20/21 Matchday Thread

[Super_horns]

Fair point - in reality we shouldn’t complain too much but guess some expected much more and got complacent.

Just need to turn away draws into wins.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Dont mind complaining, it is a forum after all and traditions must be upheld and at least it means there are fans of other clubs to talk too on here!

Cardiff away for us today. Kind of similar to Birmingham in midweek in that last season we got done in both games despite to my mind in any case Cardiff not looking all that great. The home game in particular I think we got done by a Lee Tomlin shot from range and there wasn't a great deal in it overall - so another game where we can measure our progress at this level.

Probably be a few changes id assume given the schedule - a few players coming back into contention, like Potts, Bree, although in the case of Bree it feels like ive been saying that for a little while now. Thought it was interesting midweek that with Pearson moving to right back, Rea played centre half (pretty well) over Lockyer. Whenever ive seen him he looks good but there is obviously something NJs mind holding him back from becoming a regular.

Up front and out wide id assume Collins will start and with Cornick coming off in the week id hope he is good to go as he is very important to us as he is the one player we have with genuine pace and creativity - its the changes to the midfield which will be most interesting. I cannot see how Dewsbury-Hall can be rested given his performance in midweek but definitely a fair shout for Pelly and Lee to be rested for others. We have plenty of midfield options, Morrell who we seem to rate but have barely seen must be scratching his head a little bit in particular. Lee has barely done anything of note in a while now as well so wouldnt mind Clark getting another go at it.

 

[Kenneth E End]

So Cardiff v Luton Welsh today. I think Jones will rotate a few... I'd love to throw in Morrell and Lockyer just for the LOLZ considering we have more Welsh than the home side.

Cardiff look in a bit of turmoil off the pitch. We are odds against, but no team has won more away games since returning from lockdown (10 wins out of 16). A good chunk of our players are very much used to the Cardiff City Stadium of late too.

I remember this fixture vividly from last season - we were fairly second best across the park, but got a sucker punch from Isaac Vassell, who ironically has been pretty much injured ever since.

Dewsbury-Hall is the first name on the teamsheet after Tuesday - he is that good. I actually want to see him play higher up the pitch, but that said, he seemed to be everywhere against Brum anyway. He is 22 years old, so perhaps slightly older than what I thought he would be, but I think he could play for his country in the future the way his trajectory is going.

I'd go with only a couple of changes:

GK Simon Sluga
RB Matty Pearson
LB Rhys Norrington-Davies
CB Sonny Bradley
CB Tom Lockyer
DM Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu
CM Joe Morrell
CM Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall
AM Luke Berry
CF James Collins
CF Harry Cornick
Subs: James Shea, Martin Crainie, Ryan Tunnicliffe, Elliot Lee, George Moncur, Glen Rea, Jordan Clark, Kazenga LuaLua, James Bree
Not Used: Sam Nombe, Gabriel Osho
Unavailable: Dan Potts, Danny Hylton, Brendan Galloway, Eunan O'Kane

 

[BelizeHatter]

Oh Kenny i love you man. You are so Luton thru and thru..... theres a multitude of early twenties and even teen English talent thats arguably the richest and most promising ever in English history and already in the current pecking order with caps. And KDH is gonna usurp them all

 

[Atavistic]

Besides Placheta and Martin being on the opposite wings, my prediction of today's 11 was spot on, while we're down to just 6 players on the bench with no sign of Rupp (hopefully just a case of playing it safe, rather than him having not recovered from his injury). More curious is the presence of a couple of Academy players on the bench who played 45 minutes for the Under 23s yesterday (Omobamidele and Omotoye) and have only just recovered from injury. In fact, the only senior player on the bench at all is Zimmermann, which really shows how much we're stretched currently.

Hopefully some of these youngsters can grab the opportunity they're likely to be given today.

 

[CCFC_Charlie]

Besides Placheta and Martin being on the opposite wings, my prediction of today's 11 was spot on, while we're down to just 6 players on the bench with no sign of Rupp (hopefully just a case of playing it safe, rather than him having not recovered from his injury). More curious is the presence of a couple of Academy players on the bench who played 45 minutes for the Under 23s yesterday (Omobamidele and Omotoye) and have only just recovered from injury. In fact, the only senior player on the bench at all is Zimmermann, which really shows how much we're stretched currently.

Hopefully some of these youngsters can grab the opportunity they're likely to be given today.

This'll be your easiest win of the season. We've given up before kick-off with our team selection.

 

[Atavistic]

This'll be your easiest win of the season. We've given up before kick-off with our team selection.

It perhaps says a fair bit that despite all the injuries we still have a pretty strong XI to put out, but Stiepermann is inconsistent enough that I really don't know what to expect from him up front. A 1-0 with no further injuries would do me just fine, in any case.

How much of a miss is McCallum for you today? I expect we'll be forced to recall him in January however he's been doing.

 

[CCFC_Charlie]

It perhaps says a fair bit that despite all the injuries we still have a pretty strong XI to put out, but Stiepermann is inconsistent enough that I really don't know what to expect from him up front. A 1-0 with no further injuries would do me just fine, in any case.

How much of a miss is McCallum for you today? I expect we'll be forced to recall him in January however he's been doing.

He's more of a miss in that it means we're being forced to play a half-fit Dabo for the third time in a week as McCallum is our only fit player who can fill in at right back. In terms of being able to play him in his natural position it's a bit of a toss-up between him and Giles anyway as both has performed well this season. McCallum is better defensively while Giles offers more going forwards.

In terms of our team today we've opted to rest our most creative player in Hamer and our only fit goal-scorer in Walker in favour of Allen and Bakayoko who are both nowhere near Championship level. This is as well as having our back-up keeper in nets who is 28 and has played less than 40 professional games in his career.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

We’ve had a right shocker, not sure the team selection was right with Pearson right back against a side with pace out wide and midfield not really worked either with Tunnicliffe.

Defence all at sea and our final ball still very very poor, doesn’t make a great combination. Right this off as a bad day at the office and move on I reckon as can’t see us scoring twice

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

Double change 2 mins before half time kind of says it all!

 

[SF_]

Not a bad game of football that, we've played pretty well in fairness.

Having no available full backs showed for their goal, Sarr completely unchallenged and he dug out a great cross to back post. Mad he's at this level, he's been the difference as expected.

 

[Atavistic]

Think we're mostly containing Coventry well so far, but we definitely look toothless up front at the moment. Placheta has promise but his decision-making needs serious improvement to fully take advantage of the openings he's been able to create with his pace down the right.

Also a bit more open defensively than I'd like, but Coventry haven't really produced much yet. Definitely need to get a better handle on Dabo, though, as he's got Sorensen and Martin beat on that side and has far too much freedom to get crosses into the box.

Still, all going according to plan so far in terms of the scoreline. Not really sure it was a penalty, though, but can understand why the ref gave it from the angle he had.

 

[CCFC_Charlie]

Not a bad first 45 from us, Dabo is absolutely roasting Norwich's left hand side single-handedly.

As expecting we're offering very little in the box though.

 

[SF_]

Jordan Storey is fucking abysmal, what sort of challenge is that.

Penalty converted. 2-0. Game over.

 

[Atavistic]

Here's the point in the game where things get interesting. Coventry able to bring Hamer and Walker on to try and change things up, whereas our options to change things are limited in terms of being able to make meaningful changes.

Momentum seems to firmly be shifting in Coventry's favour, so need to try and manage this and regain control. Maybe bring Placheta off as his poor decision-making is regularly giving Coventry the impetus to counter-attack. Expecting to see Zimmermann brought on towards the end, but hopefully not until the last ten minutes and only really if the scoreline stays as it currently is.

 

[SF_]

Tonked, as expected

 

[BelizeHatter]

Tonked. Slightly unexpected

 

[BelizeHatter]

Weve gone completely toothless. Not creating a thing

 

[Atavistic]

And there's the equaliser for Coventry. Nothing less than they deserve after absolutely dominating this second half. Absolutely toothless from us unsurprisingly, with no strikers available. No matter how young the bench is, Farke had to use the substitutes to put some energy into this, as Coventry having those substitutes has ultimately made the difference.

Worse yet, looks like Aarons is now injured as well and that makes it feel like a defeat in all honesty. No recognised strikers or full backs for midweek now. In fact, barely a full XI available now at all. Put your money on three points for Luton in midweek based on this today.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

4-0. Just not defended set pieces well all day and got done on a counter for the other. For me shape and team wasn’t right for a Cardiff side who have pace out wide and despite having 3 primarily centre backs playing with Pearson shifted to right back, if we aren’t going g to dominate set pieces then there’s little point in it. As is well known im no Tunnicliffe fan either so don’t think that was a smart move at all and the damage was all done early really. Did his usual Tunnicliffe “point and shout as his man rushes by him” move for the goal and somehow stayed on over Berry at half time. Crap player, Morrell must wonder what he’s done to be behind him in the pecking order.

Had quite a lot of the ball but done nothing with it. Shows how bad Birmingham were that we created so much against them, perhaps rather than that game representing an attacking improvement it was more of an anomaly as we’ve been poor in the final third again today. All too common occurrence.

 

[Super_horns]

Jordan Storey is fucking abysmal, what sort of challenge is that.

Penalty converted. 2-0. Game over.

Tbf you were lively 1st half and could have had a penalty.

But we dominated 2nd half - attacked with pace and got people forward.

 

[CCFC_Charlie]

Great result for us today! We were probably rather fortunate to be playing Norwich with their current injuries, although say that we have had a fair few injuries ourselves.

 

[Kenneth E End]

What a pathetic performance. Absolute tonking and completely deserved for Cardiff.

To be fair, I couldn't really fault the selection at the start of the game considering the performance on Tuesday (Cardiff had one day less rest!) - you couldn't really drop anyone after that. If anything Tunnicliffe coming in should've shored up the defence.

First two goals were pathetic defending; the second from Tunnicliffe refusing to get anywhere near Ojo to stop his cross. The goals in the second half were missed headers by two players who should be good in the air.

We have to play Collins in a two up front - we are totally toothless. When is the penny going to drop? The second half was worse than the first.

The defending was diabolical. Set pieces have been our forte at both ends of the pitch over the last few years, but it was shocking. Just made it easy for Moore who made mincemeat of our players, pretty much sat in second gear.

How can you have 61% possession but have no shots on target? Proves the tactics were totally inept.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

What a pathetic performance. Absolute tonking and completely deserved for Cardiff.

To be fair, I couldn't really fault the selection at the start of the game considering the performance on Tuesday (Cardiff had one day less rest!) - you couldn't really drop anyone after that. If anything Tunnicliffe coming in should've shored up the defence.

First two goals were pathetic defending; the second from Tunnicliffe refusing to get anywhere near Ojo to stop his cross. The goals in the second half were missed headers by two players who should be good in the air.

We have to play Collins in a two up front - we are totally toothless. When is the penny going to drop? The second half was worse than the first.

The defending was diabolical. Set pieces have been our forte at both ends of the pitch over the last few years, but it was shocking. Just made it easy for Moore who made mincemeat of our players, pretty much sat in second gear.

How can you have 61% possession but have no shots on target? Proves the tactics were totally inept.

Largely agree with this with the exception that Tunnicliffe should shore us up defensively. He’s a horrendous defender, constantly loses his man, don’t like him as a DM for that reason. I guess he’s an extra body back there but in reality that’s about it, he should be a rotational option for Pelly at best, as he is reasonable at driving forward with the ball but other than that...well my views have been well documented going back to last season on him.

I agree that we need a 2 up front to get the best of Collins, but I guess we are wary of losing the man in midfield as it’s such an important area in the championship and where a lot of games are won and lost. For me we desperately need Bree and RND getting game time together as fullbacks but it’s not happened yet. Think that could really help the midfield out in terms of creativity.

 

[chicowintry]

And there's the equaliser for Coventry. Nothing less than they deserve after absolutely dominating this second half. Absolutely toothless from us unsurprisingly, with no strikers available. No matter how young the bench is, Farke had to use the substitutes to put some energy into this, as Coventry having those substitutes has ultimately made the difference.

Worse yet, looks like Aarons is now injured as well and that makes it feel like a defeat in all honesty. No recognised strikers or full backs for midweek now. In fact, barely a full XI available now at all. Put your money on three points for Luton in midweek based on this today.

It's getting ridiculous.

GK Tim Krul
GK Michael McGovern
GK Aston Oxborough
RB Max Aarons
RB Sam Byram
RB Bali Mumba
LB Xavi Quintilla
CB Grant Hanley
CB Christoph Zimmermann
CB Ben Gibson
CDM Oliver Skipp
CDM Alexander Tettey
CM Lukas Rupp
CM Mario Vrancic
CM Jacob Sorensen
CM Kenny McLean
RW Emi Buendia (I assume will be back, just a one game suspension yeah?)
LW Todd Cantwell
LW Przemyslaw Placheta
LW Josh Martin
LW Onel Hernandez
CAM Marco Stiepermann
CAM Kieran Dowell
FW Jordan Hugill
FW Teemu Pukki
FW Adam Idah

Funny though how the only position we've not had injuries in yet is CB considering I don't think we played one game last season with more than 1 CB fit.

 

[Atavistic]

It's getting ridiculous.

GK Tim Krul
GK Michael McGovern
GK Aston Oxborough
RB Max Aarons
RB Sam Byram
RB Bali Mumba
LB Xavi Quintilla
CB Grant Hanley
CB Christoph Zimmermann
CB Ben Gibson
CDM Oliver Skipp
CDM Alexander Tettey
CM Lukas Rupp
CM Mario Vrancic
CM Jacob Sorensen
CM Kenny McLean
RW Emi Buendia (I assume will be back, just a one game suspension yeah?)
LW Todd Cantwell
LW Przemyslaw Placheta
LW Josh Martin
LW Onel Hernandez
CAM Marco Stiepermann
CAM Kieran Dowell
FW Jordan Hugill
FW Teemu Pukki
FW Adam Idah

Funny though how the only position we've not had injuries in yet is CB considering I don't think we played one game last season with more than 1 CB fit.

Yeah, Buendia will be back for Luton which is a big positive, as we lose so much creativity without him in the side. There is a chance Pukki and Rupp could be back as well, but I'd imagine that it'll be more realistic to expect them to return next weekend. Aarons' injury is apparently shin rather than ankle and not a muscle injury, so hopefully he'll only miss a couple of games at most. Only other potential thing to flag up is that Sorensen is not far off getting a one-match suspension with all his yellows, so he'll need to be careful until we get some more bodies back in.

For Wednesday, I'm hoping Farke gives one of the young strikers the nod up front rather than Stiepermann, as he proved today that he offers nothing in the striker role (though it does concern me that Farke thought it was better to stick with a knackered Stiepermann for the final 10 than bringing on either Omotoye or Dickson-Peters). Slot him back into the number 10 role with Buendia and Martin/Placheta on the wings and sit Vrancic deep as part of a midfield three, as that's where he can truly cause some damage (he's largely ineffective further forward than that).

Besides the possibility of further injuries, my big concern for Luton is a big reaction from them after their big defeat today. Well, that and the fact they've already beaten us once this season.

 

[chicowintry]

Besides the possibility of further injuries, my big concern for Luton is a big reaction from them after their big defeat today. Well, that and the fact they've already beaten us once this season.

I like how the first time we played them this season, we had 13/32 players available because of injuries (5), internationals (13) and suspensions (1). This time, we have 12/26 - injuries (14). At this rate , will we even be able to name a team in the reverse fixture?

 

[thewwfc]

Derby looked way better than us first half and deserved their lead. But they could not deal with Akinfenwa when he came on, and we got a scrambled equaliser, but hey, relegation beggars can’t be choosers.

It does seem that we literally cannot function without a target man up front, the ball just comes straight back from goal kicks otherwise. Uche Ikpeazu was signed as the long term Akinfenwa replacement, but so far appears to have Andy Carroll’s resilience to injury.

Don’t think Rooney did himself any favours on getting the job full time.

 

[Atavistic]

Well, at least some good news ahead of tomorrow night's difficult-looking trip to Luton:

Aarons is fine and should be able to start
Pukki will be back for the weekend
McLean and Dowell should both manage to be back before Christmas
Krul, Rupp and Cantwell should all be back in around two weeks

All assuming no further setbacks of course, but that's a few crumbs of positive news to take forwards. Though, all it means for tomorrow is that the matchday squad will be more or less the same as against Coventry at the weekend, except Buendia will be returning from his suspension.

 

[That Fat Centre Half]

For our part, we have recalled our keeper Harry Isted from Wealdstone which indicates a shoulder injury Sluga picked up at Cardiff may keep him out for a while.

Would be a big blow, had a very dodgy start to his career here but has been excellent since just before the first lockdown and really settled down now. Shea who would likely come in is solid enough but Sluga is the clear number 1.