Teemu Pukki – brilliant, frustrating, or both?

Teemu Pukki is the ultimate enigma of the Sky Bet Championship.

The 30-year-old scored the only goal of the game as Norwich beat Rotherham at Carrow Road. The win sees the Canaries extend their lead at the top of the Championship to seven points, with Watford the only other club in the top six to avoid defeat this weekend.

Pukki’s goal against the Millers takes his league total for the season up to 15, ranking him fourth in the division behind Ivan Toney, Adam Armstrong and Lucas João. This comes on the back of a brace at home to Stoke and a goal away at Coventry, meaning that he’s scored four goals in his last three games.

On paper, these are fantastic figures from one of the best strikers in the division. However, there’s a sense of frustration surrounding the Finnish international when it comes to his conversion rate.

Norwich are one of the best attacking outfits in the league. At their free-flowing best, they can carve through any side like a hot knife through butter. Emi Buendia has proven himself to be arguably the most valuable asset in the Championship, and has already scored the same number of goals this season as he has in the last two campaigns combined. His assist for Pukki today split Rotherham’s defence in half, presenting the ball to him on a silver platter.

Todd Cantwell is back to full fitness and was unplayable at times on Saturday afternoon, giving Wes Harding an absolutely nightmarish task of marking him.

The Canaries’ double pivot of Oliver Skipp and Kenny McLean are fantastic at pressing their opponents into making mistakes, and Mario Vrančić’s creativity in front of them is crucial to Daniel Farke’s set up. But despite all of this attacking intent, there’s often a feeling that there could be more from them, and a lot of that stems from the striker himself.

Pukki had a fantastic chance to put Norwich ahead early into the first half, but fired his weak shot straight into the palms of Viktor Johansson. In the second half, he was sent through on goal to double the Canaries lead, but once again saw his shot saved by the Rotherham keeper.

His positioning is always exceptional. What he lacks in stature and physicality, he more than makes up for with his impeccably timed runs and extraordinary vision. But when he’s in a goalscoring position, there sometimes seems to be a moment of hesitation. A brief flicker in his mind that stops him from firing the ball into the net.

Maybe it’s pedantic to say this after he scored four goals in the space of a single week, but there’s a feeling that there could be so much more to come from him and Norwich.

Take the match against Rotherham as an example. If he buries his first shot, then Norwich likely go in at half-time with a two-goal lead and the game wrapped up. If he scores his chance in the second half, then Norwich avoid the unnecessary stress that they faced at the end when the Millers piled on pressure in search of a late equaliser.

Pukki’s goal conversion rate currently stands at 26%, having scored 15 of the 57 shots he’s taken in the league so far this season. An impressive figure, of course, but not on the same level of Toney at Brentford or João for Reading.

Farke was asked about Pukki’s “sharpness” after the win, but argued that the 30-year-old is in the best form of his career.

“I think he’s unbelievably sharp. I think he’s fantastic. For me, he’s the best striker in this league. They [Rotherham] were never able to control his movements. He could’ve scored three or four today, but this has happened in the past. In the season he won the Golden Boot in the Championship, he still missed an unbelievable amount of chances. I don’t expect him to take each and every chance.”

This is a valid point to make. His overall contribution to this Norwich side is immense. He’s crucial, and in spells where he’s been out with an injury, the Canaries have looked far less dangerous in attack. It’s easy to criticise the chances he misses, but you have to acknowledge his work rate, energy and movement.

He personifies how Farke wants his side to play, even if he isn’t quite as clinical as he was two seasons ago. His 29 goals in Norwich’s last Championship season is an incredibly high bar to set, and maybe that’s why there is such scrutiny around his misses.

The Canaries feel like a much more balanced side than they did in their title-winning season of 2018/19. That measurement doesn’t have to be made against the number of goals that Pukki scores or the number of chances that he misses. Of course, he can be frustrating, even infuriating to watch at times. But his importance to Norwich’s promotion hopes cannot be denied or ignored.

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