Wesnesday 21st August 2013
Few players have made such an immediate impact in Danish football as Andreas Cornelius – the first of Malky Mackay’s three club record signings – who is fit and ready to make his Bluebirds debut in their first Premier League home match on Sunday.
Title-chasing Manchester City come to Cardiff City Stadium intent on maintaining their blistering start, while Mackay will ponder whether raw centre-forward Cornelius and experienced hitman Fraizer Campbell can link up and cause problems for Manuel Pellegrini’s men.
Cornelius is in full training having recovered from an ankle injury and Mackay has confirmed he is in the squad for Sunday’s 27,000-plus sell-out match.
While the Bluebirds faithful wait to welcome the young Dane to Cardiff City Stadium, there is a deep frustration at FC Copenhagen that the talented young striker has not been replaced.
Niels Schack Norgaard, a football writer with Danish daily newspapers BT and Berlingske, followed Cornelius during his breakthrough 2012-13 season when he scored 20 goals in 43 matches for club and country.
Cornelius was 19 when he made his Danish Super League debut and Norgaard describes him as a ‘teenage battering ram.’
He also says: “Cornelius excelled with the ball at his feet, showing great technique and a rocket of a left foot.
“Few players manage to leave such extraordinary footprints on a football club in such a short space of time.
“The name of Cornelius, almost two months after his departure, is shouted vehemently in frustration with the club’s failure to properly replace him.
“It is safe to say that he has left a lasting impression with the Copenhagen faithful.
“Cornelius stepped onto the scene with great panache. He had been lurking around in the youth and reserve sides for quite some time when FC Copenhagen had found themselves in turmoil and the sudden emergence of Cornelius was the football equivalent of a Get Out of Jail Free Card for the biggest sporting institution in Scandinavia.”
1: YOU CAN’T GIVE THE BALL AWAY IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE
It's obvious, of course, that if you haven’t got the ball you can’t do anything with it. But in the Championship, Cardiff City could give away possession knowing full well they would get it back pretty quickly. At West Ham, Malky Mackay’s men learned very quickly hat getting the ball back in the top flight is an infinitely more difficult task. Too often the Bluebirds were guilty of just lumping the ball forward and hoping. It became easy for the Hammers defence to deal with. They regained possession and patiently built up their own moves, constantly putting the Bluebirds on the back foot. Just as frustratingly, too many Bluebirds misplaced passes with players thinking they had more time than they actually did. Again, the pace of the game is entirely different at this level. Mackay’s men looked edgy at Upton Park. The manager has to get them to settle and try to build from the back. Keep things simple to get a foothold in the game... then look to strike for a winning goal.
http://i1.walesonline.co.uk/incoming/ar ... 386714.jpg2: CRAIG BELLAMY HAS TO STEP UP TO THE PLATE
If the Bluebirds were to get off to a Premier League flier, they needed their big players to shine and lead the way. There is no-one bigger in this Cardiff team than Craig Bellamy, but he won’t have been happy with his performance. This was a young Cardiff side, Declan John is only 18, Steven Caulker, 21, and one shorn of Premier League experience. Bellamy has ‘been there, done that’ at this level and his team-mates needed his guiding presence on the field with Bellamy leading by example. Early on there was plenty of running and endeavour from him, even if it didn’t lead to very much, but Bellamy was anonymous for large parts of the match and easily snuffed out as an offensive threat by the West Ham defence. Bellamy is an idol in his hometown after fulfilling his promise of helping Cardiff to the Premier League. He faces an even greater challenge in the twilight of his career, actually helping keep them there. He comes up against another of his old clubs, Manchester City, on Sunday. If Bellamy shines, so will Cardiff.
http://i3.walesonline.co.uk/incoming/ar ... 746304.jpg3: MALKY NEEDS TO SIGN ANOTHER WINGER
When the Bluebirds announced their recent squad playing details, the number 11 shirt was left conspicuously vacant. Malky Mackay has made no secret of his desire to bring in another wideman with the Tom Ince affair offering more drama than your average episode of Eastenders. At Upton Park, you could see why he is so keen. on another winger who can cut it against the best full-backs in the country. The Bluebirds barely troubled the Hammers down the flanks. Craig Bellamy failed to fire and Kim Bo-Kyung spent more time through the middle. Cardiff need some width. The problem at Upton Park too was that as the pressure mounted, not even the full-backs could get forward. Youngster Declan John tried to overlap, but Mathew Connolly barely got over the halfway line. When he did, ironically enough, Nicky Maynard nearly scored.
http://i2.walesonline.co.uk/incoming/ar ... 746305.jpg4: FRAIZER CAMPBELL NEEDS BETTER SERVICE
The England man, of whom there are such great goal hopes, had a really frustrating afternoon. The Bluebirds were over-run in midfield, meaning Campbell was left far too isolated and dealing with scraps. Campbell can play the lone-striker role, he proved that last season, but he does need help. The Bluebirds must get forward faster and in numbers to support their man. Of course there is also the Andreas Cornelius option. The big money signing was amongst the Cardiff fans at the game as he comes back from injury, but many would like to see him on the pitch. Mackay needs one more big presence in his forward department if Cardiff are going to get the goals they need to keep them in the Premier League.
Cornelius has shown a glimpse of his goalscoring power for Cardiff, thundering a header into the net during from a pin-point Kevin McNaughton cross in a pre-season match at Forest Green Rovers.
He has since been ruled out after rolling an ankle in training, but Cardiff’s £8m record signing is now ready for action.
That fee was surpassed by Steven Caulker’s arrival from Spurs, at £8.5m, and by Gary Medel’s £9m move from Seville.
Both Caulker and Medel made their debuts at West Ham and this Sunday it could be time for Cornelius to make his bow.
He certainly showed the knack of perfect timing when he broke through with Copenhagen last season.
They had dominated the Danish Superliga in the new millennium, winning eight championships in just over a decade, but found themselves in an awkward position during the summer of 2012.
They had just thrown away a big lead to rivals FC Nordsjælland, lost the title and missed out on the first-ever direct qualification to the group stages of the Champions League.
Ariel Jacobs, a seasoned Belgian manager from Anderlecht, installed the same summer as head coach, inherited a side low on morale from the season before.
Top scorer and arguably most dominant striker in Superliga history, Senegalese striker Dame N’Doye, demanded a move Jacobs entered the season with uncertainty surrounding the most prolific player at the club.
“I was covering the first game of the season and remember it vividly,” says Norgaard. “Copenhagen played Midtjylland at home in front of a sceptical 11,000 crowd and quickly went 1-0 down. Tim Janssen made it 2-0 after the break and Copenhagen seemingly started to relinquish hope.
“Then Cornelius was sent on. A 19-year-old battering ram. He unsettled the Midtjylland defence and they started to look shaky under the pressure of a big and unknown quantity up front.”
Copenhagen pulled a goal back through Cesar Santin with 15 minutes to go, Cornelius equalised three minutes later, tapping in from close range and his psychically dominant and opportunistic style helped FC Copenhagen turn the game to win 4-2.
“The importance of the rise by Cornelius for Copenhagen cannot be underestimated,” says Norgaard.
“The new coach desperately needed a powerful goalscorer, the club needed a positive story to tell and Cornelius conveyed all the right things for his club.
“He was a product of the club’s academy and, needless to say, the club did not buy a replacement for iconic striker N’Doye.
“Copenhagen’s play was quickly designed around Cornelius, utilising his aerial strength through crosses from right-back Lars Jacobsen and others.
“In his first full season he racked up 18 goals in the league and one for the Danish national side where became established following the demise of Nicklas Bendtner.
“Cornelius also excelled with the ball at his feet, showing glimpses of great technique and a rocket of a left foot.”
Towards the end of the season Copenhagen played champions FC Nordsjælland away in another battle for the title.
Cardiff City’s chief scout Mark Stow was in the stands to watch the big striker, who had a quiet game until the 78th minute when he scored an impressive winner to secure FC Copenhagen their ninth championship in 13 years.
“That display was enough to earn him a record transfer bid from Cardiff, even though he had a goal drought in the second half of the season, scoring only once in his last eight games,” says Norgaard. “That was mainly put down to the fact that teams had started double marking him more efficiently, although part of the explanation probably is that it was his first season at top level and fatigue must have played a role.”
Mackay is searching for a top-class winger to help provide ammunition for Cornelius, while he will also encourage both full-backs to get forward and fire in crosses for the big man.
“That will suit Cornelius perfectly as it was roughly the same set-up that ensured his breakthrough with Copenhagen,” says Norgaard.
“With his record-breaking move, Cornelius has repeated the feat of Daniel Agger when
the Danish defender was sold to Liverpool.
“Both had played only one full season before their big transfers to the Premier and hopefully Cornelius can emulate the success that Agger has enjoyed at Anfield.”
Norgaard got to know Cornelius a little off the pitch. “His nickname is ‘Corner’ and he’s a quiet, but confident guy,” said Norgaard. “He seems to thrive under pressure and expectations. After his move to Cardiff he was asked if the £8m fee made him nervous and he said ‘To me that just means they must think I’m pretty good.’
“I remember talking to him a couple of months after his breakthrough and asking if we was surprised with how fast it had all gone.
“He was a 19-year-old high school student back then and answered with gusto ‘No, not really. I mean, I knew I was good.’
“That isn’t arrogance. Cornelius simply believes in himself to be a success.”
