TACTIAL DEBRIEF (CITY V ARSENAL)

Morrison and Bamba must do better, but Cardiff City’s positivity on the ball against Arsenal was a breath of fresh air
By Jamie Kemble

Cardiff City came up just short against Arsenal on Sunday, but where did they go wrong?


The Bluebirds will look back on the Arsenal defeat wondering what could have been having pushed their impressive opponents all the way.

Neil Warnock’s men were mightily close to taking a huge point at home to the Gunners, but a late Lacazette strike left the Bluebirds with their second defeat of the season.

So what went wrong for the Bluebirds? And what are the positives they can take into more difficult games after the international break?


Mustafi goal

The first was the worst. This goal was by far the most preventable and Neil Warnock will have been furious.

First of all, the concession of the corner in itself was disastrous. Sean Morrison tries to clear the ball from inside his own six-yard box and hits an Arsenal player, almost giving away a goal.

Then Morrison tires to chest the ball back to Etheridge with Arsenal players around him, forcing the keeper to punch wide for a corner.

It capped off a nightmare start to this game from the Cardiff skipper who, thankfully, woke up shortly after.

Once the corner does come in, it’s as simple as Sol Bamba losing his man, something he doesn’t usually do.

And Neil Warnock admitted his disappointment after the game, he said: “It’s not tactics, it’s one man not doing his job. It’s not like Sol.”

Arsenal looked good on set-pieces all day and that’s no surprise given the time Unai Emery works on them.

However, Cardiff can’t concede goals like this from set-pieces, it’s going to be hard enough keeping teams out from open play.


Camarasa equaliser

In the end, this goal looked a little scrappy, but that probably doesn’t do it justice. There was some lovely build-up play in the lead up to this goal.

Junior Hoilett got things going with an interception before playing a nice ball across to Arter. The Bournemouth loanee then played in Joe Bennett out wide and the full-back delivers a very good cross.

From there, it does get a little scrappy but Cardiff worked it really well to get the ball out wide to create an opportunity to get a cross in the box.

You always give yourself a chance to score when you get balls in the box and the Bluebirds got the equaliser they deserved just before the break.

Camarasa almost misjudges it initially, but he tracks the ball and with Petr Cech onrushing, it’s a fine finish to lift the ball with power right into the top of the net.

An emphatic finish, a good move and a nice way for Cardiff to score their first league goal of the season.


Aubameyang goal

This one is tough to analyse. Firstly, it has to be said that this is a fine strike, a moment of magic from Aubameyang and the striker has to get the credit for that.

Could Cardiff have done better? Probably. Sean Morrison is a little slow getting out to the ball, but that comes from how deep he finds himself when Aubameyang gets the ball.

Morrison can’t do much more from the point the Gabon international gets the ball. If he dives in, he gives the striker the chance to skip past him and go through on goal.

But his positioning should have been better, he should be closer to start with so that he can put a challenge in without going to ground.

Something else we have to consider, however, is the neat touch from Lacazette to set-up the move.

It’s a piece of brilliance from the Frenchman and that’s what leaves Morrison flat-footed, but the Cardiff skipper will need to quickly learn to expect things like that in the Premier League.


Ward equaliser

This is bread and butter for Cardiff. Throughout last season they used this sort of set-piece to great effect.

A long ball towards the back post, a header back across goal from Sean Morrison, who almost always wins his headers, and then it’s about that second contact somewhere across the face of goal.

In this case, it was Danny Ward who gets the crucial second contact and it really was a great header.

The former Rotherham man got up, generated all his own power on the header and guided the ball brilliantly over to the far post to beat Petr Cech.

A really good finish from Ward, who, Warnock was thrilled for after the game.The Bluebirds boss said: “I was really pleased for Danny Ward. I said to Danny before the game, ‘who’d have thought when I turned up at Rotherham two and a half years ago that you’d be scoring against Arsenal’.

“He’s worked so hard, so many injuries and nearly a full season last year. I’m delighted for him. He will enjoy watching that.”

This goal wasn’t anything Cardiff fans haven’t seen before, it’s one we have seen on repeat in the Welsh capital since Neil Warnock’s arrival and it looks like the tactic could continue into the Premier League.


Lacazette equaliser

There’s not an awful lot Cardiff can do to stop this goal.

Lacazette loses Sol Bamba with ease in the box, which on the face of it is a clear error, but you can’t expect an inexperienced – in Premier League terms – 33-year-old defender to always be touch-tight to a world-class player like Lacazette.

The Frenchman was absolutely fantastic all afternoon and this goal just topped it off.

His movement to come away from Bamba and take the ball on the turn was simply excellent, and the finish was perfect.

There’s no way, with that amount of power, that Etheridge can save the ball, even at his front post.

Bamba could have been closer to Lacazette, there’s no doubt about that, maybe Arter could have been in a position to block the pass. But credit goes to the striker for this one. This goal goes down as the least preventable from the three.


The verdict

Neil Warnock went for it against Arsenal, and the three goals conceded probably weren’t down to the more attacking setup.

“I was very proud of them,” added Warnock. “I don’t think we are good enough to park the bus because we would have lost two or three anyhow.

“So we decided last weekend to have a go, and to come up with the formula to have a go.

“We created chances and gave the fans something to cheer about.”


Cardiff knew they didn’t have the ability to keep Arsenal out and so they gave it a go themselves, and were only just outrun.

Bobby Reid was crucial. He didn’t give Arsenal’s back-line a moment’s peace, forcing them into a number of fouls in their own half, and that’s what Cardiff need.

Danny Ward made himself a presence up top, meaning Cardiff didn’t actually miss Kenneth Zohore in the way many might have thought.

And the midfield also did very well, with Joe Ralls, Harry Arter and Victor Camarasa all doing well in the middle of the park.

All three midfielders were positive on the ball. The first touch almost always set them up to make a pass forward and that’s good to see from a Cardiff perspective.

Sol Bamba and Sean Morrison had a difficult day at the office, but that’s not going to change in the Premier League and especially not in the next few weeks. They will both have to up their game.

The defensive duo have to settle in games quicker. They still seem nervous in the first 10 minutes of games and there’s no room for that at this level.

There are far more positives than negatives from this Cardiff display, not least the fact that they now have their first two goals.

And with those goals, suddenly, there’s a belief Cardiff can challenge.

Now it’s about improving all the finer details to ensure, even against the top teams, some of the goals like the ones Arsenal scored, aren’t conceded.

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

Good summary 2nd & 3rd goals were preventable but class players class finishing. 1st goal city player was blocked from going to ball if he wasn't he may have got head on it before reached arsenal player.