I listened to a podcast previewing Cardiff City’s upcoming home game with Arsenal last week. I won’t give the journalist’s name, but he was of the opinion that, if City were to get anything out of the match, they would have to be at their “typical Warnock team” worst.
City would have to be nasty, brutish, direct, defensive and rattle Arsenal, then, perhaps they could pinch a goal from a set piece to sneak a 1-0 win – however, when pressed to give a score, he went for a 0-0 draw.
Given how the game panned out, it’s hard to see how he could have got things more wrong – City “had a go” at their illustrious visitors, but did it in a footballing sense by attacking Arsenal with the ball, not physically. Yes, they were in Arsenal’s faces, but only in the way they pressed their stubborn opponents who insisted on a playing out from the back policy that their goalkeeper in particular is patently uncomfortable with.
As City tired, bookings followed (Harry Arter maintained his yellow card a game record and faces the prospect of missing what looks like a rare winnable game before November when we entertain Burnley if, as he may well do, he gets carded against Chelsea and Man City), but they were not the thugs they have lazily been portrayed as purely because of who they are managed by – to be fair, although Arter should have been sent off against Newcastle, City have not been thuggish in any of their matches so far.
Anyway, back to the fellow who said we could draw 0-0 by displaying all of the traits which critics of our manager are thinking of when they talk about a “typical Warnock team”. I, for one, aren’t going to knock him for being miles off the mark though because, broadly speaking, I agreed with him!
For example, when Arsenal scored first in the eleventh minute, I pronounced to my mate sat next to me “that’s the end of that then, the only chance we had was to score first and hang on, because everyone knows there’s no way we’re going to score twice”.
Let’s face it, nearly all predictions as to how we could defy the critics/pundits and stay up were based on the thinking that our defence (the joint best in the Championship along with Wolves last season) might be able to compensate for our lack of goal power by keeping enough clean sheets to get us to chisel out the 1-0 wins which could make all of the difference come May.
That’s certainly what I thought and, surely, the methods used when playing one of the “top six” would involve deep defence, plenty of possession for our opponents and a reliance on counter attacks and set pieces?
Being honest, I’m still not ruling out that this will be what our season will be remembered for come the spring, but, for at least ninety madcap minutes in early September, City did all of the things they were not supposed to do and it helped make yesterday’s game probably the most entertaining one of the Warnock era.
The only match I can think of which comes close to equaling it was the 4-3 loss to Barnsley at Cardiff City Stadium just before Christmas 2016. Now, I’ve always been suspicious of anyone who claims that they don’t mind their team losing as long as they have been entertained. However, that was how I felt after that Barnsley game and that was how I felt as I left the ground yesterday with City having been beaten 3-2 in a bonkers match which I’m sure will be one of the ones to be recalled with affection by fans in decades to come when they are asked about our second Premier League season in 2018/19.
Perhaps some of the pleasure I got from watching us yesterday was because we had done something to, maybe, shut up those critics who have not had a good word to say about us in the first three weeks of this season. One of the, many, things I’m not overly keen on about the Premier League is the way that so many in the media who earn their living from covering it are “experts” on everything to do with the division – for example, they knew exactly what Cardiff City would be like in the top flight because they are a “typical Warnock side” that plays “anti football”.
Now, I’m not denying that we can often be hard going (how can I when Neil Warnock himself has said we are not easy on the eye?), but, although I’ve tried to not let it bother me, the constant drip, drip of negativity about City from people who have barely seen us play and whose opinions are based on preconceptions has had an effect.
Therefore, a lot of the pleasure I felt following this particular defeat probably stemmed from us showing the know all’s that there is a bit more to us – I must also admit mind that there was also an element of pleasant surprise there as well stemming from having seen that we had it within us to have proved said know all’s wrong!
So, can we really expect to see City being as refreshing in their outlook as they were yesterday every week? I’m not sure we can. Neil Warnock talked after the game about him not wanting to park the bus every week because he was too old for all of that, but, he’s been our manager for nearly two years now and that’s long enough for me to realise that he’s an old fox who is not averse to telling the media what they want to hear.
Could it be I wonder that we will be more Devil may care against the bigger teams because we may as well have a go at them as sit back and wait for the inevitable breakthrough and defeat and more cautious in the matches which will really decide our fate? We were hardly piling men forward against Bournemouth, Newcastle and Huddersfield were we?
There’s also the Arsenal factor to consider. Arsenal were the only fairly predictable thing about the afternoon – you could have forecast the bizarre policy of trying to prove Peter Cech is a wannabe John Stones with the insistence that he be the catalyst for all of Arsenal’s passing moves out of defence, despite this very good keeper (always the main priority for a traditionalist like me when it comes to Cech’s position) having the footballing skills of a drunken giraffe.
You could have forecast that our opponents would look distinctly dodgy at the back if City could ever have put them under pressure, but I’m not sure you could have predicted that Aaron Ramsey would have been detailed to mark Sean Morrison for the free kick which led to our second equaliser!
But, that’s wacky old Arsenal for you (actually, that should be wacky new Arsenal really, I’m old enough to remember the Dixon-Bould-Adams-Winterburn back line which made an art of the 1-0 away win) – the two let in yesterday takes their tally of goals against to eight in four league matches.
I mentioned last week that Arsenal at home probably represented our best opportunity to take points off the so called big six and, although I think they probably just about deserved their win in the end, I’d also say that I agree with Neil Warnock when he claimed we had the better chances on the day.
We created enough chances to offer a valid contrast between our finishing ability and Arsenal’s and, although there were so many pluses to be taken from our display, it has to be said that the visitors beat us hands down in the finishing stakes. You only had to look at the goals scored by Aubameyang and Lacazette for proof of the difference between the two teams – we don’t have players who could score goals like that, or at least we don’t have players who have scored goals like that in games, as opposed to in training.
Neil Warnock acknowledged that there was a lack of comparable finishing power in his team’s ranks, while also making the entirely valid point that the two Arsenal players were signed for a combined fee of over £100 million and yet, I find myself thinking that if we could have played better in the area where we are supposedly at our strongest, this was a game we could have won.
Throughout the summer, our manager was saying that he didn’t see the need to add any more new defenders once Greg Cunningham had been signed. Apart from the possible need for a specialist right back, I agreed with that view and, from memory, I cannot remember any demands from fans for further defensive reinforcements on the messageboards/social media when it came to the centre of the our defence.
Certainly, there was a feeling that Morrison, Bamba and Manga, with back up in the form of Connolly, Cunningham, Peltier and Paterson, left us pretty strong at centreback – there was definitely a thought that our need was greater in other areas of the team.
Just two goals conceded in our first three matches tended to confirm this opinion that we were fine at centreback, but yesterday offered the suggestion that this may not be the case.
In the first few minutes, captain Morrison gave away a cheap corner with a clumsy back pass and then his hesitancy almost presented Arsenal with a goal before the ball was scrambled away for the corner which led to Mustafi heading them into an early lead. Unfortunately, the German centreback was unmarked for his scoring header having worked himself a yard or two on Bamba and so both of our central defenders had endured their shaky moments with barely ten minutes on the clock.
Jim Beglin, the summariser on the video of the goals I watched was also critical of Morrison’s role in Arsenal’s second goal – it was a superb finish, but Beglin thought Aubameyang could have been closed down better. Similarly, Bamba was not close enough to Lacazette for the winner – again, a great finish, but we gave the scorer a little help on the way.
Morrison did get the assist for Danny Ward’s goal (a reward for a player who may well have concluded he would never score a goal in the Premier League before yesterday), but, although not on a par with his miss at Huddersfield last week, I reckon he would have been disappointed not to have put away the headed opportunity from six yards out which came his way in added time after sub Gary Madine had lured Cech out of his goal.
It may be that the problems both centrebacks encountered might have had something to do with the way full backs Manga and Bennett ventured forward in a manner I’ve not seen under this manager before – the latter was superb all afternoon and claimed an assist in our first league goal of the campaign when his cross was fired home by Vincent Camarasa who had his best game yet for us.
The same could certainly be said for Bobby Dercordova-Reid who was excellent alongside Ward up front, while Arter and Ralls were also impressive as, just as against Newcastle, our midfield three played better quality football than we saw from that section of the team for nearly all of our promotion season.
A defeat then, but, even more than in our drawn games with Newcastle and Huddersfield, City looked like a side which can survive this season. As I mentioned before, it is highly unlikely that it will be games against the likes of Arsenal which will enable us to get the points we need to stay up, but we showed a side to ourselves which I didn’t think existed yesterday and I can’t help thinking that there will be sides in the lower half of the table who will be less confident about their visit to Cardiff City Stadium in particular after yesterday’s completely unexpected thriller.
Finally, another reminder that you can now become my patron through Patreon by making a contribution towards the running costs of this site. Full details of the scheme and the reasons why I decided to introduce it can be found here, but I should say that the feedback I have got so far has indicated a reluctance from some to use Patreon as they prefer to opt for a direct payment to me. If you are interested in becoming a patron and would prefer to make a direct contribution, please contact me at paul.evans8153@hotmail.com or in the Feedback section of the blog and I will send you my bank/PayPal details.
I should also add that the short term goal of recompensing those who paid this summer’s web hosting bill has been achieved and I was able to give those involved a cheque for the full amount recently which came wholly from the donations of patrons. However, there are still the medium and long term goals I outlined on Patreon page and, to give an idea of what I mean, I’m hoping to get along to the Development team’s match with Leeds this afternoon which will mean I will have made three trips from Tynewydd to Cardiff and back on successive days to watch matches I will write about on here.
Once again, my sincere thanks to those who have become patrons already, but its a case of the more the merrier as far as I’m concerned and please consider signing up if you enjoy reading this blog.
A great old fashioned game which I really enjoyed. City were like a new team in attack . I thought Reid and Ward played exceptionally well. To come back after being a goal down twice, deserves some credit, which has not been credited by some of the pundits/journalists. Great third goal by their number 9 Alexandre Lacazette to seal the game. We almost got a third goal, but it was not to be. I was also impressed by their number 29 Matteo Guendouzi, he controlled a lot of the game, especially in the first half.
As I was leaving the stadium, heading towards my car, I was passing this guy, and said to him ” Unlucky”, he replied depends which team you support! Realised an Arsenal supporter. Thanks Paul for your views and summary of yesterday’s game.
One of your correspondents Paul has been saying for ages that the most pressing need was not for a striker, nor for a midfielder, but the dire need of a quality centre back. He was proved so right yesterday. Bamba was at fault for two of the goals, and Morrison for the third. Same problem for all three: naive defending by refusing to be touch tight.
My overall impression from yesterday’s game was a sense of optimism that Cardiff are more than capable of surviving this season after what was a genuine learning curve. As professionals the players will realise that it can be dangerous to dwell too long on the ball, and that even short passes have to be quick and accurate. On another day the several goal chances we had might well have gone in. I think, too, that Camarasa could well be the signing of the season for Cardiff. My only negative response is the belated use of substitutes. If I were Zohore and, more particularly Madine, I would tend to feel insulted at being brought on just a few minutes from the end when Cardiff were already a goal down. In fairness to players in that situation, they should at least be given some time to make an impact, especially as several Cardiff players had been showing signs of tiredness long before the end.
Thanks Paul for the match review ,some of your thoughts on the defence certantily ring true for me , Bennett is class , Morrison and Bamba had a testing afternoon and didn’t look comfortable against the quick movement of the Arsenal forwards. I have felt for a while that Manga needs to play centre back at the expense of Bamba , and a real full back plays in the role he played yesterday, and Cunningham needs to prove himself in that role to justify the fee we paid.
Midfield was good nd competed well against some classy players ,probaly Arsenals strongest department. ( thought Patterson on for last 15 would have added height and strength up front and in defence ) .
Forwards : Im not sure about Reid I thought he looked light weight and when he went on that run and broke through he never looked like scoring , still learning I guess, I would persevere with him though and would like to see a mobile 3 of Ward , Murphy and Reid having a go in the same vain as Saturday.
Great game though , and yes it was reminnist of that cracking Barnsley game , whatever happened to all those fast skilkful lads they had , they had some pace and killer instinct in front of goal.
I wonder if NW now regrets not playing that formation against Huddesfield and Newcastle, as I’m pretty confident we woukd have son them both.
Thanks Paul and others. Couldn’t agree more with all comments. We gave a top 6 team a good game, great atmosphere and we played some decent football which bodes well. However, again proved we cannot afford to make careless errors at the back . Our normally reliable centre backs got the jitters and we were punished. Thought Bennett and midfield did well again and front two looked lively and offered something different, but ran out of kegs at the death and agree perhaps subs should have been a bit earlier.
Have to admire the quality of the Gunners finishing, but equally impressed with our spirit to fight back and give it a real good go. More of that spirit against the lower ranked teams should stand us in good stead – but we need to get that first win urgently.
Further thought that although we had a few free kicks yesterday we need some better variety in delivery and to work on some training ground moves for something other than looking for Morrison’s head – especially as his radar a bit off in last couple of games!
Finally, good to see touch of class from Ramsey at the end who went round the ground to warm applause – once a Bluebird! Much respect all round.
The best captain I can remember was the Australian cricketer Richie Benaud.
His philosophy was that the best tactic
to use, was the one that the opposition least wanted.
Would teams like Arsenal prefer to meet a team playing open attacking football, or a ‘typical Warnock side’ where gum shields and tin helmets would be needed along with the shinpads?
This is what the anonymous journalist obviously had in mind when he said how he wanted us to play on Sunday.
How was he to know that Warnock would Abbandon his normal M.O. for this game!
Who would have thought that a 1-1 score at half time would consist of a set-piece headed goal from Arsenal and an open play goal from City!
I still think that our best chance of success is to build our game around what got us promoted but it is refreshing to see that we now have players who do not treat the ball like a hot potato.
The performance of our two centre backs was a concern but I hope and believe that they will adjust to the higher standards of the Premier League.
They are at least as good as Wes Morgan aren’t they?
PS Paul,
Loved your drunken Giraffe description of Cech’s dribbling skills.
If Arsenal’s manager is prepared to put up with this his reserve keeper (Leno?) must be a hell of a poor shot-stopper!
Thanks, Paul and fellow responders.
Rather surprised at the positivity around after the defeat by, what I feel is, a moderate Arsenal side . Thought of as one of the “Top Six” sides but I’m not sure they are that good.
I have to admit I didn’t get to the game, as I said after the Newcastle game the trek to the top-tier Ninian and the traffic problems getting away from the ground was something I didn’t feel up to. I can’t say I enjoyed the game that much on television, nail-biting stuff and I became very tense, ending up with a headache.
Anyway, enough about my problems and on to Cardiff City’s, where do you start?
Etheridge, could he have done better with their first and third goals?
Back four? I think only Bennett could be satisfied with his performance. Manga did OK (except for a couple of horror moments) in a position I don’t think he relishes. Our centre-backs, on the day looked to be playing in a class above their ability. Much has been made about the cost of the Arsenal strikers but those expensive strikers haven’t had the success against other teams that they did on Sunday. I think Morrison might grow into the role but Bamba has been around for some time and his failings are well known.
Hoilett probably wasn’t fully fit but with Murphy and Mendez-Laing injured he, more or less, had to play. Regardless of his lack of fitness I think he may be another who is playing in a league above his ability.
After (should have done better with that glorious opportunity) and Cameras were probably our two best players but both tired in the second half. Ralls put in another tireless shift but I felt showed a lack of composure at times.
Reid and Ward, I know that watching on TV you are not able to see what is happening off the ball and they may well have been making great runs but I am surprised to read on here and on CCMB that people thought they played well. There were times I felt that they lacked belief and commitment. Ward took his goal well but looked to lack pace, Reid as Russell mentioned above didn’t look strong enough on the ball.
On the day we could have scored five, oh! for an instinctive goalscorer. Have we got one in the squad? All four of our strikers got on to the field on Sunday and none of them convinced. If things continue in this way would it be worth giving Paterson a go up front? He’s good in the air and for a time last season seemed to have the appetite and ability to score goals.
Sorry to be so pessimistic, perhaps if we had managed to hold on at 2-2 I wouldn’t be feeling this way.
Differing opinions this morning in the responses (as always, thanks to everyone who replied) which always makes for interesting reading.
I thought Guendouzi did well Geoff and you can see why so many are surprised that their impressive Uruguayan sub Torreira isn’t starting every week.
A welcome to Vn Adamswood who, in his first posting on here, opts to fight the corner of someone who I believe departed this site recently. I’m not saying that I disagree completely with his first message, but I think in the interests of fairness, it had been said by many that, while Morrison should definitely have scored at Huddersfield, his defending in our first three games was pretty impressive and whenever a team keeps successive clean sheets, it normally means that their centrebacks must be getting something right.
Yes, I agree with you Anthony, we could have done with an earlier substitution or two – as it turned out Madine (with his holding off of Cech after the keeper had left his goal) and Zohore (with his cute chip towards Morrison) created the chance which could, and probably should, have stolen us a 3-3 draw.
Huw, we scored from one of our attacking free kicks, but, even so, Neil Warnock chose to criticise the standard of dead ball delivery from us and I would enlarge on that to include our crossing from open play as well – Hoilett (who doesn’t seem to have got going yet this season) and Manga being a couple of culprits I can think of.
Mike, very neat the way you gave your subtle clue as to the identity of the mystery journalist I was talking about in my piece! I agree with you about Richie Benaud, but your theory that we would have done better to have played in the manner that got us promoted – the manner that Mr Abb…. sorry, said we should is an interesting one. The problem I have with it is that, on Sunday anyway, it would have needed much better performances from our centrebacks than we got for it to have worked, but then again, I’m with you about our centrebacks, so I’m not ruling out that you might be right.
Colin, the last couple of days has seen me come around more to the view that Sunday’s match was one we could have won, so I share your frustration up to a point. Regarding Etheridge, I have him down as our player of the season so far – I wouldn’t blame him at all for being beaten on his near post for pace by Lacazette.
Paul – 24 hours later than intended, but still feel I would wish to add to the comments that others have already made and to which you have responded.
A match that was lost really as a result of our own shortcomings when presented with good, no very good opportunities to score. The word that comes to mind is composure, or lack of it. Arter, Reid twice and Morrison snatched at their chances, and I suspect all of us who were there had our head in our hands at the misses. But the strikes for the Gunnars’ last two goals were examples of just what to do when presented with goal scoring opportunities. Clinical and decisive but aided by some rather slack marking by our central defenders. Consequently, t
here needs to be considerable work put in on the training ground to sharpen the reactions of our attacking force and defensive unit if we are to prosper in this league. And now for something different.
I’m not sure if many of your correspondents have had the chance to see some of the episodes from the film on Amazon Prime about Manchester City who just happen to be our next visitors to the CCS. I watched two yesterday and am totally amazed and in awe at the thoroughness at which that Club set about their footballing business both on and off the field. It is compelling viewing. I have no idea where we are in comparison, but I suspect we are some way behind. But if we wish to remain in the big time, there will need to be an investment like never before if we wish to compete. I think all of us appreciate the commitment of Mr Tan, and all that his wealth has given us. But the investment made by those from the Middle East at the Etihad is truly exceptional. It really is no wonder that they are favourites to win the league once more. Am I envious – you bet. And this is a club who not too many years ago were floundering in League One.
It may well be that at the end of this month we occupy a relegation place. But if we are able to sharpen our actions at both ends of the pitch, then surely after Sunday’s general performance we will have the chance to start securing the necessary wins to see us climb the table. I’m leaning towards having a glass half full again.
Thanks BJA. I’ll defend Arter a little bit when it comes to his missed chance because the video made it clear that his left foot gave way as he controlled the ball – my immediate reaction at the ground was to wonder why he didn’t take the ball on a few steps before hitting it, but it looks like he was unable to, so his decision to hit his shot early may have been the only option open to him.
I’ve watched the whole of that Man City programme and I’d say we we’re probably looking at the club with the largest number of off field consultants/specialists/coaches etc. in the country or even Europe. I was critical of the club five years ago when they took the decision to build the Ninian Stand extension virtually as soon as we got promoted – my argument was that we should leave it a season or two for a couple of reasons, first we could end up with an increased capacity when we are playing in a competition (the Championship) where we didn’t need it and second we would, hopefully, have been in a better position to pay for it with more Premier League TV payments behind us. I’d like to see us make a big effort to get category 1 Academy status, but, maybe, it would be better to hang fire for a while given our experience with the stand extension which is now only just beginning to prove its validity? On the other hand, and getting back to the issue of composure in our finishing, I can imagine Nathan Blake thinking to himself that he was right, only an hour or so after our promotion had been confirmed, to say we needed a coach with extensive top level experience who might offer a degree of Premier League know how that the present manager and coaching staff lack – I could see some merit in Blakey’s suggestion, but thought it would never happen, because Neil Warnock, like many long standing British managers tends to have an “entourage” which follows him to most of the clubs he works at.