Match Report: City sacrifice their game at the altar of Warnock-ball

[Three Lions]

5 minutes ago, Esmond Million's Bung said:

Last 2 games 2 shots on target says it all for me, we run out of ideas in and around the opponents box and slow play down to sleep walking pace.

 

Wacking it long is not slowing the game down. Wacking it is a lack of ideas. Changing  Citys football has brought how many wins in??

 

[Esmond Million's Bung]

2 minutes ago, Three Lions said:

Wacking it long is not slowing the game down. Wacking it is a lack of ideas. Changing  Citys football has brought how many wins in??

 

I haven't suggested that at all.

Yes we are now hitting far too many long balls, but on the occasions when we do manage to play through teams like the few times we did today, we totally run out of ideas in and around their box, the game is slowed and Cardiff got defenders back.

[Three Lions]

3 minutes ago, Esmond Million's Bung said:

I haven't suggested that at all.

Yes we are now hitting far too many long balls, but on the occasions when we do manage to play through teams like the few times we did today, we totally run out of ideas in and around their box, the game is slowed and Cardiff got defenders back.

Yes you have. City should get back to keeping the ball and playing it to feet. The football before Christmas. If teams sit in and stifle the game so what! The way forward was to not go down the route of lumping it. The team was doing well. First blip and Johnson has thrown the identity out of the window now. Warnock kept to his.

[TV Tom]

20 minutes ago, Bluebird65 said:

Cardiff fan in peace here, yes we do get the ball forward quickly, but we do play some good stuff in the final third of the pitch. Hoilett is a premier league player and tha'ts why he will get player of the year. Bamba and Manga along with Morrison  are the best defenders in the league, thats why the Bluebirds are where they are.

You were beaten by the better team in a poor game today, take it on the chin and move on.

Can’t really argue with what you’re saying, Bamba is a beast and won absolutely everything, Hoilett always looks class when I see him play, you’re second in the league no matter how you play, if you were mid-table or below playing that style of football you’d rightly have something to complain about, no sour grapes here mate, got to say though I do miss NP. 

[CotswoldRed]

3 minutes ago, Three Lions said:

Yes you have. City should get back to keeping the ball and playing it to feet. The football before Christmas. If teams sit in and stifle the game so what! The way forward was to not go down the route of lumping it. The team was doing well. First blip and Johnson has thrown the identity out of the window now. Warnock kept to his.

Exactly. 

Man City weren't forced to lump it against Cardiff. 

Why didn't we force OUR game on Cardiff? That's what talented teams do.  

[Bluebird65]

3 minutes ago, harrys said:

Can’t really argue with what you’re saying, Bamba is a beast and won absolutely everything, Hoilett always looks class when I see him play, you’re second in the league no matter how you play, if you were mid-table or below playing that style of football you’d rightly have something to complain about, no sour grapes here mate, got to say though I do miss NP. 

Ninian park is missed by most of our fans, i miss your away end too it reminds me of our old Bob bank. 

[Harry]

Worst game this season as a spectacle. Awful. 

I see Wright has got some stick, I agree he didn’t play well, but he did make 2 superb blocks in the box in the first half to save certain goals. As for their goal, yes he tried to be physical, but I actually thought, given what the ref had previously given, that it should have been a foul in our favour.  However, Wright aside, quite why Baker left his man, but more to the point why did Bobby dive into the tackle unnecessarily - he could have shepherded the guy to the byline and prevented the cross. 

I disagree a little on the Diony opinions - I thought in terms of work rate he was giving it plenty and he was always looking to do the right thing. I think he was FAR superior to Diedhiou. The bloke’s touch is terrible. Every time he gets it I worry we’re about to lose possession and probably 75% of the time we do. There were a couple of times today where his first touch was so poor it actually turned into a decent pass - I mean seriously, his touch came 10-12 yards off of him and luckily ended up at the feet of our player!! I can see that he’s a bit of a nuisance and offers something, but by god he can’t control or pass a football. 

Magnússon was back to his worst, a number of very sloppy errors, he’s too casual for his own good sometimes. Plus did he get a throw past the 18 yard box today - awful. 

Smith is the only one who comes out of the game today with any plaudits. The rest were terrible. 

I personally think we will have more chance of making the playoffs without Diedhiou in the team. We play worse with him there. He does some okay things but he just doesn’t suit the style of play we are trying to achieve - quite simply he’s not a footballer, he’s a lump. Sometimes lumps can be useful and on occasion he has been, but I think we’re a better team without him. 

[Red-Robbo]

23 minutes ago, CotswoldRed said:

Exactly. 

Man City weren't forced to lump it against Cardiff. 

Why didn't we force OUR game on Cardiff? That's what talented teams do.  

Strangely enough, we aren't as good as Man City. 

We only need one regular starter to be out, and Johnson to start a second stringer, and we look dreadful.

[CotswoldRed]

2 minutes ago, Red-Robbo said:

Strangely enough, we aren't as good as Man City. 

We only need one regular starter to be out, and Johnson to start a second stringer, and we look dreadful.

Yes, I get that. 

But if I asked most people before the match who would impose their game on the other today, I think I know where the bets would be placed. 

[redapple]

41 minutes ago, Harry said:

Worst game this season as a spectacle. Awful. 

I see Wright has got some stick, I agree he didn’t play well, but he did make 2 superb blocks in the box in the first half to save certain goals. As for their goal, yes he tried to be physical, but I actually thought, given what the ref had previously given, that it should have been a foul in our favour.  However, Wright aside, quite why Baker left his man, but more to the point why did Bobby dive into the tackle unnecessarily - he could have shepherded the guy to the byline and prevented the cross. 

I disagree a little on the Diony opinions - I thought in terms of work rate he was giving it plenty and he was always looking to do the right thing. I think he was FAR superior to Diedhiou. The bloke’s touch is terrible. Every time he gets it I worry we’re about to lose possession and probably 75% of the time we do. There were a couple of times today where his first touch was so poor it actually turned into a decent pass - I mean seriously, his touch came 10-12 yards off of him and luckily ended up at the feet of our player!! I can see that he’s a bit of a nuisance and offers something, but by god he can’t control or pass a football. 

Magnússon was back to his worst, a number of very sloppy errors, he’s too casual for his own good sometimes. Plus did he get a throw past the 18 yard box today - awful. 

Smith is the only one who comes out of the game today with any plaudits. The rest were terrible. 

I personally think we will have more chance of making the playoffs without Diedhiou in the team. We play worse with him there. He does some okay things but he just doesn’t suit the style of play we are trying to achieve - quite simply he’s not a footballer, he’s a lump. Sometimes lumps can be useful and on occasion he has been, but I think we’re a better team without him. 

I don’t agree that he’s a ‘lump’. I’ve seen enough of him to think he’s a decent Centre Forward on his day.

However, I think we play better as a team without him and that at the moment he would be better contributing from the bench. 

[Davefevs]

Very difficult to add much to any thread tonight, as all I’ve done today is listen to the BBCRB commentary.  Haven’t heard the post-match interviews, but read bits and pieces on here.

Sounded an awful game on the radio....there were very few moments where we strung any passing moves together.  Too many poor first touches, too many "scooped" passes according to the commentator (Ed Hadwin I think).  Cardiff sounded like they eked out the better chances.

Trying not to get involved in a "easier in hindsight" set of comments, but I don’t think any side would be confident of taking on Cardiff at their own game.  My first thoughts on seeing the line up was power (and pace - although I think that was just alliteration), but I wasn’t expecting a standard 442, which is how it sounded on the radio.  4 biguns at the back, 2 biguns up front, and 4 little uns being bypassed in the middle.  That to me looks like we’ve played directly into their hands.

Cant really say much more.

Looking Forward, we are still 6th...does nobody want to overtake us.  I’ve been saying for a good while that I think we are not gonna miss out.  I still think we will finish 6th, but we are starting to make life difficult for ourselves and encouraging the likes of Boro, Sheffield Utd, Preston that they can overhaul us without necessarily setting the world on fire, results-wise.

I seek a bit of solace in the fact that we no longer have games against the top 5, but it’s not that comforting.

We need to go back to the levels of Fulham. Only a few days away and realise it’s the way we play.  We’ll get more wins than losses with that approach.

Saturday v Wednesday is a long way away, time to recharge my OTIB batteries, ready for the push. 

[oldstandrobin]

13 hours ago, downendcity said:

For far too long, successive City managers have concentrated too much on countering the opposition's tactics and strengths, rather than making the most of ours ( I concede that in too many seasons we have not had too many strengths to maximise). 

Against Premier league opposition, and in particular against Man U and even more so against the best team in the country we went out and played our game plan and even though Man City had loads of possession and pressure we competed in both games.

Is an automatic trait that sees managers and/or  players under pressure resort to hoofing the ball long, in the same way we always seem to drop back deeper and deeper when trying to defend a lead?

Perhaps the way out of our slump is to get back to the pressing game that served us so well earlier in the season and not worry about the opposition. 

Spot on Downend 

[Son of Fred]

14 hours ago, Chappers said:

Pretty much spot on, one of the key positives this season has been the movement of Reid, and the ability to draw fouls, which would have been useful against the two big centre backs. He was wasted playing deep, and the formation seemed to be devised to fit Diony into the team. On evidence to date, why? And why have 3 wingers on the bench and no forward, with Diony and Fammy unlikely to last 90 minutes. Bizarre selections, bizarre tactics, horrible game.

Welcome back...

TOMBOLA

[old_eastender]

10 hours ago, Harry said:

Worst game this season as a spectacle. Awful. 

I see Wright has got some stick, I agree he didn’t play well, but he did make 2 superb blocks in the box in the first half to save certain goals. As for their goal, yes he tried to be physical, but I actually thought, given what the ref had previously given, that it should have been a foul in our favour.  However, Wright aside, quite why Baker left his man, but more to the point why did Bobby dive into the tackle unnecessarily - he could have shepherded the guy to the byline and prevented the cross. 

I disagree a little on the Diony opinions - I thought in terms of work rate he was giving it plenty and he was always looking to do the right thing. I think he was FAR superior to Diedhiou. The bloke’s touch is terrible. Every time he gets it I worry we’re about to lose possession and probably 75% of the time we do. There were a couple of times today where his first touch was so poor it actually turned into a decent pass - I mean seriously, his touch came 10-12 yards off of him and luckily ended up at the feet of our player!! I can see that he’s a bit of a nuisance and offers something, but by god he can’t control or pass a football. 

Magnússon was back to his worst, a number of very sloppy errors, he’s too casual for his own good sometimes. Plus did he get a throw past the 18 yard box today - awful. 

Smith is the only one who comes out of the game today with any plaudits. The rest were terrible. 

I personally think we will have more chance of making the playoffs without Diedhiou in the team. We play worse with him there. He does some okay things but he just doesn’t suit the style of play we are trying to achieve - quite simply he’s not a footballer, he’s a lump. Sometimes lumps can be useful and on occasion he has been, but I think we’re a better team without him. 

I wouldn't describe Diedhiou as a 'lump', but you are right regarding his touch which is unbelievably poor for a £5m player. Played as a No.9 though, he can do a job and has shown that, problem yesterday is LJ played him in the No.10 role and Diony as the No.9. As for Diedhiou losing possession 75% of the time, yesterday it was more like 90% of the time. What really irks me is that...

a) This should have been totally predictable, all the commentary on Diony says he has played well in the past, playing off a centre forward, and has played poorly when asked to be the centre forward. Also, Diedhiou was never going to fit the no.10 role.

b) Even if LJ did think he was pulling a tactical masterstroke by playing Diony & Diedhiou the wrong way around, why when it was blatant after 30 mins of the game that it was not working, didn't he swap them around.

I think all the plaudits about how well he set us up to play in the cup games, seems to have gone to LJs head and ever since the QPR game we have had a succession of odd selections, tactics and dire use of subs. LJ needs to get back to the basics that served us so well prior to that.

[Carrot]

16 hours ago, Olé said:

Been a while since I did an away match report but while they've all been on TV so it would have been self-indulgent to think anyone needs my version of events.

Today we finally weren't on TV at an away game and it's probably for the best as Sky subscribers would cancel their contracts if they were forced to sit through such shite.  

Let's do the easy bit first - I couldn't watch Warnock ball for a whole season. But but but they're in second. But nothing. That is not winning, it's an artificial advantage.

If you're still not familiar with Warnock ball after all these years, let me recap:

 

1. If the ball is not in the final 10 yards of the pitch get it there immediately

2. If the ball is on the floor get it in the air immediately

3. If the ball is in the air challenge for it

4. If you look like winning the ball from an aerial challenge, see rule 1

5. If you look like not winning the ball, dive to the floor clutching your face so you get a set piece opportunity to revert to rule 1

6. If the opposition has the ball on the floor of all places foul them and take your chances with weak refs (or at set pieces) 

7. If the opposition gives up and puts the ball in the air repeatedly revert to rules 3-5

And that's it. 

 

Warnock's masterstroke is identifying that if you kill football and turn it into 2 teams hoofing it back and forth, you just need an aerial defence at one end and wait for an eventual mistake at the other. Hence all the late winners.

That's why, as for many years, Warnock doesn't translate to the Premiership because there's far less mistakes. And that is why it's an artificial advantage, not a serious future for a football club, and not one I could follow around the country.

Let's do the hard bit next - we were awful. I can't think of many worse ways to lose, we might have lost by more playing our game but at least we'd have taken it to them, done ourselves justice. We didn't.

And this is awkward, but we did NOT have a go. Hate to say it, but we really didn't. LJ for the first time this season has some explaining to do. In nothing other than putting an extra striker on did we go for it, and that turned into a disaster.

By the time it was clear Diony really IS dire, we were reduced to punting it up to Diedhiou and asking him to win it, bring it under control, and bring others into play. He can do it on a good day but not vs big Cardiff centre halves with zero support.

At this point anyone feeling sorry for Diony would he well reminded that at about 43 minutes, his latest complete non attempt to control or win the ball not once but twice in 20 seconds resulted in Flint losing his mind. The players can see it.

Normally by now I'm into full flow describing our chances and everyone is really impressed by my memory. Anyone could do it this week. There weren't any. It will come as no surprise that Cardiff are better at making something out of a 45 yard ball with snow on it.

In the second half we did come out and try to string a few passes together and play with a bit of pace, but it followed a routine of springing Joe Bryan on our left breaking forward, defenders closing the space, and us ultimately crossing it into Diedhiou with his usual array of large centre halves to deal with. (Diony at this point was a passenger).

There was the odd moment of excitement as we broke out of midfield (there is no doubt in my mind that Korey and Bobby were our best players but the latter largely wasted) yet all too often we didn't see a way through their defence and reverted to punting it over the top of them like a poor Cardiff tribute act.

That is not our game and we are awful at it. Johnson opted to stick with what was at best an ugly point, making no changes, but forgetting that Warnock ball ratchets up the pressure for a late mistake.

And so they arrived. First Magnússon under hit his attempt to pass back from a Cardiff attack and they swarmed into the box before Frankie could claim. Then City had to desperately clear their lines after Cardiff raced inside Flint.

At the other end City's only response was a break on the right that in a low Korey Smith shot from the edge of the box, and then a right wing cross hooked agonisingly just the wrong side of the far post by sub Paterson.

But in a match dominated by long balls punted up to forwards, the mistake Cardiff play for arrived in the closing stages. The ball was swung out to the left wing where Wright, poor all game, tried for the third time to simply bundle his opposite number out of play.

Twice previously he'd been penalised with free kicks but this time he'd fail to stop the player altogether and he had room to slip a teammate into the box on the byline, who cut it back for Zohore to finish.

In all honesty it was the only clear chance of the game, but that is Warnock football when you suffocate the game as a spectacle and make sure you are ready to capitalise on the one mistake when it arrives.

Belatedly we threw on subs but there were few City there who really thought we'd get back into it with less than ten minutes to play: we had yet to employ our own brand of football and had no idea how to play through their defence.

In the end we surrendered meekly. Having done little to affect the game and shown only that we can't do a very good impression of Cardiff when trying to play their ugly ugly game. And that's the really sad bit - we sacrificed our football for absolutely F all.

 

Fielding 6 The fact he wasn't really worked is only a feature of the non-event both teams turned the game into

Wright 5 Worst game I can remember, clumsy at the back, long balls going forward

Magnússon 6 Composed in places but a mistake never too far away

Flint 6 Met his match with the aerial battles at both end

Baker 6 Ditto

Smith 7 Our best player because the calm tidy football he brings to the team transcends however bad everyone else is trying to make it

Brownhill 5 Didn't quite justify the abuse from the bloke behind me (which was bordering on the psychotic) but not a good game by his standards

Reid 7 Can see what he brings to midfield and he nearly started a few moves but sadly the ball was in the air most of the time it was in his part of the pitch, and he was badly missed up front

Bryan 7 Did more than most to affect the game in the second half but denied the space that he really thrives on when up in left wing

Diony 4 Not sure what to say, hoped this would be his day, want to like the guy, and you could say the service was not good, which it wasn't, but he looks so utterly raw and clumsy it's hard to believe there is a footballer in there

Diedhiou 6 A few nice touches but all too often was just too much for him and never really caused them serious problems

Subs - too little too late

Sour grapes?

[Esmond Million's Bung]

12 hours ago, Three Lions said:

Yes you have. City should get back to keeping the ball and playing it to feet. The football before Christmas. If teams sit in and stifle the game so what! The way forward was to not go down the route of lumping it. The team was doing well. First blip and Johnson has thrown the identity out of the window now. Warnock kept to his.

You will have to show me exactly where I have advocated a long ball game?, because I have not, I have not even expressed an opinion on what style we should play. I was merely expressing an opinion about why we failed against Cardiff, the passing game failed because everything was slowed in and around Cardiff's penalty area because we ran out of ideas and the long ball game (of which I do not support) failed because the strikers instead of being on the shoulder of the last defender came deep in search of the ball, the success of this season has been built on high press, strong midfield and a one touch passing game.

But since the subject has come up, I absolutely agree with you, play it to feet and play through teams, where that system has come unstuck is against teams like Cardiff, Millwall and Burton etc. we run out of ideas in and around their area and things slow down and our ambition suddenly turns to gaining a corner or a throw in, instead of playing it quickly and opening up defences like we have done for most of the season.

In short we lack the sort of player that can spot a pass and unlock defences in the way that we did and in recent games Pack, Paterson and Brownhill have suddenly adopted an attitude of not instinctively making that incisive final pass, that pass is being delayed and the moment has gone and that is what needs to change, we have to stop slowing our play down in and around our opponents box and make the pass like we were earlier in the season.