Reply With QuoteIn general I think many Cardiff fans over rate RallsOriginally Posted by Hilts
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I agree with this.
Those teams that you mention. seem to be a pass ahead or working to a flexible plan and comfortable in possession, whereas our players seem to pass it to each other and once they get the ball think ‘what am I going to do with it now?’
In general I think many Cardiff fans over rate Ralls
The evidence was before our ready eyes. We can’t pass, have no movement and all we rely on is hit and hope.
Perhaps we need to get some new players, instead of constantly complaining that Harris is unable to fit square pegs in round holes.
Couldn't agree more. There is a blind spot when it comes to Ralls, he works hard but is very limited. Probably the player who frustrates me most and has done for a very long time (slightly ahead of Bennett). I had a feeling he was going to get sent off when he was on a booking, got a habit of putting in stupid tackles.
When are we going to buy some midfielders who can play football as well as run around a lot? Why didn't we get a good right back in the summer? Where is the more mobile CB who is comfortable on the ball? Where is the next generation putting the 1st team under pressure for places in the side? Why is Harry Wilson made to look isolated and ineffective on a football pitch?
This is not a reaction from just to losing to the JBs, but losing so easily in a local derby does bring to the fore all the issues we have been pretty well aware of for ages.
I was shocked how easy it was for the Jacks yesterday, stroll in the park at times. Even our world famous 'Set PiecesTM' were pants. If that is our main threat then at least make every single opportunity count. Tactically outgunned yesterday but let's face it, not that difficult.
Here we go. A total inability to accept that in the previous four games Harris got the team selection, tactics, substitutions right (12 points, 10 goals scored, one goal conceded) and then you go on to denigrate the four wins by saying the opposition was rubbish (whilst totally forgetting that we also beat Watford, one of the strongest sides in the division). We got it wrong yesterday and played poorly, which played into your hands as a constant Harris and City hater. No doubt you are eagerly awaiting the next defeat. I really don't understand what you get out of your constant criticism. You obviously don’t enjoy following City but you obviously enjoy moaning, as you appear have made it into something of an art form. PS. We drew with Bournemouth by the way, so by your logic they cant be that good.
I’m pretty sure if he’s rotated or changed things and we’d lost he’d have been been accused of tampering with a winning formula and a confident team.
The gym also showed our players limitations, we will games though as we're better than most outside of the top 6 , they look a solid 6 .
It's the limitations of the club that have showed up, the manager is just a product of others who don't really know what they're doing. We're in pretty good company, Forest, Derby etc.
The best thing that ever happened to Swansea was that they nearly went out of the league, almost went Bankrupt a couple of times as well, they were forced into a situation where they didn't have a great deal to lose, instead of repairing what they had, they decided on a full gut. It wasn't a difficult decision for them considering the position they were in.
Since then, they've helped to nurture Martinez, the manager of the number 1 ranked team on earth, Rodgers, a top 6 premier league manager. Brought in Laudrup who suited and actually enhanced every aspect of their playing style and now Cooper, a shrewd appointment given their financial situation as Cooper knows youth, which was the way Swansea were going to have to go in order to progress.
On the occasion they've ****ed up, Bradley and Monk, whoever else has come in has had a relatively easy transition in getting back to a style of play that suits them, because the club is designed from top to bottom to produce players who are comfortable on the ball and understand shape, movement etc.
We've bungled along, picking up individuals, whether that's on the playing staff or managerial team, there is no 'fit' at our club, it's always been a reaction based on what was happening at the time, not what a player could add to the whole set up, because there isn't one.
If we are to progress, not play in fear like we do against outfits like Swansea, Bournemouth etc,then we need a full gut out. I don't really blame Harris, he was brought in to replicate a manager in warnock who hasn't left any form of legacy at any club that he has ever been at. The football is pretty shit, the players we have aren't comfortable in possession, we are easy to set up against (for possession based teams) Unless there's some kind of revolution then i can't see us making real progress.
Agree with the majority of that article Bob.
Since Jones has left I've enjoyed 'moments' in games watching the city. Particularly in recent history, the Camarasa goal away at Leicester, the odd bit of magic from Whitts or Tomlin spring to mind. But I couldn't tell you the last time I actually enjoyed watching a full 90 minute city performance, the style of play since DJ has left has been absolutely awful.
Granted we were hit and miss under Jones, but when we were on song we could absolutely steam roll teams playing fantastic football. If todays side was on song, what would that look like? A few more corners? Some more freekicks? Even more aimless long balls up to the big man to try and flick on?
I'm not sure that the average 'City' fan wants revolution and I dont think we necessarily need one.
I've been a City fan for more years than I remember and we have never, apart from short spells been a free flowing, footballing side.
Attack minded yes, but tippy tappy no.
I would argue that the type of football best suited to us is being big, strong, direct, attack minded. I dont think there is anything wrong with that. Unfortunately with the present limitations probably only parts of that analogy apply. With the addition of 3 or 4 of the right players and a manager who is capable of harnessing all those 3 things together, we would soon be shooting up the league.
Suddenly I am thinking of Malky Mackay in our Championship winning team. Dont know why. 😀
A revolution in football terms doesn't have to be sweeping. Nobody plays tippy tappy anyway, and nobody is expecting free flowing. What should be expected is the ability to keep the ball, look composed in the right areas, not have to take two touches to set yourself up etc. We can bully 80% of this division, no problem. When we come up against teams that can play, are versatile, comfortable in possession and willing to take risks, who also have fantastic shape, we struggle, it's like watching a child running away from a bully, no ability to compete, just doing enough to survive.
More or less a victim of his (4 game) success. Of course we were awful yesterday and he’s getting stick since the game but what if he’d switched things around, rested a couple, brought a couple in and (most probably) the outcome would have been the same because out of our personnel who would have made a huge difference, what would have been the fans’ reaction then? I reckon Harris would have been crucified for changing the winning formula, what a dilemma when your squad is all much of a muchness with nobody such as Tomlin to come in to spice things up.
I shouldn't have used the term 'tippy tappy ' but I was trying to emphasise a point that possession football is not the be all and end all.
I reiterate the point that we are not necessarily that far away from being a team that is not only successful, but pleasing to the casual observer. We need 3/4 of the players who you quite rightly say are comfortable with the ball, coupled with a manager(its not Harris) who can harness these with the talents we already possess.
Yesterday there was only one side who could play football and it was not us.
Swansea are a very good side,they all knew how to pass and move into space.
We looked like a poor pub side.
Definitely true, City have signed Ojo and Wilson who are promising players, problem is when they go back to parent Club their potential will have been adversely affected I’m sorry to say.
To answer the original post, I don't think Swansea have better players than us but they have a better team. A team that appears to gel well and plays well as a team. We have a lot of good players, as do they, but don't gel in the same way. Our players don't seem to know what they are supposed to doing whereas the JAcks play a certain way and are used to it. Wilson and Ojo don't really fit in, Harris is very raw and we miss the creativity of Tomlin. The summer transfers of not getting a right back took Bacuna out of midfield and we also need someone creative and we didn't get either. I like to think it would have made a difference but not so sure under Harris.
It was obvious before half time to viewers and pundits alike that the tactics needed changing. Harris seemed oblivious to this and yet persisted after half time with the same formation and players. Someone like Mourinho would have hauled players off and changed the system BEFORE half time. The Swans defence could have got deck chairs and cigars out because they were so comfortable. We are 1 nil down have Ralls sent off and Harris brings on a defensive midfielder!!.
As for Swansea having better players no one has mentioned Ayew who is head and shoulders above anything we have. We have a midfield of journeymen. I am still hoping for the emergence of a striker from the academy but that hope,sadly, does not rest upon the shoulders of Harris’ namesake.
I disagree we have played well against decent sides , its obvious were just not a top 6 side , certainly better than a pub side ( which I guess was a joke ) we fell foul of doing right by the players and keeping a winning side and not alerting tactics . Should he have changed after 30 minutes, oh yes .
Exactly. What changes could Harris have made to the starting XI yesterday? Cunningham instead of Bennett? Pack instead of one of the midfielders? Murphy or Whyte instead of one of the wingers? Glatzel instead of one of the strikers? None of them clearly improve the team.
What changes would you have made at half-time?
The most obvious change would have been to take Harris off who, I am afraid , is out of his depth. Wilson was completely wasted playing on the right wing and should have been switched to a number 10 position. Glatzel should have been brought on playing behind Moore and Benkovic should have been alongside Morrison with Nelson going right back with Bacuna replacing Vaulks. I am not saying we would have won but it could have more than likely avoided Ralls getting sent off who was trying to do the work of two men.
Don’t forget that I am just an armchair pundit but if Harris, being handsomely paid, was not aware of the obvious then we need a new manager.
All 4 sides were above us. 2 of them still are. I notice you conveniently left out Watford because that didn't suit your argument. Has it occurred to you that we made them look bad? Bournemouth have 30/40m pound players. You said it was embarrassing for us, I think it is embarrassing for them that they're playing the likes of us.
Huddersfield won the game before us and the two after. Luton the same. Again, doesn't suit your argument.
I think you may have been watching us play a little longer than me, but I think we've both seen an awful lot of City teams down the years so are well placed to say whether there is a typical Cardiff way of playing. I tend to agree with you that City have favoured physical football with a direct style and at least one big centre forward - I wouldn't say we've always been that attack minded though.
What makes the current situation a bit different for me though is that right from someone like Barrie Hole, I can remember City teams with a technical footballer somewhere in the central midfield. Poorer teams than this one had, for example, Johnny Vincent, Alan Campbell, Billy Robson, David Tong, Brian McDermott, Jason Fowler and Gareth Whaley in there - players who were comfortable with the ball and able to give and receive passes without their technical limitations being exposed.
It's different with recent teams where so many times you say the ball hooked over a midfielders head into "an area" - with resources and facilities that are so much superior to what the players I listed saw at the club, I find it sad that we're so bad at certain aspects of the game.
You rather give the game away by referring to "tippy tappy" football. So many talk as if there are only two ways to play the game, tippy, tappy or direct, but most sides play something in between these extremes. That's what I want to us become better at, because it would be daft to suddenly do away with the things we're good at, but, season after season, the stats show we're poor at passing the ball and keeping it and it seems equally daft for us to not to try to improve this part of our game.
Great post we pass the ball as if it explode if you pass to a player in a blue shirt
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