him as Player of the Season, maybe a 500-word tribute will do it…)
The Brazilian put on an exhibition against Swansea. The Canaries had 27 shots across the game and Sara was involved in some capacity – whether by shooting or playing the two passes leading up to a shot – in 16 of them. His nine key passes (passes setting up a shot) were a joint record for a Norwich City player in a single game in the last ten years.
One of those nine helped Josh Sargent to his 16th of the season, and that was after Sara had notched – understatement incoming – a pretty decent goal of his own. He’s making strikes from distance look routine but, in case you need reminding, they’re really not. That’s four goals from outside the area for Sara in his last 12 games. Only two Championship players have scored more than four from further out than 18 yards all season.
That left foot now has six from outside the box for Norwich City, as many as Wes Hoolahan’s and Robert Snodgrass’ left pegs achieved. Sara is now behind only Bradley Johnson and Mario Vrancic (who both got seven) for long-distance left-footers this century.
But pick any body part you like – it’s been a stupendous season all round for Sara. He has, of course, started every single league game alongside McLean, and this weekend joined a true ‘hitters only’ club of Darren Huckerby, Grant Holt and Emi Buendia as Norwich City players to have both scored and assisted 12 goals in a league campaign since 2000.
All told that’s a total of 37 goals and assists in 93 games, a rate of one every 2.5 matches. Of Norwich City midfielders to have played more than 50 games in the last 25 years, only Buendia and James Maddison contributed goals with more regularity.
His overture against Swansea was the display of a man who looked like he desperately didn’t want this to be his last game at Carrow Road, and his two goal contributions have now virtually ensured a packed house there on Sunday 12th May.
If that is the date for the final time we see Sara at the Carra (in yellow at least), then let’s savour it. The ‘best we’ve ever seen’ line was fanciful when his chant first surfaced a year ago. With every passing week it seems less ridiculous.
