http://thinkfootball.co.uk/archives/6849Current leaders of the Championship Cardiff City extended their lead atop the Championship this weekend. An impressive 4-1 away victory at Blackburn Rovers, combined with second place Crystal Palace’s home draw with Blackpool, precipitated the Bluebirds soaring four points clear of the Eagles. Having looked likely promotees in previous seasons yet always failing to secure that elusive spot in the Premier League, there is a tangible difference to this incarnation of the Cardiff City promotion challenge.
To look at why Cardiff are moving forward, it is important to understand where they have come from. The failures under Dave Jones’ management whilst heartbreaking, served to harden supporter spirit but, more importantly, hardened the heart of the Cardiff squad. The big personalities and leaders in the squad like Peter Whittingham, David Marshall, Mark Hudson and Kevin McNaughton went through all those disappointments with Jones. Their personality and influence upon the squad is an important part of the drive for promotion.
Tactically, Mackay has evolved the side he inherited as opposed to totally reassembling it. The first important change has been in Peter Whittingham’s role. Under Jones Whittingham played a variety of positions and generally played further up the field, exemplified in the 2009/10 season when Whittingham was the divisions top scorer. Under Mackay Whittingham has a definite role playing deep in midfield, collecting the ball deep and distributing the ball quickly.
Whittingham’s natural close control and excellent ball management allows him to play the ball out when under opposition pressure and set up quick counter attacks. This was evident at Ewood Park on Friday night when Cardiff constantly hit Blackburn on the counter, using the pace and unlimited running of Craig Bellamy, Don Cowie and Craig Noone.
The second most important tactical tweak from Mackay has been with the signing of Heidar Helguson as the main striker. The Icelander plays as the focal point in the 4-5-1/4-2-3-1 formation and provides Cardiff with an excellent point of reference. Despite only being 5”10′, Helguson is brilliant in the air, very strong and very clever, making him a perfect target man not only to flick balls on but to also hold balls up. Knowing that Helguson is so good at this means the band of three who play behind the lone striker can make those forward runs more often and offer constant threats to the opposition back line.
The major qualitative aspect of Mackay’s management which is of incredible importance is the intangible togetherness and attitude of the squad. It was a criticism of the Dave Jones reign that whilst his sides were devastatingly good at times, they lacked the inner strength when faced with set backs or intense pressure, which was not helped with the large egos within the squad. Mackay knocked out the egos from the squad and has forged a strong willed, determined squad with no uncontrollable egos. The stand out example of this was the decision to allow Michael Chopra to sign for Ipswich, which was one of Mackay’s first acts in charge. He replaced the proven Championship hit man with Kenny Miller who did not score as often as Chopra would have, worked far harder and offered more to the overall performance of the team.
There are still some exploitable aspects of the Cardiff City game however. Goalkeeper David Marshall can be ruffled with crosses from both set pieces and open play, especially when he has a man stood directly in front of him. Despite the excellence of Peter Whittingham with the ball, depending on who his central midfield partner is, there are chances to attack through the middle and there is a worrying lack of depth in the defensive positions. Cardiff only have five first team defenders in their squad, but have coped well when stretched with youngsters Ben Nugent and Joe Ralls filling in when needed.
Despite these concerns though, Cardiff have invested heavily in assembling a highly competitive squad full of talent. The Bluebirds have had excellent teams for the past few seasons, but now have a squad and a character which seems capable of finally securing promotion to the Premier League. And if that day does come this May, it’ll certainly be a red letter day for the club.