FAILING TO FIRE
MISSED CHANCES PROVING COSTLY AS MISFIRING CARDIFF STRUGGLE TO FIND THEIR BEST FORM
CARDIFF City stumbled to another defeat on Friday night, their loss to Bristol City leaving them way off the Championship pace. It was the last match before the international break and, as such, Neil Harris and his staff must take stock and put right what has gone wrong during the start of this season.
Here, we pick through what led to the defeat and what Harris needs to do moving forward...
CUTTING EDGE VANISHES
According to Harris, his Bluebirds created enough chances to win “two or three games of football”.
He used stats to back up his claims and City had 17 shots on goal compared to the Robins’ two.
The difference was that Bristol had one really good chance and took it, Cardiff huffed and puffed but rarely truly threatened the Bristol goal. There were probably less than a handful of real clear-cut scoring opportunities.
That is a stark contrast, almost overnight, from the 3-0 Barnsley win, a performance in which City had ample excellent opportunities to score thanks to accurate, quick build-up play.
Against Bristol City there were a trio of Kieffer Moore headers, one from Harry Wilson and another from Curtis Nelson from a corner.
For the rest of the night, Bristol’s keeper was largely untroubled and that was down to a lack of cutting edge from the Bluebirds.
Bristol, to their credit, defended resolutely after taking the lead. As such, there are few occasions where you could really say their defence was carved open, it was more of an aerial bombardment from Cardiff, especially as the game wore on.
Two other chances you think could have been converted were a Joe Ralls right-footed volley from close range which was skied over the bar, while Wilson did the same with his left foot earlier in the match – each from crosses into the box once again.
It is understandable that Cardiff are trying to play to their strengths, that is why you buy a big striker like Moore, but a more varied, incisive attack would have defences far more worried.
Make no mistake, though, with 17 efforts on goal you have to score at least one. That will be a huge disappointment.
COSTLY ERROR PUNISHED AGAIN
“One misplaced pass and the ball ends up in the back of our net,” Harris said after the match.
“I keep saying it has to change and can’t keep happening but it has happened again.
“We will start winning game after game when we stop making stupid errors.”
It must be like banging your head against the wall for the Bluebirds staff this season, because a huge proportion of the goals they have conceded this season have been so avoidable.
Leandro Bacuna gifted possession against Sheffield Wednesday early on; goal. Sheyi Ojo did the same against Reading; goal. Joe Ralls against Derby; goal. Now it is the turn of Joe Bennett against Bristol City.
Misplacing passes are part and parcel of football, every rightminded person knows that, but Cardiff get punished with such regularity from it.
Teams hit them quickly, their defence is far too exposed and the ball ends up in the back of the net.
Perhaps only the goal by Bournemouth is the one real time I can remember City being undone by a stunning piece of build-up play. The other 10 they have conceded thus far have been largely avoidable - maybe Dominic Ball’s stoppage-time winner for QPR can be taken off that list, too.
It is so frustrating that teams appear to score goals out of nothing or from a set-piece against Cardiff, while Harris’ Bluebirds are made to toil so hard to create even a sniff of a chance. Other teams are hitting Cardiff quickly and clinically and it cannot be said that the Welsh outfit are doing the same to them regularly enough. A lot of work is required on the training ground at either end of the pitch over the next two weeks.
THE FANS FACTOR
I have deliberately left this out of my post-match talking points over the last few months, simply because I am of the school of thought that it is the same for every team.
But I have got to the stage where I feel that the Bluebirds fans could really be that missing factor.
It was glaringly obvious to me on Friday night, that’s for sure.
I have been scratching my head as to how Cardiff can turn these draws or narrow defeats into wins and if a fixture needed the supporters present in it was the Severnside derby. When the build-up play began to be ponderous, Cardiff fans would have let their team know about it. When the pressure was mounting and the corner count started to rack up, Bluebirds fans would have whipped up a frenzy on the terraces.
Particularly with Cardiff playing towards the Canton End, the players visibly lifted by the passion and
fervour their brilliant supporters create.
“Let’s be honest, I won’t beat around the bush, we’ve missed them,” Harris said.
“When it’s not going great for you at home, when games are tight, when the opponent and the referee are just managing the game like Bristol did tonight and Reading did before, Middlesbrough, the way they slowed the game down, you need the passionate fan base here to galvanise and get on the referee.
“We are missing them but that’s not why we’ve not won the game tonight, that’s because we were not clinical enough.”
Look, every team is lifted by its fans, but Cardiff’s are especially vociferous. Home and away.
When there are 20,000-plus inside and Cardiff City Stadium is in full voice, it is positively rocking and the players openly admit the atmosphere lifts them.
I just think Cardiff fans would have made the difference on Friday night and would have helped immensely in making one of those efforts on goal find the back of the net.
Just one win at home this season is not enough and I am in no doubt that the City fans being present would have changed that record.
THE VERY DIFFERENT OPPOSITION VIEW
Out of interest, I always take a peak at what the opposition manager has had to say after a game and Dean Holden’s verdict stuck out to me.
“I don’t think they created too many chances,” he said of Cardiff.
“We had to fight for everything and I am just so proud of the performance.”
It is clear that, despite the sheer volume of pressure Cardiff put on, Holden and Bristol City never really felt under any threat.
The Robins boss lauded his players throughout the evening for their organisation and structure, which limited Cardiff to very few clear-cut scoring opportunities. The difference in opinion between the two managers is certainly stark and serves to prove just how comfortably Bristol dealt with Cardiff’s efforts in the final third of the pitch.
NO PANIC FROM HARRIS
“There’s certainly no panic from me, but I want to win.”
Those were Neil Harris’ words after the defeat.
Cardiff fans, quite rightly after a derby loss, were vociferous in their disappointment after another defeat.
Just three wins in 11 Championship games from a squad of players of the quality Harris has at his disposal is simply not good enough and the Bluebirds will clearly know that.
They will expect to be challenging at the top end of the table come May.
The squad which has been assembled should be doing that. There can be no question about that.
It will be a tough international break for Harris and his coaching staff, who will want to put right the shortcomings over the last few months to ensure ground can quickly be made up before Christmas.
Expectations have been raised after last season and what everyone believed to be an excellent transfer window, barring perhaps the recruitment of a second right back which is hurting Cardiff. So the stakes are high. Harris has been backed to assemble his squad this term, but everyone knows the standard has to be raised.
The period after the international break up until Christmas is crucial and Cardiff simply must start putting points on the board and stop treading water.