Whether it be at first team, under twenty three or academy team level, it seems that Cardiff City versus Millwall matches almost always end in draws. Today’s 1-1 was the fourth consecutive time that the teams have had to settle for a point each in championship fixtures between them.
It’s pretty obvious that these are two well matched teams at senior and age group levels. I must say that this reflects much better on the London team than it does City when you consider the level of finance available to the respective teams.
Maybe it’s down to my decreased levels of expectation these days, but I thought City offered something that was a definite improvement on Saturday’s truly dismal showing against Preston.
That’s not to say that there was any big increase in goalmouth action really, but we did look more threatening than in our previous match despite facing a side which had taken ten points from their previous four away matches. In terms of keeping possession of the ball, there was more sign of the oft promised increased emphasis on the passing game that we would see under the management of Neil Harris.
It was interesting and heartening for me at least that in the dying minutes, Cardiff tried to use a more patient approach rather than resort to the normal long, high stuff we became all too used to under Neil Warnock’s management.
To be frank, I’d not seen the evidence of the change of emphasis under the new manager that others had, but, it was there today, It was just unfortunate for someone like me who wants to see a more thoughtful, modern and progressive way of playing the game from my team that this did not result in any real discomfort for a Millwall side which appeared to settle for a point in the last 10 minutes of the game.
I’m afraid that the problem which existed when we played in a more direct manner was still there. By that, I mean that we were almost completely reliant on moments of individual quality as opposed to the sequences built through teamwork and patience that mark out so many sides who play the game in the way favoured by the more successful teams these days.
For example, in a first half decidedly low in goalmouth action, the closest either side came to breaking the deadlock was when the previously anonymous Robert Glatzel turned away from a couple of defenders to fire in a shot which visiting keeper Bartosz Bialkowski dived to turn aside despite the suspicion from video replays of the incident which suggested it may have been going wide.
Bialkowski was called into action twice more within minutes of the restart. Firstly when Lee Tomlin showed the sort of qualities that have been almost solely responsible for any flair the side has produced in recent weeks as he quickly got away a left footed shot from 20 yards which drew the save of the game from the visiting keeper as he flung himself to his left. Shortly after that, Tomlin won himself a free kick on the edge of the penalty area following a sharp turn which suckered in a Millwall defender.
The angle was always against Tomlin taking on a shot from the resulting freekick and so it was Joe Bennett who took it and again worked Bialkowski – although this time the save from the Pole was a fairly routine one.
With Millwall then going down to the other end of the pitch to bring about their best opportunity of the game, which was only denied by some frantic city defending at the expense of a corner, thus far, the game had definitely livened up. However, this improvement did not really last and, for a while, it all returned to the pretty uneventful stalemate that had characterised most of the first half.
City were able to build a little momentum in the minutes leading up to their goal, which came on the hour mark, though. Again, this did not equate to anything that could be put down to teamwork and/or creativity in terms of open play and it was not a surprise that the only way they could pierce the Millwall defence was from a set piece.
Bennett had been coming over to the right to take inswinging corners with his left foot which had failed to achieve any conspicuous success so far, but, this time, Marlon Park stood on the near post, was able to guide on a header that left Aden Flint with a chance from about two yards out that he could not miss.
With what had happened in the first sixty minutes confirming pre-match suspicions that this was going to be a low scoring affair, getting the first goal should have gone a long way to deciding the destination of the points. However, Cardiff were unable to hang on to their hard won advantage and within less than four minutes the visitors were level again.
Historically, Millwall have always been a resilient side and so it would not have been a surprise to see them respond energetically to going into arrears. They pushed City back straight from the restart, but in truth, they didn’t do a great deal to earn the freekick which led to the equaliser.
A careless foul, committed by Tomlin I believe it was, gave Millwall a chance from what still seemed too far out to score from a direct shot. That was to reckon without the in form Jed Wallace however, who took aim from what looked like a distance of around thirty five yards and hit a sumptuous shot which was placed to perfection out of the reach of Neil Etheridge.
There are those who are putting the blame on Etheridge for the goal, but I believe that is harsh in the extreme. I would prefer to salute a great piece of technique by a player who is probably in the form of his life right now. Wallace was the Millwall player that I hoped Neil Harris would be able to tempt to his new club in January, but his form in the last few weeks has seen his value probably increased to levels that we are unable, or unwilling, to complete at these days.
Apart from this moment the magic, Wallace was not really that big of influence on the proceedings, but he showed here that he has the sort of match-winning/match saving capabilities that, Tomlin apart, we seriously lack at the moment.
Danny Ward replaced Glatzel who, again, did not really show enough to prove those of us who believe he is the man best equipped to lead our attack correct. That said, Cardiff did little in his absence to suggest that they had a winning goal in them in the dying minutes of a game which although more encouraging than the Preston one, did not, in truth, have a great deal of quality to it.
As mentioned earlier, Cardiff were prepared to probe with more patience than normal, but in doing so, this drew audible groans from sections of the crowd who, it seems, will not view any switch from the “get it in the mixer “approach they have become used to seeing from their team for much of this decade with much enthusiasm.
It’s now just one defeat in eight matches at the helm for Neil Harris. However, this does not tell the full story because after taking, say, two steps forward when winning three and drawing one of his first four games, Harris has now seen his team fail to win in the next four. True, City have only lost once, but three consecutive draws has meant a points return equivalent to 1 win and three defeats.
Therefore, those two steps forward have, to all intents and purposes, been negated by a couple backwards. With the season now over half completed, we have the look of a mid-table outfits who are pretty hard to beat, but lack the required quality to turn one point into three often enough.
Already, Cardiff are in a position where two consecutive draws at home represent ground lost on teams we need to overhaul to find our way into the top eight, never mind the top six. Given what we’ve seen against every other club in the championship over the past four and a half months, is there any real evidence to suggest that this group of players have it in them to becomes something that they have not been so far?
Without some fairly major changes in terms of recruitment of January, I believe the honest answer to that question is no.
All season long, performances have been below the level suggested by the number of points gained, So I think any impartial witness to a significant number of our matches this season would have to say that the odds on us being able to gain the forty and more points we need to become realistic play-off contenders from our remaining twenty two matches have to be pretty lengthy.
What certainly needs to happen over the second half of the season is that we need to rediscover the knack we had during almost all of the Warnock era of winning a significant number of away games over the course of the season.
While I would not say that winning at least one of the two upcoming matches at Sheffield Wednesday and Queens Park Rangers was essential, I do feel that to avoid this Christmas/New Year period becoming a poor one for CIty, they do need to be taking more than two points from their next couple of games.
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I fully agree it was an improvement over the Preston debacle.
I don’t think we can judge Glatzel, that is due to supporting players more than Glatzel himself.
Watching him yesterday he was constantly running channels, picking up balls in wide positions and on one occasion made a great run only for ML to pass square to a marked player. I watched Glatzel point to where it should have gone.
There lies what I felt was our problem yesterday.
Mendez made some great runs but I fail to recall one of those where he either found a player or tested the keeper. I will excuse hoillet as it may have been too early for him to come back with confidence.
Harris disappointed me on ML front. He, in my opinion should have gone off and Ward come on. Glatzel appears his default substitution.
Pack was not great either, how many times did he give the ball away? What was the point in bringing Whyte on that late other than to waste time.
To summarise.
Poor but an improvement on last game and creative players need to deliver more quality.
As a distant, second-hand observer, I accept my limited rights to comment – though my passionate following/support since my first Ninian Park visit in January 1958 gives me something, I guess – but, last evening, I turned to find the Wales OnLine words “the sheer dearth of quality on display”, and my heart sank.
Quite apart from the fiascos relating to Academy, Scouting, and Recruitment, what actually happens week-by-week in Coaching and Training?
Hard to believe that there’s anything coherent going on.
I guess no-one at the Club actually reads this blog, otherwise they’d be sheepishly shuffling their feet in embarrassment, I hope.
Ta, Paul for the report. Your frustration is palpable from your account of the Boxing Day game. Once, watching City used to be a much less fraught experience. But this is City and City in 2019-2020.
True City accomplished 35% more passes and increased their passing accuracy from 64% to 77% against Millwall (over the PNE game) but those facts, though creditable, masked City’s problem. Whilst Millwall were a pale imitation of Preston, City were afflicted with the one-time Swansea disease on Boxing Day ie passing between the back four and central midfielders. But here is the difference between our West Wales’ cousins and us: it was non-existent movement or pace in front of the Bluebirds’ defensive players. Movement and pace are vital if a more passing game is to be played. Without them creativity is an rare optional extra not an inherent result of that style of play.
City’s 4411 never got to grips with the Londoner’s 343. With Hoilett and Mendez-Laing pushing up on their full backs and Tomlin seeking to provide the only spark to galvanise City into action the Bluebirds were numerically over-run in the centre of the pitch and Glatzel, against 3 centre-backs, was a non-starter. Though Millwall were not a Brentford or QPR they still possessed more movement and pace than us. Our players tend to simply go up and down their channels. Perhaps the earliest exponents of a more expansive play was the Tottenham, “push-and-run,” team of the 60’s which has been taken to a higher level by Man C and Liverpool in recent seasons. There is more to a passing game than just passing the ball.
At half-time I turned to a bloke behind, like me having watched far too many decades of below average blue-shirted football and said, ‘Absolutely dire!’ Without words, his facial contortions clearly agreed with my assertion after only one goal worthy effort had been crafted in the first 45 mins. For all of this new found approach there were still few genuine goal scoring chances. In short the end result was the same. Things hardly improved after the interval. A stinging first half shot from Glatzel, was added to by a wicked effort from Tomlin in the second, both which needed excellent saves from the visiting keeper, and that was the excitement for home fans, apart from a Bennett free-kick for those who had managed to make their way to CCS without public transport. It was hardly worth the effort. In City’s defence, Rome was not built in a day, so time and transfer windows must be given to inch towards this, ‘new,’ approach.
If we are charitable and say that Harris is the manager to slowly change City’s laborious play, an after match statement tempered visions of us playing like the majority of Championship clubs. “Overall,” said the City manager, “I’m PLEASED with the performance, but I’d like to see us create a LITTLE BIT MORE in the final third.” I’ll simply say that this City fan of 60 years was not pleased with the performance and desire that we create far more on-target chances in the final-third of the pitch. Three shots on target leaves much room for improvement. That will only happen with movement and pace in the side so either existing players must shape-up or be shipped-out. Rarely can so many have expected so few to accomplish so much. Over to you, Mr Tan.
Good afternoon Paul and others – Thanks as always for your summary, better it may have been, but I suspect it all depends from whence you have started. “Tis the season to be jolly” I believe but after the last two outings at the CCS, I find that really hard. Keeping to the Christmas theme, for me it is definitely “In the Bleak Midwinter” and the Club’s cry of “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” failed to stir those whose support has wavered, and who can blame them.
I do find it desperately difficult to understand our tactics currently for a team that was supposedly racing certs to be in the promotion mix at the season’s end to be so devoid of attacking qualities. Our wingers are no more than ordinary, and that may be a generous statement, our main strike force, be it Glatzel or Ward frustrating in the extreme, and “superstar” Tomlin flits in and out of games with unfailing regularity. And still not a sign of anyone advancing from the Under 23’s or Youth. Surely, surely there must be someone in those ranks worth an appearance.
There was the hope that young Whyte would prove to be a decent acquisition, but what hope does he have if all he is to receive is a four minute run out when asked to appear when added time is announced. A substitution impossible to understand.
I suspect like many I await the January window with hopeful anticipation, not only from those that may arrive, but also from those that may depart. Mr.Harris has stated that he is aware that our squad is too big, so there is going to be some fairly drastic surgery if we are to welcome some worthwhile new players. Interesting times ahead.
Thanks for the replies, just some very quick thoughts on some of the points raised. Paul, I thought Mendez-Laing did well compared to some of his other recent games, but you illustrate exactly why what I say has also got to be qualified by the words “up to a point” – I’m not going to knock him for, basically, being a winger who beats his man for speed, rather than by trickery, because a winger doing that to a full back is one of the most thrilling sights in the game for me, but what unites an awful lot of “speed merchants” is that they are erratic performers, but they are predictable in their failure to deliver once they’ve worked a crossing position for themselves, Mendez-Laing created those positions on Thursday, but, as far as I can remember, didn’t out over one good cross.
Lindsay, I was told before the game by someone who has spoken to Neil Harris in person a couple of times, that he is definitely thinks the squad’s fitness levels need to improve and I’m not sure that is something which he can do a great deal about mid season – it may be that the hard work on that front will come in the summer. However, I take your point when it comes to other aspects of preparing a squad. Last Saturday, Harris’ reaction to the lack of attacking impact of his team was to throw Paterson, Ward and Madine on and go very route one, but four days later, there was a marked reluctance by the team to knock the ball long late on – neither approach could be called a success, but the complete contrast between them is a concern because it suggests that, eight matches in, our new manager is unsure how to get the best out of the squad he has inherited.
Steve, I agree there is a lack of attacking movement and that what attacking pace we have (and we do have some) is not being effectively utilised. In other areas, we are short of pace full stop and I don’t think the movement a member of the back four, or someone like Pack as he picks the ball up from the back, sees in front of them when they are looking to pass is great either – static players have to equal slow, unadventurous passing in my book.
Regarding younger players BJA, I must say that, apart from, maybe, Cameron Coxe and Ciaron Brown, I don’t see anyone who might step into the senior side (that said, I feel Aaron Bolger would have had a chance, but he’s been injured a fair bit this season). However, what I’m probably not acknowledging there is that I reckon this is our poorest squad since the 14/15 season and so, the standard someone needs to be playing at to break into the first team should be correspondingly lower – for example, I look at our plodding midfield (and it won’t improve much in that respect if and when Joe Ralls, who should always be a starter for me at this level, comes back) and think there are a few teenagers I’ve seen who could pass the ball as accurately, and with a bit more tempo, as the first teamers.