Craig Nooneâs stunning equaliser against Newcastle United on Saturday not only saw Ole Gunnar Solskjaer celebrate his first goal as Cardiff City manager, but it marked a quite impressive comeback for the winger. The Liverpool-born midfielder did not start the first sixteen games of the Premier League season, only breaking into the side against West Bromwich Albion, but Solskjaer suggests he will be a key player for the Bluebirds over the next few months. http://sportswales.wordpress.com/2014/01/06/craig-noone-will-be-a-key-player-for-solskjaer/ âHe's a quality player with a lot of talent,â Solskjaer told cardiffcityfc.co.uk after the game. âHe's got that little jink in him. â[He] dropped his shoulder and had a shot on what was maybe his third touch. It was a fantastic strike,â he added. Nooneâs goal was reminiscent of his effort against West Ham United in the Capital One Cup in September. The twenty-six-year-old picked the ball up midway inside the home sideâs half and drove twenty yards forward, beating a number of men, before unleashing an unstoppable shot on his favoured left foot â a trademark Noone goal. The winger was a £1 million signing from Brighton & Hove Albion two summers ago, but was not trusted by Malky Mackay away from home last season. Noone was also largely consigned to the sidelines during the first half of this season, though an impressive appearance off the substitutesâ bench against Manchester United seemed to help him win favour with Mackay. The wideman almost opened the scoring against Liverpool in December and was one of the Bluebirdsâ standout players against Sunderland. Nooneâs speed and direct running terrified Andrea Dossena, Sunderlandâs left-back, and stopped him charging forward for fear of Noone running in behind him. It was only once Noone was substituted with twenty minutes to go that Dossena began to surge forward and overload Kevin Théophile-Catherine in the right-back position. But Solskjaer seems to rate Noone and the winger fits neatly into the Norwegianâs style of play. Solskjaer prefers a 4-4-2 formation with one out-and-out winger running hard down the line, pinning the opposition full-back in his own half. The system is reminiscent of the Manchester United team of which Solskjaer was a part. Ryan Giggs hugged the touchline and attacked the byeline, while David Beckham provided additional support to the central midfield players and looked to cross from deep. âI want my team to play exciting footballâ¦to run forward, play forward, that is my brand of football,â explained Solskjaer when he was unveiled to the press last Thursday. Nooneâs acceleration and willingness to take on defenders sets him apart from other Cardiff City players, and makes him a quite unique talent in the squad. Solskjaer has few other players â aside from perhaps Kim Bo-Kyung and Jordon Mutch â who can carry the ball thirty or forty yards and turn defence into attack. The Bluebirds need all three points against West Ham United and Solskjaer will pick an attacking line-up â including Noone â at the Cardiff City Stadium. The Hammers outmuscled Cardiff at Upton Park earlier in the season, exploiting the visitorsâ lack of dynamism and speed in midfield. That day, West Ham full-backs Joey OâBrien and Guy Demel were able to push high up the pitch, pushing the Bluebirds back, as Peter Whittingham and Craig Bellamy tucked inside, offering little direct running down the flanks. But with Noone in the team, Solskjaer will ask his team to break quickly and feed the ball wide at the earliest opportunity. Solskjaer wants Cardiff to move forward fast â a strategy that makes Noone of vital importance to the Bluebirds.
Good read fella! Tend to agree with much of your article. Noone has got a cocky confidence about him that is often found in great players. A bit of a maverick so to speak. I think Malky was keen on safe players who stuck rigidly to the weekly game plan and that limits creative talents like Nooney.
Nice article and i tend to agree with the content, we have certainly missed him. The one reservation i have with Nooney is he tends to have the odd stinker now and again, but with a fit Bellers about i think that OGS will have options.
Have seen photos of Bellamy on the training pitch with OGS. Wonder how far off a start he is. Bellamy would help out John with his defensive duties and get forward enough to provide a better service for FC if given the chance.
Alright lads, Is Ben Turner still going to be "nailed on" under Solskjaer? On my FPL wildcard, need someone cheap with decent CS potential, who is actually going to play! Cheers!
I feel Turner is a good player out of form for a long time and Hudson was heading a lot of clearances against Newcastle so he deserves a chance. Still it all feels a lot more positive now we have OGS who steps in at a difficult time when we are one point off the bottom three. jck
It wouldn't be a huge surprise to see Hudson given a chance with Caulker. I like Turner but a few on here have questioned whether he should be dropped.
If Hudson did come in for Turner, would Caulker switch to the left? I think Huds only uses his left foot to stand on. It's not essential to have a left footed left CB, but it helps when tackling and making clearances from that side.
Hudson didn't disappoint against Newcastle, will Ole rotate players, would give him a chance to see who he wants and where over the next few games. Keep them all hungry, even Whitts will now have to liven up if he wants to be first team selection, unless Forest finally get their man
I must say that not many of us were good enough to play in the premier league so fair play to our players for doing it. It is not really a matter of being critical as I am sure such as Turner, Taylor, Cowie, Odemwingie and Cornelious are out there trying their best. They must have ability to even be in a premiership side and as we have seen with Mutch suddenly a player can improve beyond what anyone expected. The case for Turner is the really bad pass he made that led to a goal and the fact he does not seem to have learnt as he still lingers on the ball so a rest might do him some good. With a lot of players coming in we are going to have a big squad for sure. jck
If John can come into the team and perform like he has then you wonder why a few with what seems permanent places seem content to stroll around when they should be trying to improve. Things are going to change so this easy life will end for those few. I like John a lot, has a lot of confidence and the ability to go with it. jck
Well they've had more of an influence than our attack so far Also, Caulker is one of the leaders in blocking last I checked.
Yeah but he's £1m more expensive than Ben Turner, and I'm looking for cheap! Just looking at your remaining home games of: West Ham Norwich Aston Villa Hull Fulham Liverpool Crystal Palace Stoke Chelsea With the exception of Liverpool and Chelsea, I don't think doubling up on your defence is a bad idea, no?
To be honest, I don't know how we play (new manager and all). Apparently we will be more attacking, but whether that's at the expense of our defence we'll have to wait and see. You could argue that attack is the best form of defence, but it only takes one moment of magic/counter attack to find yourself a goal down. There's also the question of: "Will turner start under OGS?". Ask us after west ham
