‘I’m an easy target as a local lad. It made
Todd Cantwell, written off as a kid, is proving his critics wrong with Norwich, says John Percy ‘You have to believe you can play at places like Anfield – if you don’t, who will?’
Todd Cantwell is sitting in a room at Norwich City’s training ground and reflecting on the “surreal” experience of representing the club he joined at the age of nine. He is the local lad who is now a Premier League regular, a gifted attacking midfielder drawing comparisons with players such as former Canary James Maddison, Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish and even Portuguese master Deco.
Cantwell made his top-flight debut only in August, but ahead of this evening’s date with runaway league leaders Liverpool, the England Under-21s player is unquestionably on the rise. He has even been branded the “Justin Bieber of Norwich” by former England striker Peter Crouch, due to his haircut.
“I’m absolutely living the dream,” Cantwell says. “Sometimes I do have to pinch myself when I think about the fact that I’ve grown up in this city and now I get to pull on the shirt on a Saturday. It’s surreal at times.
“There is a lot of extra responsibility on you as a player from the academy. You’re expected to play and act as a signing, which is pressure, but in a way it pushes you to get a better performance out of yourself. I’m thoroughly enjoying every moment of it.”
Born 23 miles from Carrow Road in Dereham, Cantwell’s progress over the past 12 months has been remarkable, and he represents one of Norwich’s best hopes of securing Premier League survival.
He made only 24 appearances during the Championship promotion season but has flourished at this level, with six goals and two assists so far. A midfield player with trickery and an eye for a pass, he possesses that unique ability to glide past people with the ball.
There is also a strong inner confidence – it would be unfair to describe it as cockiness – that makes him believe he deserves to be operating on the big stage, similar to the mindset of Maddison, who joined Leicester City from Norwich for £21million in June 2018.
“You have to believe you can play at places like Anfield or
Old Trafford, because if you don’t, who will?” Cantwell says. “If it’s not coming from your heart and if you don’t believe it, then more than likely you’re not going to be able to bring yourself to produce performances that justify playing.
“There is a real fine line, don’t get me wrong. There are players who are arrogant, and players who probably need more selfconfidence. But if you get the balance right, you can get the best out of yourself.
“As a kid I was written off and people said, ‘Yeah, he’s a brilliant footballer but he’s not strong enough, he’s not tall enough, he’s not got the right attitude, he’s not prepared to work hard enough.’ At this level, you definitely need to have belief.”
Cantwell will be 22 this month and is good company, intelligent and clearly relishing his role as one of manager Daniel Farke’s key men. He is one of five players from Norwich’s revered academy to make his debut in the past three years, along with Max Aarons, Ben Godfrey, Jamal Lewis and Adam Idah, but it has not always been an easy ride.
Last season, when Norwich were in the final stages of securing promotion, Cantwell was recalled to the team due to Emi Buendia’s suspension, and suffered online abuse from a minority of fans.
He played, and was substituted, in a 1-1 draw at Wigan Athletic in April and was targeted by trolls – an experience he is still struggling to comprehend.
“That was a tough time and I really didn’t take it well. It made me genuinely not want to be involved,” he says. “I went out there and produced what I thought was a good performance, but came off the pitch after the game and received all the stick for everything that went on.
“It was my first experience of being on the other end. I couldn’t get away from it. It was coming straight at me. My mum [Jackie] would call me and say, ‘I don’t get why people are saying this, and this.’ I’m definitely an easy target as the local lad. In a weird way, I’m thankful for it. Maybe if I didn’t have that, then I wouldn’t be as strong as I am now. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to perform and ignore everything, because now it’s obviously a much bigger stage.”
Cantwell highlights a loan move to
Holland in January 2018, when he signed for Fortuna Sittard, as crucial in his development. It was his first time away from Norfolk and he lived alone, learning how to cook (stir-fry was his speciality) and rediscovering his passion for the game. Fortuna were promoted to the Eredivisie and Cantwell scored twice in 10 appearances.
“It could have easily been a mistake. I could have gone there, not played and been forgotten about,” he says. “There was risk with it but it made me completely fall in love with football again. At the time, I was questioning whether I would break into the first team or not. To get out there, to play, to get them promoted, it was a fantastic feeling.”
Cantwell is now focusing on the other end of the scale, by helping Norwich to avoid dropping back into the Championship.
They remain bottom of the table, seven points behind Aston Villa – who are 17th – and have 13 games left to scramble above the dotted line. Time is running out and while Norwich and Farke have won admirers for sticking to their principles and playing attacking football, they would prefer to be gaining points.
Cantwell remains confident. “A lot of people have said, given our performances, we shouldn’t be in the position we’re in. But the facts are the facts. We’re in this position, we obviously haven’t been as good as we needed to have been, but we’re playing at a level where we can definitely pull wins together and definitely catch up. We just