Mutch hails professional Craig Bellamy
Mon Sep 17, 2012 5:43 am
Jordon Mutch has heralded the sheer professionalism of Cardiff City team-mate Craig Bellamy.
After recovering from injury, and amidst reports and rumours that off-field issues had lessened his appetite for the game, Bellamy came off the bench after 64 minutes and, with virtually his first kick, fired in a free-kick to put Malky Mackay’s side ahead.
Peter Whittingham stroked home from the spot within five minutes of the opener, but a late strike from Leeds’ Rodolph Austin made it an edgy ending as Cardiff saw it out at 2-1.
Mutch was full of admiration for the man who had set the Bluebirds on their way to victory in spectacular fashion, but said there was plenty of other quality in the Cardiff squad right now.
“Craig has done stuff like that for most of his career. He put the ball into the net for us,” said Mutch.
“You don’t play at clubs like Liverpool, Manchester City and Newcastle if you’re not a top professional. In training he’s on top of everything. It’s great for the other players. You can just watch and learn from him, the way he is committed to his job every day.
“He’s a top player, but I look around the dressing room and I see Peter Whittingham, Nicky Maynard, Craig Noone and Mark Hudson. There’s a lot of leaders in our changing room We’ve got a lot of players who can change games now.”
After a fairly-even first half against Neil Warnock’s Leeds, Cardiff seized the initiative in the second half and Mutch said he and his team-mates knew they had to raise the stakes if they were to ensure victory
“It was a tough game,” said Mutch, a summer arrival from Birmingham.
“The first half tempo was a bit slow, but I thought we came out in the second half and really upped it. I thought we broke well with pace and on the second-half display we deserved the win.
“In the first half we kind of got sucked into the way they were playing like launching it forward to the frontmen, but at half-time we had words and we knew we needed to get down and play and that’s what we did and it caused problems.
“Every game is different in this division and I think we learnt, we came out in the second half with a bit more and I think that is what got us the three points.”
Cardiff now travel to Millwall tomorrow and Crystal Palace on Saturday still looking for their first away win of the season.
Mutch added: We've got two hard games in front of us over the coming week and I think all the players will be looking at Millwall and Palace and looking to take the points. We are really looking forward to it."
Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/footballna ... z26hdvis71
After recovering from injury, and amidst reports and rumours that off-field issues had lessened his appetite for the game, Bellamy came off the bench after 64 minutes and, with virtually his first kick, fired in a free-kick to put Malky Mackay’s side ahead.
Peter Whittingham stroked home from the spot within five minutes of the opener, but a late strike from Leeds’ Rodolph Austin made it an edgy ending as Cardiff saw it out at 2-1.
Mutch was full of admiration for the man who had set the Bluebirds on their way to victory in spectacular fashion, but said there was plenty of other quality in the Cardiff squad right now.
“Craig has done stuff like that for most of his career. He put the ball into the net for us,” said Mutch.
“You don’t play at clubs like Liverpool, Manchester City and Newcastle if you’re not a top professional. In training he’s on top of everything. It’s great for the other players. You can just watch and learn from him, the way he is committed to his job every day.
“He’s a top player, but I look around the dressing room and I see Peter Whittingham, Nicky Maynard, Craig Noone and Mark Hudson. There’s a lot of leaders in our changing room We’ve got a lot of players who can change games now.”
After a fairly-even first half against Neil Warnock’s Leeds, Cardiff seized the initiative in the second half and Mutch said he and his team-mates knew they had to raise the stakes if they were to ensure victory
“It was a tough game,” said Mutch, a summer arrival from Birmingham.
“The first half tempo was a bit slow, but I thought we came out in the second half and really upped it. I thought we broke well with pace and on the second-half display we deserved the win.
“In the first half we kind of got sucked into the way they were playing like launching it forward to the frontmen, but at half-time we had words and we knew we needed to get down and play and that’s what we did and it caused problems.
“Every game is different in this division and I think we learnt, we came out in the second half with a bit more and I think that is what got us the three points.”
Cardiff now travel to Millwall tomorrow and Crystal Palace on Saturday still looking for their first away win of the season.
Mutch added: We've got two hard games in front of us over the coming week and I think all the players will be looking at Millwall and Palace and looking to take the points. We are really looking forward to it."
Read More http://www.walesonline.co.uk/footballna ... z26hdvis71
Re: Mutchs hails professional Craig Bellamy
Mon Sep 17, 2012 12:39 pm
I thought he himself (Mutch) was outstanding on Saturday and was the driving force behind Cardiff upping their game. Very impressive performance alongside others like Noone, Hudson and Smith.
Re: Mutchs hails professional Craig Bellamy
Mon Sep 17, 2012 12:53 pm
cf63bluebirds wrote:I thought he himself (Mutch) was outstanding on Saturday and was the driving force behind Cardiff upping their game. Very impressive performance alongside others like Noone, Hudson and Smith.
Totally agree. Mutch led the charge at the start of the second half, driving forwards with the ball and drawing players to create openings. It's amazing he's only 20 as he plays with a maturity way above his years. Mutch is always a presence on the pitch, I can see him getting a few goals with the way he drives forward. I also think Mutch allows us to play 4-4-2 as he is the one who puts in the crunch tackles, he's box to box, physical and a terrific athlete. Opposing centre midfielders must hate playing against him.
Mutch's physical presence allows Whittingham to do his stuff, at times last season we looked a bit one dimensional and when Whittingham was closed down quickly, we struggled. This season, Mutch and Tommy Smith can put tackles in and mix it and along with Craig Noone, we now have 4 midfielders who can all cause problems. The opposition now know they do not just have to stop Whittingham to stop us as we have players like Mutch who can produce problems all over the pitch.
Re: Mutchs hails professional Craig Bellamy
Mon Sep 17, 2012 9:26 pm
Tonteg Bluebird wrote:cf63bluebirds wrote:I thought he himself (Mutch) was outstanding on Saturday and was the driving force behind Cardiff upping their game. Very impressive performance alongside others like Noone, Hudson and Smith.
Totally agree. Mutch led the charge at the start of the second half, driving forwards with the ball and drawing players to create openings. It's amazing he's only 20 as he plays with a maturity way above his years. Mutch is always a presence on the pitch, I can see him getting a few goals with the way he drives forward. I also think Mutch allows us to play 4-4-2 as he is the one who puts in the crunch tackles, he's box to box, physical and a terrific athlete. Opposing centre midfielders must hate playing against him.
Mutch's physical presence allows Whittingham to do his stuff, at times last season we looked a bit one dimensional and when Whittingham was closed down quickly, we struggled. This season, Mutch and Tommy Smith can put tackles in and mix it and along with Craig Noone, we now have 4 midfielders who can all cause problems. The opposition now know they do not just have to stop Whittingham to stop us as we have players like Mutch who can produce problems all over the pitch.
