Nathan Blake says the players need to believe in themselves
Mon Aug 19, 2013 9:51 am
Blakey says: "The players need to look inside themselves and believe in what they really are and that's Premier League players."
By Nathan Blake
Nathan Blake: Cardiff City need to come to terms with Premier League standard
19 Aug 2013
Looking at the West Ham defeat what struck me most was that the Bluebirds had totally failed to come to terms with the fact they were in the Premier League.
In fact, the way they started at Upton Park the phrase that best summed things up was that City looked “like rabbits caught in headlights.”
West Ham themselves barely got out of second gear to earn the victory, they had no need because, in truth, they were coasting .
I’m not too worried or concerned about that one game.
There is a long way to go and we always knew it was going to be a long, hard season in the top flight.
But the players need to look inside themselves and believe in what they really are – and that’s Premier League players.
Malky Mackay can’t do that for them. I bet he wishes he could. The manager can give guidance and help, but only the individual can find the strength and confidence within themselves.
There’s a big gap between saying: ‘Of course, I’m ready to play in the Premier League, I’m good enough to play in the Premier League’ and actually believing it.
That was more than evident this weekend.
The Bluebirds cannot really afford to do it, but they are going to have to learn as they go along now. And they are going to have to learn fast.
I can’t really criticise Mackay for his team selection or the way he set them up.
He’s seen them in pre-season and he will know what his best side is.
There were problems and incidents within the game that can be solved on the training pitch.
What the manager cannot be held accountable for is the fact that many of his players just could not get to grips with the occasion itself.
I’m not even talking about the young Bluebirds players, either.
Looking at someone as experienced as Peter Whittingham as there seemed to be a lack of confidence there, too.
You could see that from his set-piece efforts, they never really carried any threat at all.
By the end I felt Cardiff almost seemed relieved to have got through it, to have put in some sort of performance without getting too heavily beaten.
And, as we say, that is not going to be good enough this season.
I think the club as a whole is going to need to move itself forward.
You look at the walls at the Cardiff City Stadium and they are not adorned with pictures of us beating Manchester United or squaring up to Liverpool on a regular basis.
It’s not part of our history, but we are going to have to get used to it.
Cardiff City must build its own history now in the next few years.
By Nathan Blake
Nathan Blake: Cardiff City need to come to terms with Premier League standard
19 Aug 2013
Looking at the West Ham defeat what struck me most was that the Bluebirds had totally failed to come to terms with the fact they were in the Premier League.
In fact, the way they started at Upton Park the phrase that best summed things up was that City looked “like rabbits caught in headlights.”
West Ham themselves barely got out of second gear to earn the victory, they had no need because, in truth, they were coasting .
I’m not too worried or concerned about that one game.
There is a long way to go and we always knew it was going to be a long, hard season in the top flight.
But the players need to look inside themselves and believe in what they really are – and that’s Premier League players.
Malky Mackay can’t do that for them. I bet he wishes he could. The manager can give guidance and help, but only the individual can find the strength and confidence within themselves.
There’s a big gap between saying: ‘Of course, I’m ready to play in the Premier League, I’m good enough to play in the Premier League’ and actually believing it.
That was more than evident this weekend.
The Bluebirds cannot really afford to do it, but they are going to have to learn as they go along now. And they are going to have to learn fast.
I can’t really criticise Mackay for his team selection or the way he set them up.
He’s seen them in pre-season and he will know what his best side is.
There were problems and incidents within the game that can be solved on the training pitch.
What the manager cannot be held accountable for is the fact that many of his players just could not get to grips with the occasion itself.
I’m not even talking about the young Bluebirds players, either.
Looking at someone as experienced as Peter Whittingham as there seemed to be a lack of confidence there, too.
You could see that from his set-piece efforts, they never really carried any threat at all.
By the end I felt Cardiff almost seemed relieved to have got through it, to have put in some sort of performance without getting too heavily beaten.
And, as we say, that is not going to be good enough this season.
I think the club as a whole is going to need to move itself forward.
You look at the walls at the Cardiff City Stadium and they are not adorned with pictures of us beating Manchester United or squaring up to Liverpool on a regular basis.
It’s not part of our history, but we are going to have to get used to it.
Cardiff City must build its own history now in the next few years.
Re: Nathan Blake says the players need to believe in themsel
Mon Aug 19, 2013 2:15 pm
Yes that does help, but in my strong opinion many of our team/squad are not good enough for the the Premier League, time will tell of course.
Re: Nathan Blake says the players need to believe in themsel
Mon Aug 19, 2013 5:44 pm
Forever Blue wrote:Yes that does help, but in my strong opinion many of our team/squad are not good enough for the the Premier League, time will tell of course.
I agree,we need more signings soon to strengthen the squad.Belief on it's own is not enough,quality players is what we need.
Re: Nathan Blake says the players need to believe in themsel
Mon Aug 19, 2013 6:00 pm
I have said it last season that if we went up we don't have the kind of quality to keep us up.
I believe and always will believe that you have to build a team from the back, to me the very first thing you need is a defence that is next to water tight. Our defence is far from that , even with our new england CB,
he is good yer, but we need to build the defence around him, he is the only prem quality defender the rest just are not up to it. We still have to let the Pitbull find his best , but he was playing so far back with the rest ,that even he didn't shine.
As for our Midfield, well even Kimbo was running his Ass off ,but even with Whitts along side couldn't get quality balls up to our lone striker.
The times when we did get the ball up to him there was no one there to help out. We really missed speed down both sides and couldn't stretch the Hammer and get around the back of them. I was still confused when Malky brought on Rudy ,cos surely Rudy was brought on to see if he could could gain anything in the air , but we didn't have anyone like Noone to pump them across to him.
To be honest I think we need another 4 quality players ,2 we can buy ,and bring in to on loan .
I believe and always will believe that you have to build a team from the back, to me the very first thing you need is a defence that is next to water tight. Our defence is far from that , even with our new england CB,
he is good yer, but we need to build the defence around him, he is the only prem quality defender the rest just are not up to it. We still have to let the Pitbull find his best , but he was playing so far back with the rest ,that even he didn't shine.
As for our Midfield, well even Kimbo was running his Ass off ,but even with Whitts along side couldn't get quality balls up to our lone striker.
The times when we did get the ball up to him there was no one there to help out. We really missed speed down both sides and couldn't stretch the Hammer and get around the back of them. I was still confused when Malky brought on Rudy ,cos surely Rudy was brought on to see if he could could gain anything in the air , but we didn't have anyone like Noone to pump them across to him.
To be honest I think we need another 4 quality players ,2 we can buy ,and bring in to on loan .