by Beefymcfc » Mon Aug 26, 2013 2:02 pm
I've not read the match thread yet as my provider has only just let me log on to the site, however I can probably guess that it went from Whhhhhooooo to Woooooo very quickly.
During the match I was talking to my lad and mentioned how Cardiff would park the bus and try to get us on the break or through set pieces, and that's what near enough happened. I was happy with our general play though and knew it was only a matter of time before we hit the net, and what a goal it was. My immediate concern, from the off, was the back line. Cardiff showed early on that they'd try to use Frazers pace and get behind Garcia and Lescott. Lescott had to do well on a couple of occassions but I thought the shape was all wrong with nobody covering like we used to see from Barry. This is probably due to the high-line that we are now adopting but I did think at the time that Pellers would note and possibly shuffle the system a bit. Luckily, nothing came of it during the half due to Hart making a decent stop.
The same could have been said for their first. They had around 20 passes that led to the goal with nobody getting near them. Kim just waltz past Yaya and Fernando as if they weren't there (So where were they?) and then got the cross in past a floundering Cliche. I think Joe stopped the shot but the defence was in disarray and couldn't get there in time. Pretty pitiful all-round I thought.
The main thing for me though was the change in system with regard to defending set pieces and this is why I don't subscribe to changing things wholesale just because we have a new manager. We've played zonal marking for the last 3 years or so and the players are well used to it. Yesterday proved that changing the system isn't always the best and the 2 goals (from 3 corners!) that they got probably would've been stopped with zonal marking. The balls in were aimed specifically to the back post for a runner to come onto and Frazer got to both of them, leaving Zab's staring into space (and his hands) because of the movement. Usually we'd have a player in that position who would get the ball away or at least stop the run from the player coming in.
I have no problem with changing the system but I'd like to have seen it done gradually when players are used to it. Combine that and the fact we didn't have our first choice defensive partnership then I'm not has optimistic going forward.
I also thought the Navas substitution was strange, he was repeatedly occupying 2 or 3 of their players and getting back to cover Zab's but to bring him off and introduce Nasri seemed a strange choice. Clichy seemed to be getting hammered on the left and Nasri doesn't afford the defensive qualities needed to cover him. If anything I thought it would be Milner or, in a lesser case, Kolarov who would help out defensively as well as having a forward threat.
Overall, a bad day at the office that had me screaming at the TV. I was worried about the defence and those worries came to fruition. Hopefully Pellers will now understand what it means to play in the Premier League and instead of going gung-ho to get more goals, sometimes understand that 3 points is the priority in away games like this.
Oh, and well done Cardiff, the atmosphere sounded impressive and the way they went about their business was well deserved. They ran their hearts out, the bastards!
Last edited by
Beefymcfc on Mon Aug 26, 2013 2:05 pm, edited 2 times in total.
In the words of my Old Man, "Life will never be the same without Man City, so get it in while you can".
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