Preparing for Cardiff

[nasser95]

So Cardiff opened the season with an away draw at Birmingham, playing a 343. They just about edged it in terms of quality but it was a very close affair, wiht Cardiff hitting the woodwork on one occasion and Birmingham having 7 of their shots blocked. Cardiff's best players were Bruno Ecuele Manga, carrying on his solid form from last season to this, as well as Lex Immers and Petter whittingham. Cardiff's strengths were their chance creation relative to their possession, and their aerial prowess, however their finishing was poor and they gave away a lot of free kicks around the box. They also committed a high number of individual errors, something we took advantage of against Leeds. They like taking long shots and taking shots in general and they played a lot of long balls. They attacked slightly more down their right side but it was fairly well spread wing play. Their overall set up was very deep and tried to limit Birmingham.

For us to take advantage, we'll need to force their errors, while keeping the same defensive line to counter their long balls. if we stop them winning the aerial battles, we've won the match.

[Stanley]

if we stop them winning the aerial battles, we've won the match.

Good stats Nas but they've home advantage dont forget. First home game of the season with a big atmosphere, which will be a challenge to cope with.

[Hove Ranger]

What was their lineup Nas mate? and could you post the stats from the Brum game like you did for us vs Leeds?

[LoftusRoadLad]

I think they are gonna worry about us with the added home pressure. Can see us winning that.

[nasser95]

So you can see Manga was their best player and this was down to him winning 6 aerial duels. However, he only attempted one tackle and was beaten so that is something we could take advantage of. He managed 3 interceptions so perhaps working around him is a better option. He also took the second most touches of the ball of any Cardiff player, behind Whittingham. Putting pressure on him opens up their defence and Polter is the perfect striker to take him on. His aerial battles are impressive especially coming against Donaldson who's 186cm tall and generally a good hold up player. Polter will have an interesting battle against him but looks like he could win out with his added pace.

Their main target man was Gounongbe who had a poor game but don't let that fool you, standing at 191cm tall, we'll need to be at our best to stop him holding it up for the onrushing pair of Pilkington and Immers.

Their key attacking player however is Peter Whittingham, who we know quite a bit about. A set piece specialist, whittingham played in the middle of the park, winning 3 tackles in that position (only Immers won more) as well as playing 3 key passes that led to shots (more than anyone on the pitch). His passing in general was well above the level of everyone else on the pitch too so he'll be their main creator and Karl Henry or Cousins will have to stay tight on him to stop the chances flowing.

I'd suspect our best chance would be direct running at the defence as they weren't able to make that many tackles and keeping it on the wing before cutting in will give us a great chance of getting the points. They're likely to push up a lot with this formation. with ecuele manga staying deep in the middle, hence playing around him. Running at them gives us a chance to perhaps win free kicks around their box and with two set piece specialists likely to start (Chery and Ngbakoto), we have a good chance of taking advantage.

[Hove Ranger]

Cheers Nas. See peltier played RCB but is more of a full back, maybe this could be something we could exploit by sticking Polter on him when playing direct. If we are quick in counter attacking in the wide spaces then we could get success. Not impressed by their team, certainly beatable

[Rich]

According to their forums there could be a bigger worry for them if Jazz Richards doesn't do the ayatollah than worrying about trying to beat us..... This will hopefully play into our hands unless Richards gets it over with straight away

[qprjeff1882]

Can anybody tell me why we are playing on Sunday again. Just checked and we are not on sky so just wondering why it was moved to Sunday. Apologies if i should know why already as i may have missed why.

[LoftusRoadLad]

Can anybody tell me why we are playing on Sunday again. Just checked and we are not on sky so just wondering why it was moved to Sunday. Apologies if i should know why already as i may have missed why.

I asked that. Its cos they playing tonight Thursday

[qprjeff1882]

I asked that. Its cos they playing tonight Thursday

Ahhh yes. Sorry i hadn't realised that. I was checking all the sports channels to see if it was on tv and couldn't work out why it was moved. Silly me.

[LoftusRoadLad]

1,961 (1,475 REMAINING) LOWER TIER TICKETS PRICED: £24 Adults, £20 Senior Over 60, £15 Young Adult 16-21 and £12 Junior under 16.

[Ramsey is god]

2 games - no goals, lost to a lower league side, they will be nervous. Keep it tight early on and hopefully the tension gets to them and we can nick a goal or two.

[nasser95]

2 games - no goals, lost to a lower league side, they will be nervous. Keep it tight early on and hopefully the tension gets to them and we can nick a goal or two.

Only concern is that both of them were away. Could go one of two ways, either their fans are on their back early on and they get more nervous or they play themselves up to get the fans going.

[LoftusRoadLad]

FABIO DA SILVA IS NOW A MIDDLESBOROUGH PLAYER

' CARDIFF CITY STAR SOLD FOR £2MILLION '

Cardiff City have accepted £2million for Fabio Da Silva from Premier Club Middlesborough

[LoftusRoadLad]

lots of Cardiff fans think they are gonna lose

http://www.cardiffcityforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=175916