Blues v Cardiff Match Thread

[bruminoz]

By some frickin miracle it’s back in our own hands and destiny

Will we turn up and show that spirit, YES

Will we win YES

COYB

[bubba]

Trying not to think about what happens if we don't or even worse we lose,  more pressure on the players for this game imo than any other so far this season,  first time we go into a game already in the bottom three and we're expected to win too,  pressure affects different players differently, nothing should be taken for granted,  especially from a side that in the last 9 games has won once and lost 7 times.

[bignumbernine]

Trying to stay positive and have put my prediction as a Blues win. A loss would be devastating.

[bubba]

Could have done with having Mark Roberts available tonight,  Cardiff are the championship set piece kings scoring 19 from dead balls,  more than anybody else.  Cardiff have also been the recipients of more own goals from the opposition than anybody else.

On the plus side they haven't scored a single goal from a counter attack all season and in fact are the  lowest scorers in the championship from open play.

Most likely goalsorers in open play are the wide players Grant and Bowler with Goutas and Ng being the dangermen at set pieces,  nd to a lesser extent McGuiness.

Meanwhile blues are bottom 3 on scoring set piece goals,  mid table on scoring  counter attack goals and mid table on scoring goals from open play,  though saying that as a percentage of total goals blues 32 goals from open play out of a total of 45 goals is one of the highest open play goals to total goals ratios.  However it could be argued (probably successfully)  that that is more a function of us being poor at set pieces than Brazil-like in open play, in fact it is probably not an exaggeration to say that even with all the turmoil that has gone on this season,  if we could have replcated Cardiff's set piece success,  we'd likely be comfortably in the top half and that without the 12  extra set piece goals they've scored compared to us they'd lkely be in the bottom 3 themselves.

TLDR

Our best chance of victory imo lies in defending like lions against set pieces and not giving too many away to begin with, so keep Sunjic off the pitch for starters,  then just letting our technical players do their thang.  Easy this manager lark.

[dutchblue]

Good analysis.
Cardiff are extremely inconsistent and have really nothing to play for.
Ordinarily Blues have what it takes to win this.
However, as you hint at, this will be more a test of character than ability. Who will turn up tonight, the men or the boys?
And how motivated will the Bluebirds be?
I am going for an not-very-pretty 1-0. But I feel like a 1-1 is quite likely as well. We need the 3 points, though. Desperately.

[jaystan]

Really want us to win and will have everything crossed later

[bringbackstanding]

Blues not won a single corner during the past 2 games, strange indeed.

[supacragg]

Cardiff are not that far ahead of us in terms of league stats. The main difference is they have turned a few draws into wins probably down to set piece success as Bubba has helpfully pointed out. If we come out with passion and get an early goal I can see them withering, then I can see 2 or 3 more going in. First 1/2 hour could decide this game.

[bubba]

Apr 10, 2024 17:33:27 GMT supacragg said:

Cardiff are not that far ahead of us in terms of league stats. The main difference is they have turned a few draws into wins probably down to set piece success as Bubba has helpfully pointed out. If we come out with passion and get an early goal I can see them withering, then I can see 2 or 3 more going in. First 1/2 hour will decide this game.

I'll be a lot more nervous if they get the first goal.

I'm very conflicted about our chances right now,  on the one hand I genuinely believe this squad getting relegated will be the most talented championship squad to ever drop,  on the other hand we don't have enough goalscorers in the team and even when dominating another side seem to really struggle to score goals.

Very concerned about defending set pieces tonight,  not only are Cardiff top scorers from them but as the Whoscored website notes,  it's a particular weakness of ours this season defending them.

[bluenoserob]

My glass is half empty.
Please make it full you Blueboys.

[gammo]

Same team except Dembele drops out to be replaced by Dozzell

[tonyhancock]

[tonyhancock]

Dodgy keeper

[tonyhancock]

[Sammy Wren]

Pretty crap tbh, defensively a nightmare.

[BluenoseB]

Honsetly looks likenwe playing for a draw. No urgencey, players nit making space from throw ins. Seem happy for Sanderson and Aiwu to pass it between themselves. Not asking for gung ho, but need more. Postive....we finaly got a corner, 2.

[choc]

It's a bit flat again

[bignumbernine]

Thought we’ve not looked too bad in first half. Hit the post and both Miyoshi and Bacuna look lively. Stansfield has been anonymous again.

Bielik is also worrying me. He doesn’t look interested.

[bubba]

commentary going on about our possession,  it's 50/50 and honestly think Cardiff have had the better chances and looked more dangerous.

Laird offering very little for me,  Stansfield anonymous aand as mentioned above the tempo needs picking up and sometimes we need to move the ball quicker,  we are still to easy to defend against.

So much of what we do isn't so much telegraphed as sent by carrier pigeon, teams just defend n nmbers  and around their box and we just struggle so much to break teams down,  not helped by having no physical presence up front,  we're so easy to keep at bay,  very frustrating.  At this point I'd honestly just try gettng numbers in the box and putting the bal in hard and low at pace and seeing what ricochets fall for us because the longer the season goes on the harder we seem to be finding it to break sides down,  to say we've been figured out is an understatement.

[tonyhancock]

I thought it was ok, but not good enough under the circumstances

[tonyhancock]

Misfiring

[Dirty White Slip-on]

There’s endeavour but no quality from wide areas into the box

[tonyhancock]

[bubba]

It's just simple football pass it forward into space where your teammate is running cross it into the box with us backpeddling and they have a man spare,  our football is just so damned laboured and completely undangerous,  they've got to look at this for remaining games,  we're just not offerng enough threat at all and not just today.

[gammo]

Balls 🙁🙁

[Sammy Wren]

Relegation written all over this lot, shit, brainless the lot. Absolute wankers.

[bubba]

fcuk me does Drameh know we're playing in blue?

[brian1875]

Face facts we are going down no fight in this useless bunch, methinks it could be a long time before we get back.

[choc]

Hogan will sort it

[tonyhancock]

Apr 10, 2024 20:30:18 GMT choc said:

Hogan will sort it