' Another defensive calamity '

' Another defensive calamity '

By Glen Williams


Monday 28th December 2020



Far too often I have sat in a Neil Harris press conference as the manager bemoans yet more individual errors which have led to defeat.

That was once again the case following the loss against Brentford. All three goals which were conceded were so, so poor.

Cardiff had done all the hard work. They contained the Bees to sterile possession largely in their own half and took the lead just before the break (more on that later!).

It meant Brentford had to come from behind to chase the game, which would only play into Cardiff's hands, you would think, as the game opened up and the Bees were stretched, the hosts would have hoped to hit again on the counter attack, one of their better attacking weapons.

But that can only happen on the premise your defence is watertight and too often this term it has leaked soft goals.

Canos' first was a curious one. I posted a photo on Twitter just before the corner was taken to illustrate that all of Brentford's outfield players were within 20 yards of City's goal. However, no one was marking any of the players on the edge of the box. Any clearance or rebounded shot was bound to fall to a Brentford player and that's exactly what happened.

Don't get me wrong, Canos' volley was excellently executed, but I think Alex Smithies might be disappointed to have been lobbed from there.

Canos' second was so easy. He got around Leandro Bacuna, and it wasn't the first time in the match, with minimal fuss and drove into the box unchallenged before drilling home.

And the third, well, Smithies just has to save that, doesn't he? He is a top-quality goalkeeper, but that was really, really poor.

If the game plan was to contain and limit Brentford to half chances, then that's what they did. But the half chances turned into full chances in the second half and goals owing to awful defending.

The difficulty is that different players are dropping the ball every week. So it's not the case of dropping Bacuna or Sean Morrison or Curtis Nelson or Joe Bennett because they are repeat offenders, it's the odd clanger every few weeks, which is why it's so difficult to simply choose one to drop.

Whether Filip Benkovic gets his opportunity at Wycombe, however, is certainly food for thought.

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Canos had Bacuna turned inside out many times.

Canos had Bacuna turned inside out many times.

That's what you get when you put a midfielder at right back

Canos had Bacuna turned inside out many times.

That's what you get when you put a midfielder at right back

You’re right of course.

Bacuna does a decent job at times and is ok at filling in for a couple of games but not virtually permanently like he has been.

If Benkovic doesn't start tomorrow then he'll be off next week. Then you watch , we'll have a defensive injury with no cover

Bacuna does ok against average wingers but when he faces a ‘Cabo’s’ he gets exposed.
Not his fault as he’s playing out of position but does make you think why they didn’t pick up Gunter on a short term deal as cover ...
Everyone could see RB was a weak point and has been for 2 seasons now