Team for Cardiff

[Phileas Fogg]

54 minutes ago, Lrrr said:

Think Scott could actually have a big part to play here, the way he's caused trouble against back 3's by getting in space between outside CB and WB, stick him on Morrison's side and make him a nightmare to pick up, try and drag Morrison out and isolate Flint with Weimann's movement attacking him. Stick Martin 5-10 yards infront receiving balls with Weimann/Scott/King movement attacking gaps from CB coming out to deal with Martin.

Bentley

         Vyner.       Kalas.          Atkinson.         Dasilva

James.    Massengo

           King                                Scott         

Weimann

Martin

 

 

Good thinking re: Scott.

What's your reasoning for Vyner over Simpson? I'd have thought the natural choice would be the more experienced player - although Vyner does have the extra height. 

[Davefevs]

41 minutes ago, Lrrr said:

My concern would be is if the Baker who doesn't like playing out shows up and plays long balls for Morrison/Flint to head away all game

Did you not see Bakerbauer versus Boro.

[RedEyez]

1 hour ago, bcfc01 said:

So who would you suggest plays RB against Cardiff ?

Don’t think Simpson has done too badly defensively to be honest, so I’d stick with him. He hasn’t offered much going forward but certainly hasn’t been done a kipper like Vyner was for one of the Boro goals. We could do with his experience in the side. Of course, it’s only my view and I appreciate you may disagree with it. 

[Lrrr]

10 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Did you not see Bakerbauer versus Boro.

Kind of busy atm, but that sort of performance seems to come out once per season, Notts Forest in the return from covid patch for example

[bcfc01]

1 minute ago, RedEyez said:

Don’t think Simpson has done too badly defensively to be honest, so I’d stick with him. He hasn’t offered much going forward but certainly hasn’t been done a kipper like Vyner was for one of the Boro goals. We could do with his experience in the side. Of course, it’s only my view and I appreciate you may disagree with it. 

I can see the argument both ways tbh. Both have been ripped a new one this season.

 

[RedEyez]

6 minutes ago, bcfc01 said:

I can see the argument both ways tbh. Both have been ripped a new one this season.

 

I think it’s that double edged sword, isn’t it? And it’s just where we’re at unfortunately.

You got Simpson, better defensively and positionally . Not much attacking intent. Or Vyner better with the ball at his feet and getting forward, gets crosses in etc. But gets found out when anyone with a bit of pace, skill or flair runs at him. I think Simpson is better in that respect as he can rely on his experience to read situations better and defend them accordingly. 

[Dan Robin]

Bentley

Simpson, Baker, Kalas, Dasilva

Massengo, James

Weimann, King, Pring

Martin

[RobintheRed Red]

Not convinced with dasilva this season just another Scott Golborne 

[RobintheRed Red]

11 hours ago, OneTeamInBristol said:

Spot on this. 

Semenyo for O'Dowda possibly. 

Yes odowda won't last the ninety mins .

[Garland-sweden]

Worried about rb an lb. Our opponents often have tricky wingers, dangerous passes coming inside our box. For me Vyner and Dasilva is no naturels rb and lb. So far Simpson not have been so very good. 

[RedEyez]

                   Bentley

 Simpson  Kalas  Atkinson  Pring

Scott  James  Massengo  O’Dowda

             Martin  Weimann

Subs: Max, Baker, Dasilva, Williams, King, Semenyo, Wells

[old_eastender]

34 minutes ago, RedEyez said:

                   Bentley

 Simpson  Kalas  Atkinson  Pring

Scott  James  Massengo  O’Dowda

             Martin  Weimann

Subs: Max, Baker, Dasilva, Williams, King, Semenyo, Wells

Agree with this, Pring over JD makes sense for his extra height given Cardiff's strength in the air.

Weimann has to play central or not at all, he really is a very poor option when asked to play wide.

I'd have Britton or Bell on the bench to replace Martin after about an hour.

 

[old_eastender]

11 hours ago, RedEyez said:

I think it’s that double edged sword, isn’t it? And it’s just where we’re at unfortunately.

You got Simpson, better defensively and positionally . Not much attacking intent. Or Vyner better with the ball at his feet and getting forward, gets crosses in etc. But gets found out when anyone with a bit of pace, skill or flair runs at him. I think Simpson is better in that respect as he can rely on his experience to read situations better and defend them accordingly. 

Spot on, also although Vyner gets forward much more, his crossing is woeful. 

[Davefevs]

42 minutes ago, old_eastender said:

Agree with this, Pring over JD makes sense for his extra height given Cardiff's strength in the air.

Weimann has to play central or not at all, he really is a very poor option when asked to play wide.

I'd have Britton or Bell on the bench to replace Martin after about an hour.

 

Agree re Weimann central, I wouldn’t say very poor wide, but definitely not as effective.  I don’t think he is as good defensively in front of his RB either.  For all the credit I give his intelligent running, it’s not so intelligent in terms of protecting the RB.  I think Alex Scott is actually a better bet there, even against Cardiff.  I think Nige trusts him to do a solid solid in front of the RB.

Re Scott, maybe the reason he’s played DS at RB in the last 2 games is because Scott is in front of him, and DS is guiding him through?  The games Vyner played, he had AW in front of him.  Sometimes little pairings work better than others.

[GrahamC]

Any news on whether O’Dowda & Williams are available?

Both stated to have been back in training prior to the Swansea game.

[GrahamC]

11 hours ago, Dan Robin said:

Bentley

Simpson, Baker, Kalas, Dasilva

Massengo, James

Weimann, King, Pring

Martin

Don’t think you’re far away.

Be a big call to leave Atkinson out, especially as he’s our tallest player, but would not be at all surprised if the other 10 here are spot on.

[Casualobserver]

8 hours ago, GrahamC said:

Any news on whether O’Dowda & Williams are available?

Both stated to have been back in training prior to the Swansea game.

Neither available this weekend according to NP's presser this afternoon. 

[Davefevs]

6 minutes ago, Casualobserver said:

Neither available this weekend according to NP's presser this afternoon. 

Both training, working their way back to full fitness.  Genuinely no need to rush either of them.  You’d imagine that if he rushed COD, then Ireland would probably want him too, and might be a bit of clever management by Nige to make sure City control his fitness / availability.

I was a bit surprise Semenyo cane back pre-international break, but they must’ve felt he was ready.

[ExiledAjax]

3 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I was a bit surprise Semenyo cane back pre-international break, but they must’ve felt he was ready.

I think he could be useful against Cardiff. He loves to roll a defender so I'd be trying to get him tight and either roll them with the ball, or roll them to make a run onto a potential through ball or Martin knock-down. I'd be surprised if he starts, but maybe an impact from the bench later on.

[RUSSEL85]

Back 4 will be tested big time. Lots of high balls in the box. Need Baker and Vyner for this one I feel.

btw, random odds for Celtic tonight!

 

[Davefevs]

44 minutes ago, ExiledAjax said:

I think he could be useful against Cardiff. He loves to roll a defender so I'd be trying to get him tight and either roll them with the ball, or roll them to make a run onto a potential through ball or Martin knock-down. I'd be surprised if he starts, but maybe an impact from the bench later on.

I wonder whether Nige will use him centrally if required through the course of the season.  I still think he’d be a bigger menace central alongside / off of someone like Martin than wide.

[ExiledAjax]

12 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I wonder whether Nige will use him centrally if required through the course of the season.  I still think he’d be a bigger menace central alongside / off of someone like Martin than wide.

Agreed, I was thinking centrally as well so that he could be closer to Martin. I don't think he's got the crossing ability to be effective out wide. I want him jostling with the big boys in the centre, rolling defenders, and running in behind.

[WECANDO]

How about:-

                   Bentley

         Kalas  Baker Atkinson

Simpson                           Pring

    Massengo  Simpson  Scott

                 Weiman 

                  Martin

 

 

[bcfc01]

2 minutes ago, WECANDO said:

How about:-

                   Bentley

         Kalas  Baker Atkinson

Simpson                           Pring

    Massengo  Simpson  Scott

                 Weiman 

                  Martin

 

 

Simpson just isn't up to two positions over 90 minutes...

[Port Said Red]

I think it's interesting that there is a thread over in the Transfer Forum that has descended in a discussion about LJ changing the team to counter the opposition, and here we have a long discussion about the need to do just that. I am not saying that either method is right or wrong, I think it just highlights how difficult it is to be a Manager, you are damned if you do and damned if you don't, unless you win. (although not even then sometimes). 

Anyway, my thoughts are that this is something of a free hit. I like Mick, I hate the way his teams play, but you have to stand back and admire how well drilled they are in the methodology. I don't know if we have the personnel in all positions to counter the basketball size players they seem to have, hence the free hit in that I don't think the fans are expecting much of it as we know the weaknesses in the squad are the strengths of the opposition. It will be interesting to see if the methodology they used against Swansea at set pieces has any effect against the giants, it seemed to be a hybrid of zonal and man marking, Kalas, Atkinson and I think Martin, patrolling the edge of the 6 yard box and the rest running interference with the attacking players.

I think it will be a case of looking for the performance and the work rate again, areas where I think the majority of us could see improvements in.

I am also taking a little bit of comfort from Matty James interview with @Shtanley on OSIB, where he said that in their promotion season, they had a slow start and then got going after the first international break. I think the team are starting to gel, but this might be a game too early.

[Porto Red]

Have enjoyed this tactical discussion. Isn't it a shame though that we don't have a friendly Cardiff fan to chip in. Surely they must have one or two...No? Oh ok then

[Davefevs]

51 minutes ago, Port Said Red said:

I think it's interesting that there is a thread over in the Transfer Forum that has descended in a discussion about LJ changing the team to counter the opposition, and here we have a long discussion about the need to do just that. I am not saying that either method is right or wrong, I think it just highlights how difficult it is to be a Manager, you are damned if you do and damned if you don't, unless you win. (although not even then sometimes). 

Anyway, my thoughts are that this is something of a free hit. I like Mick, I hate the way his teams play, but you have to stand back and admire how well drilled they are in the methodology. I don't know if we have the personnel in all positions to counter the basketball size players they seem to have, hence the free hit in that I don't think the fans are expecting much of it as we know the weaknesses in the squad are the strengths of the opposition. It will be interesting to see if the methodology they used against Swansea at set pieces has any effect against the giants, it seemed to be a hybrid of zonal and man marking, Kalas, Atkinson and I think Martin, patrolling the edge of the 6 yard box and the rest running interference with the attacking players.

I think it will be a case of looking for the performance and the work rate again, areas where I think the majority of us could see improvements in.

I am also taking a little bit of comfort from Matty James interview with @Shtanley on OSIB, where he said that in their promotion season, they had a slow start and then got going after the first international break. I think the team are starting to gel, but this might be a game too early.

I fully expect Nige to carry on with his 442/4411….he’s used it every game all the way through pre-season.  Whoever plays off of the main striker (very likely Martin) kinda dictates how the system functions.

[Davefevs]

Nige confirming O’Dowda and Williams will be available once international break over.

 

[ExiledAjax]

1 hour ago, Port Said Red said:

I think it's interesting that there is a thread over in the Transfer Forum that has descended in a discussion about LJ changing the team to counter the opposition, and here we have a long discussion about the need to do just that. I am not saying that either method is right or wrong, I think it just highlights how difficult it is to be a Manager, you are damned if you do and damned if you don't, unless you win. (although not even then sometimes). 

I've not read the thread you refer to, but the extent to which a manager changes his team is spectral in nature. As with most spectrums, the two extremes are normally to be avoided and so the best place to be is likely somewhere in between "change everything in order to counter every aspect of the opposition" and "change absolutely nothing, whoever we play". You also have to ask whether you should make a proactive or reactive change. In this thread we are discussing proactive change - we see potential problems in the way Cardiff play, we anticipate those, and we're putting forward theoretical ways to counter them.

That's contrary to what I saw Johnson do - which was reactive change. He would make changes based on the performances or result in the previous game. For me it's that aspect of his changes and tinkering that was grating - if there's one thing worse than making changes because you're worried about the next game - it's making changes because of you're worrying about what just happened.

Realistically you want a balance. You want your own team that has it's strengths, and you want to be able to use those strengths in every match. However, you do also need to be conscious of the other team's strengths and weaknesses, and if countering or exploiting those would require you to make alterations to your 'default' set up - then it may be advisable to make those changes. At the same time, if someone really does have a shocker, or comes to you saying "Gaffer I'm sorry, that last game has wrecked my confidence, I need a week out" then you need to be prepared to deal with that.

As an aside, I don't think we will actually see much change on Saturday, almost certainly not as drastic as switching to 3 at the back. Of course we are likely to see one or two personnel changes, but I think Pearson is more of a "play our own game and trust the process" than Johnson was.

 

[RobintheRed Red]

On 25/08/2021 at 10:40, Son of Fred said:

I'd be tempted to go 3 at the back,,Kalas, Atkinson, Baker -James & King in front of them..pring lwb,,Vyner right..

Then Scott,, Weimann & C'OD with Martin 'up top...

Gives us a bit more height & physicality to deal with the areal threat plus attacking intent...

What could go wrong!

 

Cods still up Bupa .