Stop tinkering Solskjaer & we will blow the Championship ap
Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 12:48 pm
Why Cardiff City will blow the Championship apart if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer stops tinkering
Wednesday Jul 30, 2014
BY PAULABBANDONATO
With the summer signings made so far, the Bluebirds boss is spoilt for choice - but Paul Abbandonato admits he doesn't know if that's a strength or weakness
Will they roar to the Championship title, as they should with the depth of squad available to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, or will they crash and burn?
The truth is I have no idea whatsoever. And I doubt too many others can call it with any degree of certainty, either.
The season opener at Blackburn looms large and Solskjaer has at his disposal a squad which must be the envy of every other manager in the division.
Thus far, only two key figures have departed since relegation from the Premier League. Steven Caulker and Fraizer Campbell, each of whom would have been huge pluses in the Championship.
Gary Medel will probably leave as well, but significantly David Marshall, Jordon Mutch and so-called Chelsea target Mats Moller Daehli appear as if they are going nowhere.
With the glut of summer signings he has made, it means Solskjaer is absolutely spoilt for choice when it comes to his team selection.
Is it a strength or weakness?
But I don’t know if that is a strength or weakness, given the management style we have seen thus far from the Norwegian.
I was one of those genuinely excited by his appointment in January, believing the team had to evolve because the negative approach adopted by Malky Mackay would see the Bluebirds plummet to the bottom of the table in the closing four months of the season.
Well they did plummet to the bottom, but it was under Solskjaer’s watch, not Malky’s.
No-one should criticise Solskjaer for being adventurous, but fans reckon he tinkered far too much. With his tactics and non-stop switches in playing personnel.
It’s one thing getting to know your squad, and Solskjaer had to learn on the hoof, as such, but there was far too much inconsistency with his team selections for Cardiff to have any hope of avoiding relegation.
Alarmingly, the centre-backs often changed game by game. So too the full-backs.
One minute Peter Whittingham was in, then out, then suddenly back in again.
Kim Bo-Kyung went from starting to not even making the match-day 18 next time around. He was by no means the only one.
Things are looking positive
On paper things are looking so positive.
Why is it then that I have these nagging doubts? The ones about Solskjaer having not strengthened the centre of his defence, of Fabio’s questionable defending, over whether Kenwyne really can be the real deal he should be.
Most of the lot, I worry about Solskjaer’s tinkering as he tries to keep a bumper squad happy.
Under normal circumstances, having so many players available for the Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday non-stop grind that is the Championship should benefit any side, particularly when injuries and suspensions bite in the closing months of a season.
But there is also something to be said for having a settled starting XI, players who know one another’s game and who aren’t left confused by constant changes.
Rightly or wrongly, many fans reckon Solskjaer was no closer to knowing his best XI in the last match of the season against Chelsea than he was when he first took the helm in a 2-0 home defeat to West Ham.
We know Steve McClaren will mould a team at Derby, Felix Magath will grind out efficient German-style 1-0 wins with Fulham, Uwe Rosler will probably do likewise with Wigan.
The fact Solskjaer has gone for strikers rather than defenders this summer hints at a more cavalier approach and the goal power available is frightening for this level.
Supplement that with the undoubted midfield talents of Daehli and Mutch – arguably as good as any player outside the Premier League – and Cardiff City really should blow this Championship apart.
But whether they will is open to question. By the time August is over, Cardiff could be roaring away at the top with five wins out of five, having scored three goals per game.
Or they could be down towards the bottom three, a lack of system, structure and inconsistency of selection proving costly.
Wednesday Jul 30, 2014
BY PAULABBANDONATO
With the summer signings made so far, the Bluebirds boss is spoilt for choice - but Paul Abbandonato admits he doesn't know if that's a strength or weakness
Will they roar to the Championship title, as they should with the depth of squad available to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, or will they crash and burn?
The truth is I have no idea whatsoever. And I doubt too many others can call it with any degree of certainty, either.
The season opener at Blackburn looms large and Solskjaer has at his disposal a squad which must be the envy of every other manager in the division.
Thus far, only two key figures have departed since relegation from the Premier League. Steven Caulker and Fraizer Campbell, each of whom would have been huge pluses in the Championship.
Gary Medel will probably leave as well, but significantly David Marshall, Jordon Mutch and so-called Chelsea target Mats Moller Daehli appear as if they are going nowhere.
With the glut of summer signings he has made, it means Solskjaer is absolutely spoilt for choice when it comes to his team selection.
Is it a strength or weakness?
But I don’t know if that is a strength or weakness, given the management style we have seen thus far from the Norwegian.
I was one of those genuinely excited by his appointment in January, believing the team had to evolve because the negative approach adopted by Malky Mackay would see the Bluebirds plummet to the bottom of the table in the closing four months of the season.
Well they did plummet to the bottom, but it was under Solskjaer’s watch, not Malky’s.
No-one should criticise Solskjaer for being adventurous, but fans reckon he tinkered far too much. With his tactics and non-stop switches in playing personnel.
It’s one thing getting to know your squad, and Solskjaer had to learn on the hoof, as such, but there was far too much inconsistency with his team selections for Cardiff to have any hope of avoiding relegation.
Alarmingly, the centre-backs often changed game by game. So too the full-backs.
One minute Peter Whittingham was in, then out, then suddenly back in again.
Kim Bo-Kyung went from starting to not even making the match-day 18 next time around. He was by no means the only one.
Things are looking positive
On paper things are looking so positive.
Why is it then that I have these nagging doubts? The ones about Solskjaer having not strengthened the centre of his defence, of Fabio’s questionable defending, over whether Kenwyne really can be the real deal he should be.
Most of the lot, I worry about Solskjaer’s tinkering as he tries to keep a bumper squad happy.
Under normal circumstances, having so many players available for the Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday non-stop grind that is the Championship should benefit any side, particularly when injuries and suspensions bite in the closing months of a season.
But there is also something to be said for having a settled starting XI, players who know one another’s game and who aren’t left confused by constant changes.
Rightly or wrongly, many fans reckon Solskjaer was no closer to knowing his best XI in the last match of the season against Chelsea than he was when he first took the helm in a 2-0 home defeat to West Ham.
We know Steve McClaren will mould a team at Derby, Felix Magath will grind out efficient German-style 1-0 wins with Fulham, Uwe Rosler will probably do likewise with Wigan.
The fact Solskjaer has gone for strikers rather than defenders this summer hints at a more cavalier approach and the goal power available is frightening for this level.
Supplement that with the undoubted midfield talents of Daehli and Mutch – arguably as good as any player outside the Premier League – and Cardiff City really should blow this Championship apart.
But whether they will is open to question. By the time August is over, Cardiff could be roaring away at the top with five wins out of five, having scored three goals per game.
Or they could be down towards the bottom three, a lack of system, structure and inconsistency of selection proving costly.