Cardiff City’s under 23 side managed to end their two game losing run this lunchtime, but they will be disappointed not to have extended their recent good record against Swansea City at this level as the match finished 1-1. In truth though, table toppers City were a little fortunate to get their point when you consider that George Ratcliffe saved a second half penalty and the visitors scorer Jaden Forrester missed what was probably the best chance of the game shortly afterwards.
City were lethargic and laborious in a first forty five minutes which saw them playing as poorly as I’ve seen them at this level all season and if you weren’t a Cardiff fan familiar with the players on show today, you would never have believed that eight of them were pretty regular members of the side that had won their first eleven matches in this campaign.
There has been a lot of talk in the past few weeks about the senior team changing from the current three centre backs/wing backs approach to a flat back four. Whether there was anything to be gleaned about the under 23s altering their shape to a 4-5-1/4-3-3, thereby becoming the first Cardiff side at Under 18 level and above to abandon the three centrebacks formation this season is hard to say until we see what the first team does on Sunday against Nottingham Forest. However, with their very good goals against record, it’s hardly as if our second string side have been mirroring the first team when it comes to conceding goals.
Last time out against Ipswich City seemed top heavy with defensive minded players as they slumped to a 2-0 loss, whereas today it was clear from seeing the line up for the first time that we wouldn’t be playing the normal system because we didn’t have more than four defenders – Joel Bagan could have joined Ollie Denham and Ibrahim Bakare as central defenders I suppose, but there was only Jai Semenyo as a realistic candidate to play wing back if that happened.
So, it was a Denham/Bakare combination in the middle with Semenyo and Joel Bagan as orthodox full backs behind three midfielders in Sam Bowen, Eli King and Keenan Patten with Keiron Evans and Rubin Colwill supporting Max Watters up front.
That’s a strong line up when you consider that seven of the outfield ten have played first team football, an eighth, Patten really should have done by now and Semenyo looks like a first team player in the making to many.
Unfortunately, it was those who you’d say are closest to getting back into first team contention who were most responsible for City’s dismal first half showing – Bagan, Bowen, Evans and Colwill were shadows of the players that they’ve looked at this level for much of the last year and, although at least three of them redeemed themselves to an extent after the break, there was never anything like the fluency and confidence which you saw through the first half of the season from the team.
What didn’t help matters was that Patten, the most dynamic of the three midfielders, was given a role akin to the one Marlon Pack was often criticised for when the first team played with a back four.
Pack used to drop really deep to pick the ball up from the centrebacks – I didn’t think there was much wrong with that given what our central defenders are like when it comes to playing out from the back, but ex pros on podcasts I listen to were often critical of the tactic.
Today Patten did the same in the first half and, while I’m not saying this was responsible for us not posing Swansea any problems whatsoever in the opening forty five minutes, it did tend to magnify the feeling that space was at a premium for us in the middle of the park as Swansea’s press stifled our attempts to move the ball in the manner we had done earlier in the season almost before they’d begun.
It didn’t help matters either that Bagan in particular was finding it hard to reacquaint himself with the full back role after a year of playing as a wing back – it was all so stodgy with no one seeming to have the energy to break the lines to use modern parlance.
As mentioned earlier, I cannot remember City having an attack worthy of the name in the first half, but, for all Swansea’s comfort in holding onto their early lead, they’ll perhaps regret not being a bit more ambitious while they were on top.
In fact, most of the meaningful action in the opening half came around the ten minute mark as a fine cross from the right by Swansea’s Joe Thomas reached Lincoln McFayden beyond the far post who pulled the ball back to the unmarked Ben Lloyd eight yards out and his shot was superbly saved by George Ratcliffe. It appeared for a second or two as if the danger was over, but Cameron Congreve gained possession and then went down in the penalty area under a challenge from Patten. Replays showed that it was a modern type of penalty if I can use that expression because the player hung his leg out somewhat hoping to feel contact and then went down as soon as he did, but there were few, if any, complaints from City players when the ref pointed to the spot and I think the official got it right.
Forrester coolly sent Ratcliffe the wrong with his penalty and so City found themselves conceding the first goal for the third successive game having been unable to answer back with one of their own in the first two of them.
This time though they did manage to fight back and the seeds for this were sown in Darren Purse’s half time team talk it would seem because the attitude was much better in the second period with a concerted press discomforting Swansea in a way they hadn’t been earlier.
Switching King, the natural to play as a sitter in today’s midfield, to the deeper role Patten had been occupying helped matters with the latter providing the mobility that had been lacking as he and Bowen increasingly made runs into forward areas.
With the full backs also finding time to get upfield more, City dominated territorially and forced Swansea to give the ball back to them more, but I found it all a bit first teamish in that their dominant period was marked by lots of attacking set pieces, but little of note from open play because the passing was not good enough – this was disappointing in a side that had proved time after time they can pass the ball well at this level.
Evans’ dead ball delivery had been poor by his standards in the first half and it wasn’t much better in the early stages of the second one either, but, on the hour mark, he got a free kick from City’s left just right and Patten netted with a fierce downward header from ten yards.
The game seemed City’s for the taking at that stage, but it was Swansea who came closest to winning it when, first Bakare handled in the area and although I initially was critical of the ref for giving a second penalty against us, a close up replay played a few minutes later showed that, once again, he’d got the decision right – it was a clear penalty.
Forrester had put his first penalty to Ratcliffe’s left, but this time went the other way. Now, I’ll always credit any goalkeeper who saves a penalty, but, in truth, thisd one wasn’t well struck and, as soon as he guessed right in which way to dive, Ratcliffe was always going to save it – there were more impressive things from City’s keeper today than this save I believe.
Forrester soon had the chance to make amends when Denham carelessly lost possession when he was last man and, although Ratcliffe was quickly off his line to close the attacker down, there was little he could have done if Forrester had got his dinked effort over him correct, but, instead, it rolled just wide.
City came close when an Evans corner flew across the six yard box with no one able to get a decisive touch on it and in the last move of the match when the disappointing Colwill saw his close range effort blocked by a defender after Patten had headed on an Evans corner and from there the ball struck sub James Crole and bounced a foot or so wide without him knowing much about it.
By the end, I’d say Ratcliffe, Semenyo, Bagan, King, Patten, Bowen and Evans could look back on better performances than they looked like giving at one stage and if I had to single one of them out, it would probably be Ratcliffe with King maybe the best of the outfield players.
