Make no mistake, the 2-0 away defeat in the Severnside derby against Cardiff City was really disappointing but let’s not go overboard. It’s our first defeat in the league since Boxing Day and the team has been playing really well over the last dozen games but this is Championship football, if you are not on it, any side in this division can get a win.
While the FA Cup loss at home to Manchester City on Tuesday will have taken something out of the players, both physically and mentally, it’s not an excuse and not one made by Nigel Pearson either; playing in the Championship, players are used to performing Tuesday-Saturday.
Walking out at the end of the game from the Cardiff City Stadium, I heard a few fans questioning complacency from the side, but I personally don’t think that was the case. I think Sabri Lamouchi has the Bluebirds well-organised and they allowed us the ball and currently this squad is a better counter-attacking team than we are a possession-based side.
More than 3,200 fans were in the away end and the atmosphere at the start was one of anticipation and expectation, especially considering our recent good form in games in the Welsh capital.
I was surprised that Sam Bell was again preferred to Nahki Wells in that central striking role. In such a big derby game, I would have gone for the experience of Nahki and let’s not forget he is also our top goalscorer. Sam will always give you a 100 per cent but he struggled a little against the physicality of the Cardiff defenders and couldn’t hold the ball up to bring others in to play.
We had a decent start to the game and played some good football but lost Joe Williams to another hamstring injury after 24 minutes and from that point we lost our way a little and Cardiff grew into the game. The injury to Williams is a real blow, of course, personally for him but also for the team. The fact that Joe applauded the fans at the end of the game and walked from the pitch may mean that it is not too serious, but you have to feel for the lad.
The manager opted to bring on Andi Weimann for Williams and play him in the advanced midfield role with Scott dropping back into a deeper position. It was the first of a couple of substitutions and changes to the team that I think Pearson got wrong. What is the point in having Andy King on the bench, if when you lose one of your defensive midfielders he does not come on?
Instead of making a like-for-like change, you have to move another player in Alex Scott. I felt the same with the changes made in the second half; Wells for Bell was an obvious one but to bring on Harry Cornick for George Tanner made no sense.
Tanner seems to be the scapegoat a little at the moment but what it also meant was Mark Sykes dropping into that right-back role when he was having arguably one of his most effective games. Cornick is finding it difficult to make an impact and I think is more suited to that wide role.
To make matters worse we also lost Tomas Kalas to an apparent knee injury in the second half. Tomas had been excellent again and if this is a bad injury it may signal the end of his season but also potentially the end of his time at the club with his contract up in the summer and Pearson admitting that he is playing for a new contract.
The ironic thing is that both Kalas and Joe Williams had been looking as fit as they ever have any time at the club. I would still be looking to offer Kalas a contract as on his day he is our best defender and Premier League quality.
While Sykes played well on the other flank, Anis Mehmeti struggled to make the impact that he has in recent games. It does make me laugh when I see people on social media saying he is a League One player when in recent games he has had fans off their seats and arguably been man of the match.
I put it down to the fact that Cardiff defended really well against him but that should have allowed others space which we didn’t exploit.
As I say we started brightly enough but generally were a little too slow moving the ball and a little too deliberate. We needed to get in behind Cardiff but too often Tanner or Cam Pring would venture forward only to turn around and play the ball back. We also seemed to under hit a lot of our passes which also broke the play up.
In the end, Cardiff ran out comfortable winners and on the second-half display, as much as it pains me to say it, deserved the win. It was frustrating, disappointing but just one of those days.
We have an opportunity to put it right on Tuesday night with an away trip to bottom of the table Huddersfield Town who are on the back of two 4-0 defeats. This is a Neil Warnock side and so we know the way that they will play, and we have to be up for the fight.
I would bring Pring into the centre alongside Zak Vyner and play Jay Dasilva at left back. I would also use King in the middle with Matty James and recall Nahki to the starting line-up. It’s another long trip and let’s hope for a better performance and something out of the game.
Our 3 Peaps In A Podcast Bonus show ratings were: Max O’Leary 6, George Tanner 5, Zak Vyner 5, Tomas Kalas 7, Cameron Pring 5, Alex Scott 7 *MotM, Matty James 5, Joe Williams 6, Mark Sykes 7, Sam Bell 5, Andi Weimann 5 andAnis Mehmeti 5 (subs have to have come onto the field before the 60th minute). A game average of 5.67, and a season average of 6.36.
For Nigel, it was a 5. I think he got the call between Bell and Wells wrong, and I don’t understand the Cornick for Tanner change.
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