+ Visit Cardiff FC for Latest News, Transfer Gossip, Fixtures and Match Results
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 46

Thread: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

  1. #1

    Outclassed City given a football lesson.


  2. #2

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    Good read, agree with most. I have to say I think Bamba is one of our most overrated players for a while. He makes the odd quality tackle but half the time it's because he's out of position in the first place. When bamba stepped up into midfield then I believe we're more solid as Morrison and Manga is the cb partnership, rather than because Bamba is holding mid.

  3. #3

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    Quote Originally Posted by SunderlandBluebird View Post
    Good read, agree with most. I have to say I think Bamba is one of our most overrated players for a while. He makes the odd quality tackle but half the time it's because he's out of position in the first place. When bamba stepped up into midfield then I believe we're more solid as Morrison and Manga is the cb partnership, rather than because Bamba is holding mid.
    Totally disagree, Bamba has been outstanding for us, I certainly don’t think for one minute he’s overrated. Our best centre back partnership is Bamba and Morrison, without doubt.

    Our last two games have been disappointing but I trust in Neil to turn it around

  4. #4

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    Quote Originally Posted by Auntie Andy View Post
    Totally disagree, Bamba has been outstanding for us, I certainly don’t think for one minute he’s overrated. Our best centre back partnership is Bamba and Morrison, without doubt.

    Our last two games have been disappointing but I trust in Neil to turn it around
    Same here, I get frustrated we don't just have a go and go down fighting at times but can't criticise Warnock too much as you only have to look at the spending prowess of teams around us.

    I don't think bamba's shite for what it's worth, I just don't think he's better than Morrison or Manga.

  5. #5

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    Thanks again for sharing this with us Bob...

    A few points..

    - I think 'outclassed' is pushing it a bit. At 2-1 we were dominating the game and I was certain we would score again. We certainly had them rattled . They were the better side overall, particularly for most of the 1st half, but we weren't outclassed. Looking at the shot stats 15-9 and 6-6 on target it points to a fairly even game overall. I wonder if the game had ended 3-3, which a more accurate cross in that final minute may have meant, whether theee would be some completely different views on the message boards.

    - yes, Fulham definitely should have had a penalty after 5 minutes and the game would have panned out differently. However that may we'll have worked in our favour, who knows. The decision to play on for their 3rd all but won the game for them

    - given the way Fulham play then I'm not sure Morrison would have stopped any of their goals, although at the other end we might have got something from the many decant balls we put in their box. Ironically I told my sister in law to bet on Ream as the first goal scorer as I felt we have become vulnerable at set pieces since Morrison got injured. She only put 50p on it at 30-1.. should have had more faith !

    One thing he would do is not commit and dive in as Manga did, allowing Fulhams skilful players to skip past into dangerous positions. However both centre backs made several key interceptions and I think our problems were worse out wide with Peltier getting an uncharacteristic roasting and Bennett destroyed for the 2nd time in 12 months by Fulham. ( He was actually excellent at Craven Cottage, but who can forget the FA Cup game at CCS) . Neither though was helped by a lack of cover - a weakness in our 4-3-3 formation I guess.

  6. #6

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    Quote Originally Posted by SunderlandBluebird View Post
    Good read, agree with most. I have to say I think Bamba is one of our most overrated players for a while. He makes the odd quality tackle but half the time it's because he's out of position in the first place. When bamba stepped up into midfield then I believe we're more solid as Morrison and Manga is the cb partnership, rather than because Bamba is holding mid.
    Manga is the weak link in my humble opinion. Just look what’s happened since Morrison got injured.

    Always a yard off his man when the ba comes over, gives it away too much and weak.

    Not a good player at this level

  7. #7

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    If Ralls is 'Bread and butter', then Gunnarson is 'Bread and Jam'. He's a far, far superior player to Ralls, and does all the donkey work that Ralls does, plus he can pass better, moves around the pitch better, and has an overall greater influence on play,

    Warnock has done a wonderful job building a strong unit out of a 'mid-table' squad. I only hope that it's not the case that the players have lost all confidence in themselves, because that's exactly what it looked liked yesterday.

    And yes, Captain Morrison is sorely missed..

  8. #8

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    Quote Originally Posted by Lawnmower View Post
    Thanks again for sharing this with us Bob...

    A few points..

    - I think 'outclassed' is pushing it a bit. At 2-1 we were dominating the game and I was certain we would score again. We certainly had them rattled . They were the better side overall, particularly for most of the 1st half, but we weren't outclassed. Looking at the shot stats 15-9 and 6-6 on target it points to a fairly even game overall. I wonder if the game had ended 3-3, which a more accurate cross in that final minute may have meant, whether theee would be some completely different views on the message boards.

    - yes, Fulham definitely should have had a penalty after 5 minutes and the game would have panned out differently. However that may we'll have worked in our favour, who knows. The decision to play on for their 3rd all but won the game for them

    - given the way Fulham play then I'm not sure Morrison would have stopped any of their goals, although at the other end we might have got something from the many decant balls we put in their box. Ironically I told my sister in law to bet on Ream as the first goal scorer as I felt we have become vulnerable at set pieces since Morrison got injured. She only put 50p on it at 30-1.. should have had more faith !

    One thing he would do is not commit and dive in as Manga did, allowing Fulhams skilful players to skip past into dangerous positions. However both centre backs made several key interceptions and I think our problems were worse out wide with Peltier getting an uncharacteristic roasting and Bennett destroyed for the 2nd time in 12 months by Fulham. ( He was actually excellent at Craven Cottage, but who can forget the FA Cup game at CCS) . Neither though was helped by a lack of cover - a weakness in our 4-3-3 formation I guess.
    For me, Fulham were better than us at goalkeeper, full back, centreback, wide midfieldand central midfield, while I thought Zohore did well in all of the circumstances and probably came out level against his counterpart - that looks like we were outclassed to me. Also, who in our team can say they played well? As I said, I thought Ralls had a good game and Zohore did pretty well considering he's played so little football lately - that's it as far as I'm concerned though.

  9. #9

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    Quote Originally Posted by the other bob wilson View Post
    For me, Fulham were better than us at goalkeeper, full back, centreback, wide midfieldand central midfield, while I thought Zohore did well in all of the circumstances and probably came out level against his counterpart - that looks like we were outclassed to me. Also, who in our team can say they played well? As I said, I thought Ralls had a good game and Zohore did pretty well considering he's played so little football lately - that's it as far as I'm concerned though.
    Depends how you look at it.

    If Fulham were that much better then why didn't we have far more attempts on goal ?

    Fact is, although they played very good football we won the lions share of 50/50s

    It's what happens when you've got a team full of pacy ball players against one dominated by hard working physical ones.

    If they were by far the better side then why were they reduced to time wasting in the end and clinging on ?

    No complaints about the result, but outclassed is not a fair reflection on the game.

  10. #10

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    Healey didn't do too badly either after his long layoff.

    Can't believe Fulham are where they are in the table - I'd say probably the best visiting side I've seen at CCS this season.

  11. #11

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    Confidence does seem low, is Bryson gone at the game? Seems to have perfected “headless chicken” mode.

  12. #12

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    Quote Originally Posted by A Quiet Monkfish View Post
    If Ralls is 'Bread and butter', then Gunnarson is 'Bread and Jam'. He's a far, far superior player to Ralls, and does all the donkey work that Ralls does, plus he can pass better, moves around the pitch better, and has an overall greater influence on play,

    Warnock has done a wonderful job building a strong unit out of a 'mid-table' squad. I only hope that it's not the case that the players have lost all confidence in themselves, because that's exactly what it looked liked yesterday.

    And yes, Captain Morrison is sorely missed..
    Gunnarson is one of the worst passers of the ball at the club.

    Ralls is head and shoulders better than him on the ball.

    Where we miss Gunnar is that he really is a massive physical presence and although we compete well without him, for the game we play we have a better balance with him and Ralls sitting in and Bryson being free than with Bryson sitting back and Damour being the forward one of the 3

    Gunnar shakes opponents up , he tackles hard and forces errors. That's where we miss him

    However, his passing is pants, if it wasn't he'd be playing in the Prem now

  13. #13

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    Can I have my 5p worth, "NML has been found out, he is a division 1 player at best".

  14. #14

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    Marshall would of kept us in that game by saving their 3rd nothing against Etheridge but we haven't got a keeper that can earn a few points when you need them.

  15. #15

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    Quote Originally Posted by Whisperer View Post
    Marshall would of kept us in that game by saving their 3rd nothing against Etheridge but we haven't got a keeper that can earn a few points when you need them.
    He'd have to take the splinters out of his arse first

  16. #16

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    Cheers for that.

    Something has to have gone on with Tomlin behind the scenes or I really do worry about Warnock's judgement. Everyone in the ground could see we were crying out for something different to the three carthorses we had in the middle.

    Ralls, Damour and Bryson - that's not a midfield that will get you promoted.

  17. #17

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    I thought the game was essentially lost in midfield. Those 3 just don't work together, they are too similar and pose no threat on the ball.
    To be honest Bryson and Damour just run around yesterday with very little intelligence of how to affect the in attack or defence.

    Whether we would have won with Morrison is doubtful but Bamba and Manga both have tendency to be pulled out of position whereas Morrison won't be pulled about.

    A bad day at the office, hopefully that Fulham will turn up when they play our rivals.

    The damage wasn't done by losing to a Fulham team capable of beating anyone, the damage was done losing to a Bolton side that are absolute dross.

  18. #18

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    Quote Originally Posted by BLUETIT View Post
    Can I have my 5p worth, "NML has been found out, he is a division 1 player at best".
    It would be impossible for him to have continued the form he showed in August, but if you'd had said after his winner at Wolves that he wouldn't score in his next 16 games, no-one would have believed you.

    In terms of assists and goals, he's way short of Junior Hoilett, yet I feel most City fans would rather Mendez-Laing in the team than Hoilett.

    I don't agree that he's a League 1 player at best, but his tricks have become more predictable and his impact hasn't been what it was. Part of me thinks that's the deal with most wingers - they can have spells of nothing then suddenly they're unplayable. I think his place in the team should be under threat at the moment.

  19. #19

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    Quote Originally Posted by thehumblegringo View Post
    The damage wasn't done by losing to a Fulham team capable of beating anyone, the damage was done losing to a Bolton side that are absolute dross.
    I agree.

    Against both Bolton and Birmingham we managed a grand total of 0 shots on target. That makes me think the players expected to just turn up and get a result, then when they discovered the opposition were up for it, didn't match them.

  20. #20

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    Interesting and entertaining article as ever.
    Thanks.


    Over a couple of weeks NW has alluded to the notion that the availability situation is bad, but also seemed to be suggesting that 'we couldn't possibly imagine just how bad things are back there' .
    There's also this unfathomable scenario with Tomlin. I wonder if Team spirit has taken a bit of a knock.

    I'm also tempted to wonder if there was a concerted effort to ensure that we looked suitably 'needy' in front of the Club owner , just ahead of January.
    I jest, of course..

  21. #21

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    Quote Originally Posted by A Quiet Monkfish View Post
    If Ralls is 'Bread and butter', then Gunnarson is 'Bread and Jam'. He's a far, far superior player to Ralls, and does all the donkey work that Ralls does, plus he can pass better, moves around the pitch better, and has an overall greater influence on play,

    Warnock has done a wonderful job building a strong unit out of a 'mid-table' squad. I only hope that it's not the case that the players have lost all confidence in themselves, because that's exactly what it looked liked yesterday.

    And yes, Captain Morrison is sorely missed..
    It's our manager who calls Gunnarsson and Ralls bread and butter players and I see it as a judgment on the type of player they are, rather than how good they are.

    I agree that Gunnarsson is the better of those two players, but that's not the point I was trying to address - we have six players capable of doing a job for the first team in central midfield I make it (Gunnarsson, Ralls, Bryson, Damour, Halford and Bamba) and I'd say in many ways they are all similar type of players with creativity not being a particularly strong suit in any of them.

    For me, Gunnarsson is one of the best in the division at the sort of job he does for his country, while Ralls is up there with the best youngish central midfielders in the Championship and Damour has been a good signing when you consider how much he is costing us, but in many ways they are all much of a muchness in that area, hence we are nowhere near as balanced in terms of the range of basic abilities needed for a good midfielder these days as Fulham are.

  22. #22

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    Quote Originally Posted by the other bob wilson View Post
    It's our manager who calls Gunnarsson and Ralls bread and butter players and I see it as a judgment on the type of player they are, rather than how good they are.

    I agree that Gunnarsson is the better of those two players, but that's not the point I was trying to address - we have six players capable of doing a job for the first team in central midfield I make it (Gunnarsson, Ralls, Bryson, Damour, Halford and Bamba) and I'd say in many ways they are all similar type of players with creativity not being a particularly strong suit in any of them.

    For me, Gunnarsson is one of the best in the division at the sort of job he does for his country, while Ralls is up there with the best youngish central midfielders in the Championship and Damour has been a good signing when you consider how much he is costing us, but in many ways they are all much of a muchness in that area, hence we are nowhere near as balanced in terms of the range of basic abilities needed for a good midfielder these days as Fulham are.
    I've heard it mentioned that Warnock has an old-fashioned approach of players needing to win their battles first before they can play. This might explain why we have the midfielders we have. We also have an approach of getting the ball forward with minimal fuss (I'm not one who necessarily says we're a long ball side and the stats don't particularly bear that out). As a longer ball game is less accurate and requires players picking up second balls from headers (our own and from clearances), so graft and desire will be preferred to creativity in midfield.

    I'm not convinced it's the best way to build for the future, but it's been successful enough so far.

  23. #23

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    Quote Originally Posted by thehumblegringo View Post
    I thought the game was essentially lost in midfield. Those 3 just don't work together, they are too similar and pose no threat on the ball.
    To be honest Bryson and Damour just run around yesterday with very little intelligence of how to affect the in attack or defence.

    Whether we would have won with Morrison is doubtful but Bamba and Manga both have tendency to be pulled out of position whereas Morrison won't be pulled about.

    A bad day at the office, hopefully that Fulham will turn up when they play our rivals.

    The damage wasn't done by losing to a Fulham team capable of beating anyone, the damage was done losing to a Bolton side that are absolute dross.
    Agree with your point about the midfield. I think this is why we're the lowest scorers in the top 6. We're desperate for a midfielder who is comfortable running with the ball. Ralls gets a nosebleed when he approaches the penalty area and automatically looks for an outlet wide left or wide right. Bryson and Damour are solid enough, but neither are a threat in front of goal. I hope NW is looking for an attacking, goal-scoring midfielder (in my opinion, we've not had one since Mutch).

  24. #24

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    Watching City yesterday it seem to me that we really missed a midfield organiser, Bryson and Damour spent too much time chasing defenders instead of attackers. Why Bryson thought man marking MacDonald was of use I'll never know, he should have stuck to Carney instead. At times Pelttier and Bennett came over to help Ralls leaving acres of space for fulham fullbacks.

    I thought Warnock would have brought Paterson on at half time and pushed either Peltier or Bamba into midfield with the other alongside Manga. As for Morrison I dont think he would have made any difference to that score line unless Bamba started in midfield. Morrison constantly gives the ball away and his defensive heading is shocking.

    What we need in the transfer market 2 midfielders A tackler and a dead ball specialist to play alongside Gunnerson or Ralls.

  25. #25

    Re: Outclassed City given a football lesson.

    I think outclassed it putting a little harshly. We didn't play well, and they had a couple of stand out players but I don't think there was a gulf in class.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •