NO ARGUMENTS AS BLUEBIRDS ARE TAUGHT A HARSH LESSON
CARDIFF City fell to a sobering defeat by Norwich City at Carrow Road on Saturday afternoon. Goals in each half from Emi Buendia and Todd Cantwell capped off a comfortable afternoon for Daniel Farke’s side as the Bluebirds were soundly beaten in Norfolk.
Here, we look at the big talking points in the aftermath of the defeat...
‘A FOOTBALLING LESSON’
AFTER the final whistle blew at Carrow Road, few could argue with the result.
Norwich City had umpteen chances to put the game to bed, while the Bluebirds were reduced to less than a handful of chances, all from set-pieces.
It showed the gulf between a team who in my opinion are the best in this division and another who are still battling, it seems, to find the best way of getting the most out of their talented squad of players.
Former Norwich star-turned-pundit Chris Sutton wrote on Twitter after the match: “Norwich City gave Cardiff City a good footballing lesson today.”
That is about as apt an assessment as I have seen.
At times it looked like Cardiff had been drawn against a Premier League side in a cup competition, such was the chasm in quality between the two sides.
The Bluebirds struggled to string six passes together and Robert Glatzel was left to battle on his own up front before an inevitable wave of yellow launched another attack on City’s defence.
The Canaries had sheer quality coursing through the spine of the pitch and it told. Buendia, Cantwell, Mario Vrancic and Teemu Pukki were a nightmare to defend against and it seemed Cardiff could only hold on long enough in the hope of converting from a setpiece.
Neil Harris heeded his lesson from the South Wales derby defeat and added another central midfield player to try to combat Norwich’s footballing prowess, but it made little difference.
Joe Ralls was a passenger, Marlon Pack endured a torrid afternoon and Will Vaulks battled away but had little impact at either end of the pitch, really.
Norwich’s players were always a yard or two ahead, physically and mentally, all afternoon and that was the difference.
PROMOTION CHALLENGE BECOMES CLEAR
DURING his post-match press conference, Harris admitted that his side do not have as many points as he would have liked at this stage of the season.
A poor start always means you are playing catch-up, and even with the momentum which has been gained over the last three weeks, a defeat always seems a bigger blow because of the ground which needs to be regained owing to the early setbacks.
It is rarely the case that three relegated sides bounce straight back up to the Premier League, but having seen Norwich, Bournemouth and Watford now, I believe them to be among the strongest sides in the division.
Cardiff have taken four points from those three teams, something which should not be ignored.
But you look at those teams across the season so far and their consistency is telling. It’s why it is somewhat surprising to me that Vladimir Ivic was given the boot by the Hornets this weekend.
What those teams have in common is a crisp, sharp, passing style of play. They run their opposition around, and throughout the course of the season they create enough clear-cut opportunities to win enough football matches.
The problem Cardiff have is that their set-piece is their most potent weapon. Many think it is their only weapon.
And while you can do hours of work on the training ground to eke the most out of it, which Cardiff clearly do, placing such a reliance on that facet of the game appears to yield more inconsistent results.
Harris tried to move away from that at the beginning of the season. Cardiff
enjoyed far more possession than they are accustomed to and passed the ball through the lines a lot more.
It didn’t work. Whether that is because Cardiff don’t have the calibre of players to carry out that sort of football or they were not afforded enough time to truly implement it is up for debate.
Pressure mounted as the new style failed and Harris reverted to what has worked for him so far: more direct, more set pieces and less possession. Wins followed.
Cardiff are comfortable without possession and win more games when they have less than 50 percent of the ball. You might argue that Harris can’t be blamed for reverting to type when his job was on the line.
But in the longer term, you look at the Premier League, where Cardiff aspire to be, and how many teams have been successful there playing that style of football? Burnley have stayed there for a number of years now, but even they have changed subtly throughout. Stoke City are the only real anomaly in recent memory.
You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t at Cardiff, though. Do you sacrifice the short term for long-term gain? And will the manager be backed to implement the new system when the results aren’t immediately forthcoming? It’s a catch-22.
Who would be a football manager, eh?
THE ABSENTEES EXPLAINED
TWO notable absentees, which were not expected, at Carrow Road on Saturday were Joe Bennett and Josh Murphy.
Bennett was missing owing to a quad strain which he picked up against Birmingham City, but the manager is hopeful he will be back for Brentford on Boxing Day.
“We are hoping it is just a niggle,” Harris said.
“We will have to review him in the next 72 hours to see about Boxing Day, but I’m quietly hopeful.”
Murphy had been unwell and missed the midweek clash against the Blues, but it was expected that he would return to face his former club.
Harris, though, explained that the winger should be fit and firing to go this week.
“Josh was unwell, like I said, not Covid-related,” Harris explained.
“Just unwell, so he should be back in the building on Monday.”
LET’S NOT GET TOO BOGGED DOWN
I’M mindful these debriefs can be a little disheartening following defeats and that is the last thing we all need after Saturday’s Christmas announcement by the Welsh Government.
So, let’s try and shed a bit of positivity on the current situation surrounding Cardiff City.
This team has shown an incredible resilience over the last three weeks. So few teams string together five wins in six matches in this division, and while that defeat by Norwich worsens that stat a little, it is still an impressive feat.
What Cardiff fans can take solace in is that this is a streaky team. When they find their winning form they can be tough to stop.
We saw that post-lockdown and with that amazing charge towards the playoff spots at the back end of last season, and we have seen it to a certain extent in the month of December.
The bottom line is, you cannot rule this team out of anything just yet.
Perhaps they are a little bit limited at the minute in how they attack, and they certainly need to do way more than they did against Norwich if they are to stop the better teams, but not many sides look forward to playing against them, I can say that with utmost certainty.
It has not been the start to the season Cardiff will have wanted, but to be four points off the play-offs when it is largely acknowledged there is a lot more to come from this group offers some encouragement at least.
Over the coming weeks the Bluebirds will have Jordi Osei-Tutu, Joe Bennett, Kieffer Moore and even Lee Tomlin back.
They are big players and ones who are sorely missed when they are absent. It will be interesting to monitor how Cardiff play it in the January transfer window, too.
Next up, the Bluebirds have a tough task against Brentford, but, at home, if they manage to scrape a win on Boxing Day, they face Wycombe and, Covidpermitting, Rotherham either side of the New Year and these are the sorts of games Harris and his squad will be targeting.
Three important fixtures are in wait and they represent a huge opportunity to fire City into the play-off spots and regain that momentum, which, as we know, has the potential to turn the Bluebirds into a juggernaut.