The Gulf in class

Having watched our last two games against Man city and Everton it's really hit home to me the huge difference between the Championship and the Premiership . We have done brilliant to get 4pts from these two games but we have been given huge lesson in the beautiful game. The possession stats is really the telling factor for me 30/70 against Man City and 37/63 against Everton. Of course we won't come against these teams every week but it gives us a yardstick to where we need to get for future. Our biggest learning curve will be for our defenders who simply can't keep banging the ball away back to the opposition.

Agree about giving the ball back to the opposition too easily. We definitely need to improve there.

We have absorbed a lot of pressure in the last 2 games and I honestly believe any other promoted club would have let in twice as many goals under that amount of attacking. The fact that we have been broken down by 2 quality goals and Marshall has been forced to make one decent save in the 2 games really shows what a good defence we have. Infact we are showing signed of a top premier defence line.

So to me its looks like we have our defence sorted and that included the fact we have not played with an established right back. So we can become more secure in defence and once we stop giving the ball away we will start looking comfortable in this league.

Having watched our last two games against Man city and Everton it's really hit home to me the huge difference between the Championship and the Premiership . We have done brilliant to get 4pts from these two games but we have been given huge lesson in the beautiful game. The possession stats is really the telling factor for me 30/70 against Man City and 37/63 against Everton. Of course we won't come against these teams every week but it gives us a yardstick to where we need to get for future. Our biggest learning curve will be for our defenders who simply can't keep banging the ball away back to the opposition.

It's incredible to watch though isn't it We had 44% against Man City but I see your point. Tottenham next up, but apart from the top six I honestly believe we'll become one of the toughest sides to beat

Matt Connolly must have given the ball away five times in the first half, but his second half performance was 100% better. I can see our new signing from Rennes challenging for that rb slot soon. All good healthy competition is what we'll need to compete

Our starting 11 yesterday had 9 players from our championship team,there is a gulf but apart from west ham game,we ve done well possession is important clearly but the main stats are the points collum and with 4 so far,the confidence will grow and the more we will start to show in games

Having watched our last two games against Man city and Everton it's really hit home to me the huge difference between the Championship and the Premiership . We have done brilliant to get 4pts from these two games but we have been given huge lesson in the beautiful game. The possession stats is really the telling factor for me 30/70 against Man City and 37/63 against Everton. Of course we won't come against these teams every week but it gives us a yardstick to where we need to get for future. Our biggest learning curve will be for our defenders who simply can't keep banging the ball away back to the opposition.

It's incredible to watch though isn't it We had 44% against Man City but I see your point. Tottenham next up, but apart from the top six I honestly believe we'll become one of the toughest sides to beat

Matt Connolly must have given the ball away five times in the first half, but his second half performance was 100% better. I can see our new signing from Rennes challenging for that rb slot soon. All good healthy competition is what we'll need to compete

biggest difference i see is we were in my opinion the fittest side in the championship and yet we are really digging deep after 75 minutes in the games to date.
but i believe we will get fitter and match teams in the coming months over the full 90 unless of course the real top 6 teams are making us work much harder than the bottom half teams will do.

good to see malky getting players in to fill the weaker areas of the team. judging that southampton took 10 games to get 4 points last year i think we are ahead of the game and i honestly looked at hull as our first game where we could get points.

Possession mean nothing . We more than matched both man city and everton. What's the point of having the ball if you can't score as in Evertons case. Would rather not have the ball for 89 minutes but then score when we do have it.

I wish people would realise possession means sod all. Mourinho at Inter taught Barcelona that the hard way by just sitting in and containing the threat. They can have 100% possession if they like for 5 minutes as long as its away from the goal and there is no immediate threat.

People say this possession football is playing the game the way its supposed to be played but thats just a load of crap. There is no set blueprint for football as there isn't for boxing. Styles make games just as styles make fights but a slight fault or slip up and you can be punished.

I honestly thought that by the end of September we would have taken 2 points, 1 away to Hull and 1 away to Fulham. So I am really pleased to have doubled my prediction by the end of August.
The confidence is building in the team, and football is all about confidence.
If we can average 4 points from every 3 games this season that will do us nicely.

Having watched our last two games against Man city and Everton it's really hit home to me the huge difference between the Championship and the Premiership . We have done brilliant to get 4pts from these two games but we have been given huge lesson in the beautiful game. The possession stats is really the telling factor for me 30/70 against Man City and 37/63 against Everton. Of course we won't come against these teams every week but it gives us a yardstick to where we need to get for future. Our biggest learning curve will be for our defenders who simply can't keep banging the ball away back to the opposition.

It's incredible to watch though isn't it We had 44% against Man City but I see your point. Tottenham next up, but apart from the top six I honestly believe we'll become one of the toughest sides to beat

Matt Connolly must have given the ball away five times in the first half, but his second half performance was 100% better. I can see our new signing from Rennes challenging for that rb slot soon. All good healthy competition is what we'll need to compete

biggest difference i see is we were in my opinion the fittest side in the championship and yet we are really digging deep after 75 minutes in the games to date.
but i believe we will get fitter and match teams in the coming months over the full 90 unless of course the real top 6 teams are making us work much harder than the bottom half teams will do.

good to see malky getting players in to fill the weaker areas of the team. judging that southampton took 10 games to get 4 points last year i think we are ahead of the game and i honestly looked at hull as our first game where we could get points.

In the championship we had a lot more possession. Malky has set the team up to deal with less possession. However I think he will see that this is not going to be the answer as we could burn yourselves out. We need to stop giving the ball away as much.

I honestly thought that by the end of September we would have taken 2 points, 1 away to Hull and 1 away to Fulham. So I am really pleased to have doubled my prediction by the end of August.
The confidence is building in the team, and football is all about confidence.
If we can average 4 points from every 3 games this season that will do us nicely.

I wish people would realise possession means sod all. Mourinho at Inter taught Barcelona that the hard way by just sitting in and containing the threat. They can have 100% possession if they like for 5 minutes as long as its away from the goal and there is no immediate threat.

People say this possession football is playing the game the way its supposed to be played but thats just a load of crap. There is no set blueprint for football as there isn't for boxing. Styles make games just as styles make fights but a slight fault or slip up and you can be punished.

Yes I know what your saying but you got more chance of scoring when you got the ball

Having watched our last two games against Man city and Everton it's really hit home to me the huge difference between the Championship and the Premiership . We have done brilliant to get 4pts from these two games but we have been given huge lesson in the beautiful game. The possession stats is really the telling factor for me 30/70 against Man City and 37/63 against Everton. Of course we won't come against these teams every week but it gives us a yardstick to where we need to get for future. Our biggest learning curve will be for our defenders who simply can't keep banging the ball away back to the opposition.

It's incredible to watch though isn't it We had 44% against Man City but I see your point. Tottenham next up, but apart from the top six I honestly believe we'll become one of the toughest sides to beat

Matt Connolly must have given the ball away five times in the first half, but his second half performance was 100% better. I can see our new signing from Rennes challenging for that rb slot soon. All good healthy competition is what we'll need to compete

Yes Tony , it's a joy to watch all be it a little nervous when your under the cosh.

Having watched our last two games against Man city and Everton it's really hit home to me the huge difference between the Championship and the Premiership . We have done brilliant to get 4pts from these two games but we have been given huge lesson in the beautiful game. The possession stats is really the telling factor for me 30/70 against Man City and 37/63 against Everton. Of course we won't come against these teams every week but it gives us a yardstick to where we need to get for future. Our biggest learning curve will be for our defenders who simply can't keep banging the ball away back to the opposition.

It's incredible to watch though isn't it We had 44% against Man City but I see your point. Tottenham next up, but apart from the top six I honestly believe we'll become one of the toughest sides to beat

Matt Connolly must have given the ball away five times in the first half, but his second half performance was 100% better. I can see our new signing from Rennes challenging for that rb slot soon. All good healthy competition is what we'll need to compete

biggest difference i see is we were in my opinion the fittest side in the championship and yet we are really digging deep after 75 minutes in the games to date.
but i believe we will get fitter and match teams in the coming months over the full 90 unless of course the real top 6 teams are making us work much harder than the bottom half teams will do.

good to see malky getting players in to fill the weaker areas of the team. judging that southampton took 10 games to get 4 points last year i think we are ahead of the game and i honestly looked at hull as our first game where we could get points.

Yes have to agree Steve , we have been given the run around in both our home matches and looked out on our feet in the last 10 minutes . Our cup finals will be against the lower half teams so any point we take from the top 10 teams are a bonus.

I wish people would realise possession means sod all. Mourinho at Inter taught Barcelona that the hard way by just sitting in and containing the threat. They can have 100% possession if they like for 5 minutes as long as its away from the goal and there is no immediate threat.

People say this possession football is playing the game the way its supposed to be played but thats just a load of crap. There is no set blueprint for football as there isn't for boxing. Styles make games just as styles make fights but a slight fault or slip up and you can be punished.

Yes I know what your saying but you got more chance of scoring when you got the ball

Man City found that out the hard way.

Man City I could understand the defensuve tactics but fed up yesterday of us just turning over posession so cheaply.

Top 4/5 aside weve got to show more attacking intent.

Weve spent 30m and cant string more than 5 passes together without hoofing it upfield.

If we dont get 2/3 attacking players in before Monday where are the goals going to come from?

Actually on occasions we did string quite a good few passes together... Yesterday we were playing from the back a lot in first half but then in second it was much more hoofing - this was obviously for a reason and the players had been instructed to do so by Malky. We can play from the back, we have the ability to but I think Malky was looking to apply some pressure to them quickly... Interesting the most passes between two Cardiff players yesterday was Medel-Caulker, which shows we did have some decent build up play moving from the back... Have a look at the stats here: http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/sat ... us-today-0

Actually on occasions we did string quite a good few passes together... Yesterday we were playing from the back a lot in first half but then in second it was much more hoofing - this was obviously for a reason and the players had been instructed to do so by Malky. We can play from the back, we have the ability to but I think Malky was looking to apply some pressure to them quickly... Interesting the most passes between two Cardiff players yesterday was Medel-Caulker, which shows we did have some decent build up play moving from the back... Have a look at the stats here: http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/sat ... us-today-0

Caulker to Medel doesnt show any decent build up when its the easiest pass on the pitch and the move more often than not end in passing it to Conolly or Marshall to turn posession back over.

I know what you mean but it was going then from Medel forwards...

I know what you mean but it was going then from Medel forwards...

I must have missed that one

Garys not the problem its when it leaves him the other players cant deal with it.

I think we have just become accustomed to the championship when there is a fag paper between top and bottom. In this league the elite and near elite are playing at a different level.

I will be disappointed if against "normal" premier league team Whitts isn't moved more central at the expense of gunnar and we bring a real wide threat.

Gary could well be the difference between us staying up or not... Forget the penalty incident yesterday, otherwise he's been excellent

Gary could well be the difference between us staying up or not... Forget the penalty incident yesterday, otherwise he's been excellent

Agreed. I fear if we dont start keeping the ball better hes going to be fucked by xmas.

He was out on his feet yesterday he had done that much chasing.

We played Man City and Everton, not Palace and Hull

Stop talking so much bollocks for f**k sake

We played Man City and Everton, not Palace and Hull

Stop talking so much bollocks for f**k sake

How is it bollocks to expect a premier league player to be comfortable on the ball and not just hoof it anywhere?

They were Everton not f*cking Real Madrid.

We played Man City and Everton, not Palace and Hull

Stop talking so much bollocks for f**k sake

How is it bollocks to expect a premier league player to be comfortable on the ball and not just hoof it anywhere?

They were Everton not f*cking Real Madrid.

We didn't just"Hoof it anywhere". I enjoy the majority of your posts but this negativity for negativity sake seems like you want the reaction. The last two games were always going to be backs to the wall, and there are far more positives than you give credit for

We played Man City and Everton, not Palace and Hull

Stop talking so much bollocks for f**k sake

How is it bollocks to expect a premier league player to be comfortable on the ball and not just hoof it anywhere?

They were Everton not f*cking Real Madrid.

Totally agree, we need to ensure our brand of hoofball is gone, and the likes of Gary, Catherine and Bellers will achieve this for us

I hope

We played Man City and Everton, not Palace and Hull

Stop talking so much bollocks for f**k sake

How is it bollocks to expect a premier league player to be comfortable on the ball and not just hoof it anywhere?
They were Everton not f*cking Real Madrid.

We didn't just"Hoof it anywhere". I enjoy the majority of your posts but this negativity for negativity sake seems like you want the reaction. The last two games were always going to be backs to the wall, and there are far more positives than you give credit for

I already said it was to be expected against City and the other top sides but Everton are not in that bracket. Norwich had a go athem scored twice, we never looked like scoring.
Im not looking for a reaction im telling it like it is. We just hoof it anywhere and are not comfortable in posession. after spending 30m I expected better football not more hoofball

Positives are we are hardworking and difficult to break down but thats it.

Some of our players are shotshy and won't have an effort when the chance is there. Gunnarsson is the worst for this.