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The question then is whether this is the blueprint for forthcoming seasons or whether there's an intention to change it in the future? I'm critical of it from a short termism point of view where, going forward in terms of time, it's a tactic we should be moving away from, yet we're reverting back to it because it fits what we have now. At some point, there will need to be a shift in dynamic. I'd argue that now is that time as we're unlikely to get promoted this season with some of the crap we've seen.
Have we ever played possession football?
According to whoscored.com we are joint third in the league for long balls played on average per game with 79. Warnock's gradually behind on 78 per game.
We are also ranked 19th in the league for average amount of short passes per game with 290.
We are 16th in relation to goals from open play with 10
We rank 1st for goals from set pieces.
We are 17th for possession per game with 47.7%. A whole 1.6% ahead of Warnock's Boro.
For those who suggest that we have moved that far from Warnock's style, the stats don't really suggest it. Or is it that Harris wasn't that different to Warnock to begin with? Again, the stats didn't suggest he was.
All these stats too are when Harris has supposedly tried to play football at stages during times this season. The short pass numbers and possession percentage would be even lower with more long balls. We would be near the top with long balls though. We're in the long ball play off places comfortably anyway though.
Why not? Virtually all of those players have played in teams that play more football than this season under Harris. If they've managed to pass the ball more before then why can't they now?
If you don't try it in a season where you are not really going to go up but are relatively safe then when?
I totally get that. He's in a catch 22 situation.
The way we play has its benefits as it suits some of the players we have. It also doesn't make us an attractive team to watch, we can be boring and while we're stuck in the cycle of playing this way, we'll keep looking at players who can make the way we play work, rather than look to change things. I'm hoping Harris looks to change the way we play and bring in personnel to fit. I don't find our long ball game interesting at all. I suppose when we're winning, it doesn't matter. When we're not, and we haven't been winning enough this season, those tactics are made to look primitive. If we have ambition as a club, we need to look at the sort of football the top 6 are playing. We're light years behind them in terms of football. Disruptive, in yer face, get it forward quickly football, yes, but that's not the way to go if we're looking long term at staying in the Premier League.
Totally agree with this. A change of direction is needed.
It is whether you believe this team can play more football or if they are told to go direct and be hustle bustle.
I know what I think and I believe this is what Harris does and his philosophy on football. If given money he will,in my opinion, fit players into his direct style. He has already told us what Cardiff fans want in a team (hard working etc etc) and I stumbled on this article. Certainly does not bode well for our quest.
https://www.skysports.com/amp/footba...-their-fanbase
For those that can't be bothered to read it Harris talks of his hustle bustle, aggressive style. It goes on to describe a style of football played at Millwall that is nothing like the rest of the top clubs in the Championship. Sound familiar?
In short we are expecting Harris to play a style that he never in any of his time at Millwall and has not attempted to any great extent in his time here.
All I can see is someone who wants longer term planning but when the style of play doesn't leap in a new direction, even though we have almost all the same players, they suddenly don't have any patience. This feeling seems to happen most frequently when we've lost to one of the best sides in the league.
Honestly, apart from Pack at Bristol City, what do you know about the playing styles of those players former clubs? Are you talking about Vaulks when he was at Falkirk and Bacuna when he was under Lambert (?) at Villa or we focusing on their most recent clubs only?
What a load of bollocks his comments are.
I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever in my mind that if we played like Swansea but won immediate promotion and spent years in the top flight, our fans would be happy. Far happier than if we continue to play as we are and stay as a top half Championship club.
Vaulks when he was at Rotherham. Bacuna at Reading.
We played the most direct football in the league under Warnock so I know for certain that these players played in teams that have played more football than we are currently. Harris was, and is, very similar to Warnock's style and hasn't moved far from that. Do the players choose to play long with no passing emphasis or are they told to?
Have you seen a change in the way we play? We play the third most long balls per game in this league. That is fact. More than Warnock's Boro team.
Are you suggesting that Bacuna didn't play more passing football at Villa than at Harris' Cardiff City? I know Vaulks can pass it better because I've seen him do it for Wales in games. Have they forgotten how to?
That is the thing though JR. We have scored 13 in 21.
With our defence it still usually amounts to defeat given the amount we score from open play.
If you think that's funny I bet your sides will be splitting if I tell you we're the only team in this division with more set piece goals than those from open play. I'm certainly not laughing too much if I'm honest.
As for Bacuna being like Pirlo. Nobody is saying that. I just don't think that our players can simply play long ball football. Sorry but they can play more football than they're currently showing. Harris has and always will be a hustle bustle, long ball style of manager. Anybody who thinks he is building something that will take us in a new direction is as potty as Dalman.
Have you changed your 'Harris doing well' this season marker to finishing 12th this week? Wonder who Dalman and Choo are going to buy for him in January? Maybe we can reveal them like a prize on a game show on Cardiff City TV and we can also film Harris' reaction to it?
Good news though. We have a few teams who don't play much passing football coming up. We can bludgeon them with territory sky ball and then get rolled over again when the better teams come round.
We are a mid table team.
I've come around to realising that now but think we should be pushing for more.
Some fans want a new direction and to play a bit more. Others do not. It is what it is. We're not going down so that is one positive to take from it all.
I'll stick to just reading posts here at least until the end of the season. JR is right in that it is like Groundhog Day here but not only me included in this one.
It isn't good for anybody especially me to be churning out the same things. It is what it is. Some see Harris building something, others see him playing route one as he always has and believe he will never change from that.
We'll see how it goes. Nothing posted here is going to get through to the board or the Harris fans so there is little point.