" What is the Problem? "

Defensively, the Bluebirds are competent, if nothing else. Centre-halves Sean Morrison and Matthew Connolly, two understudies, are strong.

By Steve Tucker

28/10/15

" Problem going forward "

But no one has gotten too excited about a defence since Roberto Carlos was playing, anyway.

It was going forward where Cardiff faced a problem, that problem being that they barely had any idea how to go about it.

Sammy Ameobi, an enigma this season to rival the puzzling ancient geoglyphs at Nazca, Peru, should have scored at the end.

Last goal scored by a Cardiff City player Brighton away Oct 3rd




But as a forward force for the most part the home side were a blunt instrument. In attacking terms, it was like the Cardiff frontline had been asked to make fire with a sponge and a copy of Jilly Cooper’s novel Riders in a force ten gale.

The fact they mustered nine shots all match, to Bristol City’s 20, with none on target, as the Robins tested Marshall six times, tells its own story.

Not enough created in mid field and front 2 just not good enough

Not enough created in mid field and front 2 just not good enough

I agree totally with you

Mason is not good enough,how long have we to persist with him .
All the players we have out on loan and we keep him.
Makes me wonder is he on the lowest wages,with ALF,Doyle even Etien V on probably more money than Mason.
If it's all about saving money we are screwed.
fetch Rhys Healey back he's on low wages and send Mason off in his place ,Healey can't be no worse than our "goal machine" Mason.

Play this and we score more goals

............................Marshall.........................

........peltier............Morrison...............Connolly

Fabio.................................................Malone

..........................digachio............................

....................Ralls.............whitts..................

.............................ameobi..................

..............................Jones...........................


Gives us pace going forward outlets in and around the box and creativity in the centre

Play this and we score more goals

............................Marshall.........................

........peltier............Morrison...............Connolly

Fabio.................................................Malone

..........................digachio............................

....................Ralls.............whitts..................

.............................ameobi..................

..............................Jones...........................


Gives us pace going forward outlets in and around the box and creativity in the centre

Got to agree that looks very strong

Our problem going forward is no pace no width and the front men struggling for form
Noone does the same and has done for the last 2 seasons played on the wrong side so can only cut in and every defender knows this but that seems to be modern football.Pilkington does the same
We then pump the ball forward and hope that Mason somehow magical turns into U Bolt and gets on to flick ons from either Jones or Revell which is crazy
Revell while is a work horse and tries his best will never score goals so should never start for me.
Some people say bring back ALF why he has done nowt for wolves and was crap for us .
There is no magic formula and Slade is doing his best with no funds etc so we need to except and hope Tan allows s to sort the problem out in the transfer window and we are still in contention at the time

Mason may not be a goal machine but he has scored more than Jones Revell and Noone put together so give him some slack

The problem is not so much being slow up front but way we play? Marshall takes 5 mins to release ball when quick pass is needed, then the midfield are looking to pass back or square to keep possession rather than go forward! On Occasions someone does decide to look up and play quickly we look dangerous, it seems we are setup not to lose rather than to try win, only threat since Brighton are from dead ball situations.

Play this and we score more goals

............................Marshall.........................

........peltier............Morrison...............Connolly

Fabio.................................................Malone

..........................digachio............................

....................Ralls.............whitts..................

.............................ameobi..................

..............................Jones...........................


Gives us pace going forward outlets in and around the box and creativity in the centre

I like the look of the team also. Plenty of attack but stability send it as a email to club

Not enough pace in team, have not found the right partnership up front. Seems we set out to not loose game with the hope we can get a goal from set piece or a break. We are very poor up front,. Amoebic is not a front man, revell does not seem to be able to look a threat, Macheda always injured, surely we should if brought someone in on loan, but looks like Slade has got to get on with what he has got.

Are we really that competent in defence?
Yes we have kept 3 clean sheets in a row but the stats may say otherwise.

Brighton
Shots - 20
On Target - 8

Preston
Shots - 18
On Target - 1

Boro
Shots - 17
On Target - 5

Bristol
Shots - 20
On Target - 6

I can't comment on the Preston and Brighton games 'cos I didn't go but if Boro and Bristol had their shooting boots on we would have lost those games comfortably. Both teams missed a number of very good opportunities.

Our position in the league flatters us and the opposition know exactly how we will set up because Slade only has plan A.

Play this and we score more goals

............................Marshall.........................

........peltier............Morrison...............Connolly

Fabio.................................................Malone

..........................digachio............................

....................Ralls.............whitts..................

.............................ameobi..................

..............................Jones...........................


Gives us pace going forward outlets in and around the box and creativity in the centre

I like the look of the team also. Plenty of attack but stability send it as a email to club

Manga ahead of Peltier for me.

I like the look of that team ,but I don't think they could play 4-4-2 so it's a non starter.

The problem is we got a manager whos tacticaly inept no backup system. its sunday league football i just don't get why people still backs him, I've seen more attacking football in the rhondda league and that's no bullshit he's got to go

Not enough created in mid field and front 2 just not good enough

against bristol we didn't even see the defenders overlap the wingers once and i know if you go for a 4 4 2 system you got to have your fullbacks attacking the mans just simply clueless, we only looked a team when trolls come in tbh it says it all

Not enough created in mid field and front 2 just not good enough

against bristol we didn't even see the defenders overlap the wingers once and i know if you go for a 4 4 2 system you got to have your fullbacks attacking the mans just simply clueless, we only looked a team when trolls come in tbh it says it all

The problem is not so much being slow up front but way we play? Marshall takes 5 mins to release ball when quick pass is needed, then the midfield are looking to pass back or square to keep possession rather than go forward! On Occasions someone does decide to look up and play quickly we look dangerous, it seems we are setup not to lose rather than to try win, only threat since Brighton are from dead ball situations.

Agree with this. As soon as we get to the final third everything slows down and it's too easy for the other team to get men behind the ball and organised defensively. I can't work out whether it's the lack of movement from our strikers or midfield not willing to try something creative, or both!

Play this and we score more goals

............................Marshall.........................

........peltier............Morrison...............Connolly

Fabio.................................................Malone

..........................digachio............................

....................Ralls.............whitts..................

.............................ameobi..................

..............................Jones...........................


Gives us pace going forward outlets in and around the box and creativity in the centre

I like the look of the team also. Plenty of attack but stability send it as a email to club

Manga ahead of Peltier for me.

One can dream I like it though

Not sure why, but something at the back of my mind thinks slade wont go near that formation

Play this and we score more goals

............................Marshall.........................

........peltier............Morrison...............Connolly

Fabio.................................................Malone

..........................digachio............................

....................Ralls.............whitts..................

.............................ameobi..................

..............................Jones...........................


Gives us pace going forward outlets in and around the box and creativity in the centre

Looks a very good team with pace out wide and solidity

Are we really that competent in defence?
Yes we have kept 3 clean sheets in a row but the stats may say otherwise.

Brighton
Shots - 20
On Target - 8

Preston
Shots - 18
On Target - 1

Boro
Shots - 17
On Target - 5

Bristol
Shots - 20
On Target - 6

I can't comment on the Preston and Brighton games 'cos I didn't go but if Boro and Bristol had their shooting boots on we would have lost those games comfortably. Both teams missed a number of very good opportunities.

Our position in the league flatters us and the opposition know exactly how we will set up because Slade only has plan A.

The stat that is relevant I's goals conceded in game! The amount of shots at our goal is irrelevant if they cant score!

The problem is not so much being slow up front but way we play? Marshall takes 5 mins to release ball when quick pass is needed, then the midfield are looking to pass back or square to keep possession rather than go forward! On Occasions someone does decide to look up and play quickly we look dangerous, it seems we are setup not to lose rather than to try win, only threat since Brighton are from dead ball situations.

Agree with this. As soon as we get to the final third everything slows down and it's too easy for the other team to get men behind the ball and organised defensively. I can't work out whether it's the lack of movement from our strikers or midfield not willing to try something creative, or both!

Mostly both but generally it's lack of ambition and judging by way we play that's a directive from Slade/Trollope

Are we really that competent in defence?
Yes we have kept 3 clean sheets in a row but the stats may say otherwise.

Brighton
Shots - 20
On Target - 8

Preston
Shots - 18
On Target - 1

Boro
Shots - 17
On Target - 5

Bristol
Shots - 20
On Target - 6

I can't comment on the Preston and Brighton games 'cos I didn't go but if Boro and Bristol had their shooting boots on we would have lost those games comfortably. Both teams missed a number of very good opportunities.

Our position in the league flatters us and the opposition know exactly how we will set up because Slade only has plan A.

The stat that is relevant I's goals conceded in game! The amount of shots at our goal is irrelevant if they cant score!

So far this season it is taking our opponents, on average, 17 attempts at goal to score against us and that is the highest number of any of the last 12 seasons. That one stat tells us there is nothing wrong with the defensive organisation but the flip side of that stat is that it is taking us 10 attempts at our opponents goal to score and only once in the last 12 seasons have we needed more attempts at goal to score.

So in simple terms the "Problem" for RS is how does he improve the strike rate of the team without affecting the defensive stability. In my opinion he needs to settle on who exactly his front two are because so far that lack of a "Partnership" up front is costing the team.

Joe Mason appears first choice at the moment but after another lacklustre performance from him on Monday evening perhaps it's time to give him some bench time. Maybe it's time to give Ameobi a run of games because at least he brings pace to the team.

RS will continue with 4-4-2 we all know that and just like DJ he is a one trick pony in that respect but unlike DJ so far his team have generally been unable to play effective counter attacking football at pace. That's the problem he has to solve and if he doesn't we will fall away from the playoff positions irrespective of how well we play defensively.

Are we really that competent in defence?
Yes we have kept 3 clean sheets in a row but the stats may say otherwise.

Brighton
Shots - 20
On Target - 8

Preston
Shots - 18
On Target - 1

Boro
Shots - 17
On Target - 5

Bristol
Shots - 20
On Target - 6

I can't comment on the Preston and Brighton games 'cos I didn't go but if Boro and Bristol had their shooting boots on we would have lost those games comfortably. Both teams missed a number of very good opportunities.

Our position in the league flatters us and the opposition know exactly how we will set up because Slade only has plan A.

The stat that is relevant I's goals conceded in game! The amount of shots at our goal is irrelevant if they cant score!

Of course, goals conceded is the most important stat, but the point I'm trying to make is we've been very lucky recently due to opponents poor finishing and not because of good defending.

Our first problem is our current squad is very overrated, lacking in pace, power, quality, characters and leaders.

Our second problem is Tan thinks our current squad is good enough when it clearly isn't.

Our third problem is Tan hasn't given Slade a penny to spend this season and continues not to help Slade by refusing to allow him to bring in a couple of loan players.

The problems are 100% Tan's fault. Slade did his bit by loaning players out to cut the wage bill and after a good start, Tan refused to allow Slade to use those funds freed up to bring in those couple of extra players we required to make us strong enough for a promotion push this season.

All teams have goal scoring problem they are just blips and we are short up front due to injuries what can you do?

Play this and we score more goals

............................Marshall.........................

........peltier............Morrison...............Connolly

Fabio.................................................Malone

..........................digachio............................

....................Ralls.............whitts..................

.............................ameobi..................

..............................Jones...........................


Gives us pace going forward outlets in and around the box and creativity in the centre

Looks a very good team with pace out wide and solidity

Personally think that's our strongest line up with what we have available

Manga when fit possibly switches with Morrison or connoly

Not sure why, but something at the back of my mind thinks slade wont go near that formation

Probably not but I think it's our best formation with current players particularly at home where we should be dominatin with the ball

All teams have goal scoring problem they are just blips and we are short up front due to injuries what can you do?

We always look unlikely to score most of our goals are through defensive errors not due to creativity