Away improvement only underlining the size of the task facing Cardiff City.

2 Responses to Away improvement only underlining the size of the task facing Cardiff City.

1. Blue Bayou says:

   December 16, 2024 at 2:08 pm

   From the angle I saw, El Ghazi was played on side by the trailing leg of the Stoke right back for our first goal. Not for the first time, a full back away from the thick of the action was guilty of ball-watching, forgetting he’s still active and was playing attacking players onside!
   I’d like to acknowledge Omer Riza’s half-time tactical tweaking in our last two away games.
   Against Coventry and Stoke I thought we were the better team second half, and I thought we were managing both well to win 2-1, but were robbed by the ref at Coventry.
   Only late in the game when Stoke threw their tall players forward, and hit high balls in from everywhere, did they start to cause some panic in our defence.
   As a result, I did wince when Robertson gave away the cheap free kick near the corner of our penalty area with a minute left, as we knew it would likely be another nervous moment in the air in our penalty area.
   In hindsight I agree that Alnwick would have been better off staying on his line.
   At the time though I understood his desire to help out his struggling defence in the air by coming to claim the cross.
   Such is the life of a keeper, when Alnwick went from ‘hero’ for a couple of his second half saves, to ‘zero’ by getting nowhere near to the cross and leaving an unguarded net for the headed ball to gently bounce into.
   While I agree that the Sheff Utd game next Saturday is pretty much a free hit for us, with goal difference being so important where we are, we need to avoid a hiding.
   I’d be looking for 1 or 3 points away to managerless Oxford on Boxing Day, and although Watford will be tough, we have come away from Vicarage Rd with some decent results in recent seasons!
2. The other Bob Wilson says:

   December 18, 2024 at 6:34 am

   Thanks Blue Bayou, yes, although it was close, a few more looks at El Ghazi’s goal convinces me that the linesman got his decision. right. Again, I agree that we’ve been the better side in the second half of our last two away games, although, as i mentioned in my piece, i thought we were sloppy for the first five to ten minutes of the second period on Saturday.
   I still don’t get Alnwick’s decision regarding the second goal. I daresay he has come that far out of his goal to try to collect a cross at some time in his City career, but I can’t recall one off hand. People talk about a goalkeeper easing defensive nerves when they come out confidently to collect a cross, but I reckon if a defence knows that their keeper is going to stay on his line for most of the crosses coming into the box, then they know where they stand and react accordingly. I’d say Alnwick has been, very much a “line” keeper during his tim with us and his actions on Saturday were completely out of character (possibly they were brought on by the way he felt after making a very good save to keep us in front about a min ute earlier).
   As you say, Sheffield United is a free hit and the sort of game where if we show a bit of spirit and ambition early on, they’ll get the crowd on their side because even the most apathetic of crowds beforehand can be won around quickly by a start similar to the one we made against Ipswich last season under similar circumstances – what we con’t have is a repeat of the beaten before kick off attitude shown in Leeds’ last two visits here.
   On the face of it, Oxford represents the best chance so far of our first away win. It seems that the sacking of their manager has bot gone down well with the fans and so it could get ugly if we start well. I’m not too optimistic about Watford though, their home record is outstanding and I think we’re in the territory where anything we get there should be treated as a, very welcome, bonus.

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