Not playing Juan Cala
Out of all the January signings, it was Cala who commanded a regular 1st team spot for his club in one of of the most demanding leagues in world football.
Before joining Cardiff City, he made 15 appearances for Sevilla in the 2013/14 La Liga season, scoring in his last outing, a 2-1 win over Villarreal. (skysports)
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news ... to-cardiffTo those of you who said Cala should start on the bench or not-at-all at Swansea, hang your heads in shame.
Do I think with Cala we would of won the match? No chance. However, I do feel it it the duty of a Cardiff City manager to play the strongest team available to him in arguably what was the most important match of the season to date.
Another poster & I believe that was James Barnett was partially correct in defending the team selection for that dreadful evening. He was able to comprehend that some players in the squad were high-risk injury wise, and was proved correct when Mutch limped out of the game at Villa. Solksjær did everything he could to protect Mutch & that was good management, just a shame that the 'niggle' resurfaced at Villa when we were looking the better team with Mutch on the field.
Ok, if a top continental club are looking to offload a 1st team regular then I would be more cautious about the signing. It was Cala who stated that he bought out the remainder of the contract (with the help of CCFC) with a heavy-heart, but for the right reasons. Money.
Now with that kind of pedigree you would think he would be thrown straight into the gypo's den. He wasn't.
You don't need to protect players of that calibre from confidence issues as all top players have something common, that is self-belief that never wavers.
I also heard some posters make the assumption that a derby game would be too frantic for him, which derby games was that then? One can consider that El Taffico derbies were not exactly pulsating affairs. If Cala signed for Liverpool or Everton & the first game was their derby match, then I see some justification on two levels.
1) Liverpool vs Everton is notoriously fast-paced and often brutal encounters, a true culture shock.
2) Both clubs have established/quality squads so are at liberty to blood new signings-in slowly.
The second example is where Solksjær shows his naïvety in football management. Relegation candidates have no time whatsoever to blood players into the team & need battle hardened, match fit players to go straight into a struggling team the moment they arrive to lift the team.
Did Pulis drip his new signings slowly into the team? No. Ledley & Ince both scored on their debuts. Scott Dann played 90mins.
Why didn't Cala? even if he arrived in this country 1 hour before kick-off he still should of been handed a red jersey for the Swansea game.
Solksjær has to play his strongest 11 available to him & it is clear to me that Cala was one of them by just by his pedigree as a top defender at a traditional top-6 club in Spain.
Every advantage you can have over the opposition however slight, must be utilized.