First half was disciplined, we pressed hard and chased hopeless balls, especially Michu as always running after everything. Michu then showed some frustration in the second half, particularly when he was pressing and the others werent, this was as Cardiff gained momentum. Teams are closing us down, they know that if they play a narrow defensive line we struggle to break through since our wingers are terrible at crossing the ball, and in all honesty, Michu is our best header in the attack ... so, we rely on Michu to get his header to a cross while he actually many times gets frustrated and drops back to get the ball, that means he is nowhere near the box when a cross comes in. Playing a narrow defensive line against us is the smart thing to do, Dyer often keeps the ball too long and contantly seeks in where its crowded, then he proceeds to loose the ball or make a bad cross. Routledge was somewhat better than Dyer, but he too struggles, because there simply isnt enough strength in the penalty area, so even a good cross will probably get headed away. This may also be the reason why Bony has struggled somewhat in the premier league, a narrow line means there is no space for him .... and since he is the static type of a targetman, the defense doesnt hesitate in challenging early. A decently organised narrow defense is hard to penetrate though the middle for any club and makes us look toothless in some games, clubs have learned how play us .... The biggest problem I see arent the players, its just that they run quickly out of ideas, become impatient trying a useless killerball far too often. Its a like the players dont have a plan B. The above relates to some of our poor performances, but we have had some very good shows this season ... so hold on to your hats, the devil is not knocking on our door ... yet.
I agree Daniel, but Laudrup has failed at the end of last season, and has failed this season too, to come up with a solution to this, and unless his coaching team come up with an answer, then it will be a very long and hard season for us!..................
