++++++!!!WARNING!!!+++++ THE FOLLOWING POST CONTAINS STATEMENTS THAT SOME READERS MAY FIND OFFENSIVE, DISTURBING AND UPSETTING! THEREFORE READER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED!!! Dare I say this............but I think our little cousins out west showed what you can do by being strongest at the back, having the ability to control possession and build the play with players that are comfortable on the ball. When coupled with formidable home form this clearly paid dividends. (God I feel ill now...dirty in fact...but honest nonetheless...) When Forest went behind at the Liberty in the playoff 2nd-leg, they immediately faced the prospect that to win without facing penalties, they had to stop Swansea scoring any more AND manage something that only 2 teams managed to achieve at that ground all season - and that was to score more than once! (This does not include Leyton Orient in the FA Cup 4th round, who humbled the playoff winners-to-be 2-1 in front of a massive crowd of 6,281!) Actually, in all competitions, 16 teams headed back east along the M4 without troubling the scoreboard operator once, with a big fat 0 the sum of their efforts! Forest may have taken some solace in the fact that along with Portsmouth (who managed a 2-1 victory back in November) they were one of those teams having managed to find the net twice as recently as March 19th! However any confidence would have been dampened as despite that accomplishment, they still lost 3-2 that day and as we all know the result in the 2nd-leg was less impressive, with Earnie being the only scorer for them that night as the Jacks repeated their tally of 3. So my wish this pre-season is to sort a strong defence out with possession from the back the aim and build from there... Right, I have to go and drink some bleach now, as I have to do some deep-cleansing after typing all that...
Well I just hope Heaton is better than DeVries in stopping all those back passes - that Ashley Williams one at Derby was a classic.....
Well the other team can't win if they don't score, so thats a plan to me, that way we only ever need to score 1 goal to get a win, now thats simple! Cardiff suffered last season as they have done for quite a few seasons now(and under Jones) weak midfield enabling pressure to be put on the back 4 way too easily at times. Couple that with a few choice signings we could have done without(Naylor anyone?) and we have the main crux of the Cardiff poblem.
We should defo base our game on the Jack style. Pass it around between the back four and remember, always involve the keeper........oops http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzXqf_YNyd4
++++++!!!WARNING!!!+++++ THE FOLLOWING POST CONTAINS STATEMENTS THAT SOME READERS MAY FIND OFFENSIVE, DISTURBING AND UPSETTING! Sparky you got that bit right
Cheers H! If we take what's there at present, McNaughts is comfortable going forward and passing well whilst being very strong in his defensive role. Then with Hudson, Deksy, Quinn and the return of Gerrard, we have something to build from with another couple (Taylor perhaps?) to compliment and supply cover for McN...we'll have a defence that can at least start the pre-season. Will Gabor get a look in because he doesn't need to leave now as his nemesis has been ousted...? Then we need to create a midfield barrier as stated above, to prevent unnecessary pressure on the defence, rather than simply as a means of feeding the attack, which seemed to be the predominant aim mostly last season, such that when this went wrong or we faced a strong possession team, we were found wanting on occasions and looked weak despite all the riches on show!
We need to get a competitive mid-field at was not by change that our best run was when Rambo was pulling the strings. Most things go through the mid-field either in Attack or Defence.
A few like minded souls out there regarding the mid-field. The question is, what will our attaching strategy be? Earnie and Craig running the channels, 5 in midfield, two pacy wingers banging crosses for the beast with runners from midfield picking up the scraps? All will become clear when Malky gets back off his hols.
We got over run too many times in mid-field, often we were left with no defensive cover think your 5 would be better than a fixed 4-4-2 as long as we have a plan B and plan C.
As admirable as Swansea's style of play is I hope we don't replicate it because it is boring! I want to see Cardiff excite me and really take it to teams, I don't mind not keeping clean sheets...as long as we are always scoring more goals than the other team!
I would like us to be fluid during games, we have very adaptive players. Just when the other side are getting used to the way we are playing, have a bit of a switch for 5 mins to throw them off balance. Be quick to spot how they are finding our weaknesses and be prepared to make small changes ....during the game. Too many times last season we waited untill the leak become a flood, shore up before any damage is done, and when they try to find another way through, change it again.
Possible Cardiff formations is a hot topic at the moment, I myself would like to see a fluid 4-3-3, where it can be turned into a 4-5-1 or possibly a 4-2-3-1 depending on match events. The only problem is getting the players to play systems like that. Any formational awareness probably rotted from the players brains having to play such a rigid 4-4-2 during Dave Jones' time at the club.
Good honest post Ghosty. I would agree with your points on Swansea's style. It may be hard for some to admit, but its impossible to deny. But, I would say that Swansea might come unstuck at PL level as they won't be able to out football teams so easy as with our ping pong league. So while I would love to see MM get us playing on the deck from the back, I think we need to be able to change our game plan from game to game and within games. Something that the Swans aren't so good at. What I'm hoping MM will adopt, and there's good hope he will from what I saw of Watford, was retaining possession from back four to front at pace, getting into the final third with urgency. I'd love to see players being able to cover other roles and switch more: LB for LM, or CM for LM for example within attacks. Something which our personnel at the club hasn't allowed us to do in past seasons.
To play possession football we would have to play 5 in the midfield, that's how Swansea did it and that's how all the prem clubs do it. Then you have 2 choices, either the 4-5-1 favoured by Swansea and most notably Barcelona, with 2 pacy wingers supporting a striker, with 3 central midfielders playing varied roles in going forward, helping out the back and creating space in the middle. Or, the 4-2-3-1 favoured by Man U and City, Tottenham and Arsenal last season (although season before the also played the 4-5-1) with 2 holding midfielders, 2 wingers and different to the 4-5-1 an attacking midfielder to play in the hole behind the striker. At the moment I'd say we have no-one who can play in that hole but who knows, Malkay may yet bring him in. Exciting times to be a Cardiff fan
Spot on Drew. I would personally love to see us sign a hold player/water carrier type here and at least allow us the option through the season to play close to this style. I think this system would definitely suit Bellamy on the left (and right?) flank too, if he came back...
Problem is with playing Bellamy on the left is what do we do with Whitts? We all know he plays his best stuff on the left, and with that left foot providing crosses I think he would be better out there. What about Bellamy in the middle as the lone striker, Whitts on the left, Conway on the right, then McPhail in the middle with a big ball winning centre mid who can go forward and help out at the back, then playing just behind them the good holding midfielder you suggest Double
