Return of the Bluebirds: A Cardiff City AFC Dynasty

[djc7677]

Barclays Premier League Table
1 December 2013

Barclays Premier League Table, 1 December 2013
TEAM	GP	W	D	L	PTS
1. Manchester City	13	11	2	0	35
2. Chelsea	13	9	2	2	29
3. Arsenal	12	8	4	0	28
4. Liverpool	13	7	6	0	27
5. Manchester United	12	7	3	2	24
6. Tottenham Hotspur	12	7	2	3	23
7. Everton	13	6	3	4	21
8. Swansea City	13	6	2	5	20
9. Aston Villa	13	5	2	6	17
10. Norwich City	13	5	1	7	16
11. West Ham	13	2	7	4	13
12. Stoke City	13	4	1	8	13
13. Sunderland	13	3	4	6	13
14. Newcastle United	13	3	3	7	12
15. Fulham	13	2	6	5	12
16. Cardiff City	12	3	3	6	12
17. West Bromwich Albion	13	2	4	7	10
18. Crystal Palace	13	2	4	7	10
19. Southampton	13	3	1	9	10
20. Hull City	13	1	4	8	7

After a mixed November, in which we beat our biggest rivals but lost two matches we led in, Cardiff sit in 16th place on 12 points out of 12, a mere two points above the relegation zone. We have seven matches in December; I would like to get 10 points out of those, but we will see if that's attainable.

[Matt10]

Yikes a couple painful losses there and now 16th. Time to get those 10 points! Avoid the sack!

[djc7677]

Cardiff Fight Back for a Point Against Arsenal



Man of the Match: Wilfried Zaha


Cardiff City 3 - 3 Arsenal
Zaha 8', Whittingham 44', Campbell 76'
Cazorla 31', Arteta 45', Flamini 45'

Once again, Cardiff City managed to score an early goal to take the lead against Arsenal. Once again, they gave away the lead through terrible defensive marking. But this time, manager Thomas Shepherd's tactical shift allowed them to fight back to take a point from the unbeaten Gunners.

Wilfried Zaha continued a good run of form lately when he opened the scoring in the 8th minute on a diving header. It was yet another early lead for Cardiff, and their supporters were obviously nervous about their team holding out against Arsenal's onslaught.

The Gunners found a breakthrough in the 31st minute on yet another poor job of marking in the air, when the 5' 6" Santi Cazorla managed to outjump the 6' 3" Steven Caulker. It would prove a miserable, short afternoon for Caulker, who proved culpable on all three of Arsenal's goals.

Cardiff briefly regained the lead in the 44th minute when Peter Wittingham buried a rebound. Wojciech Szczesny made two great saves to deny first Zaha and then Kenwyn Jones, but Wittingham connected on the volley and Szczesny was too far out of the frame to parry a third shot in a row.

In a painful flashback to the Manchester United match a few days previous, Cardiff then conceded two quick goals in first half stoppage time. First Caulker left his man to try to shut down Cazorla on the edge of the box, only for Cazorla to find the now unmarked Mikel Arteta who had no trouble beating the recently hopeless David Marshall.

Almost right after, Arsenal had stolen the ball and pushed back upfield. Mathieu Flamini dribbled around the edge of the box, and Caulker chose to give him a few yards rather than close down. Flamini took the invitation and nutmegged Caulker to score Arsenal's third goal.

Manager Shepherd had apparently seen enough from his skipper as he pulled the central defender at halftime and subbed on striker Fraizer Campbell, shifting the team's shape from a 4-4-1-1 to a 4-4-2, with Jordon Mutch dropping into a holding midfield role, and enforcer Gary Medel stepping into the center of defense. It was the most drastic move we've seen yet from Shepherd, and it paid off.

Cardiff took the pitch the second half with an entirely different mentality, no longer allowing Arsenal to dictate play on their pitch. From the opening kickoff, Cardiff managed to earn four corners in succession. They maintained possession and swarmed to the ball when Arsenal managed to take it. Medel's leadership in defense also helped as Cardiff was more aggressive and did not allow a single shot on goal during the second half.

For all their positive steps, however, Cardiff could not find a goal. Szczesny was equal to their every attempt, and Kenwyn Jones continued to make a mess of clear opportunities. But Campbell was finally able to find a equalizer in the 76th minute when he connected with a Zaha cross on the volley and rippled the Arsenal net to earn the point.

"It was a good result," Shepherd said after the match, "and I think we earned the result fairly. But we could have had more. With better defending, we earn all three points. Not to take anything from Arsenal. They're a strong team, undefeated. So we're happy with the result, but it should have been better."

When asked about the decision to bench Caulker, and whether he would feature in the upcoming match against Stoke, Shepherd said, "Steven's a young guy. He made some mistakes out there, but he's a professional. He'll be fine."

Cardiff travel to Stoke after one day of rest in a brutal week. We will wait to see what changes Shepherd makes to his squad.

Dec 1, 2013 - Cardiff City vs Arsenal
TEAM	1	2	SCORE
Cardiff City (3-4-6)	2	1	3
Arsenal (8-5-0)	3	0	3

Team Stats Comparison
Cardiff City		Arsenal
3	Goals	3
21	Shots	8
14	Shots on Target	6
50%	Possession	50%
2	Fouls	1
1	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
1	Injuries	0
66%	Shot Accuracy	75%
81%	Passing Percentage	93%

[AdamJones113]

Just picked this up, looking superb so far! Similar to my "Dynasty" with Sunderland (check it out ), on the edge of relegation.

I'm not a big EPL watcher, but you seem to have consistently high scores. Is that normal or due to your style of play?

[djc7677]

Quote: Originally Posted by AdamJones113

Just picked this up, looking superb so far! Similar to my "Dynasty" with Sunderland (check it out ), on the edge of relegation. I'm not a big EPL watcher, but you seem to have consistently high scores. Is that normal or due to your style of play?

Thanks for checking it out! I picked Cardiff in part because I wanted to see if I could keep them up, but wanted it to be a challenge. I think we'll beat the drop, but it should be close all season.

Yeah, I guess my scores have been a little abnormally high. Part of that is probably just down to my style of play. I take a LOT of shots, and I can't defend very well as I'm finding out. The 15 minute halves offer a lot of opportunities for scoring. I'm working on slowing down my style a bit, and focusing on getting better at defending consistently, so we'll see if that changes any.

[djc7677]

Bluebirds (Finally) Get a Win



Man of the Match: Steven Caulker


Stoke City 1 - 2 Cardiff City
Whelan 89'
Caulker 2', Bellamy 86'

Cardiff City have made something of a habit lately of scoring early and then squandering the lead. At Stoke City, they scored their quickest goal yet and managed to dictate the match to earn a crucial three points.

After manager Thomas Shepherd's decision to bench skipper Steven Caulker at halftime of the Arsenal match, many wondered who would start along the back for the Bluebirds at Stoke two days later. To the surprise of many, Caulker was back in the starting IX and wearing the armband, while the rest of the backline was entirely different. Shepherd decided to partner Caulker with Ben Turner in place of Joleon Lescott, Callum Chambers out on the right, and Fabio on the left. Most surprising of all, perhaps, was to start teenager Ruben Blanco in goal, though perhaps this shouldn't come as a surprise when we consider the terrible run of form David Marshall has had lately.

While Shepherd's tinkering raised a few eyebrows, it seems to have raised the team's spirits as well, and the defense played a crucial part of the team's victory.

Caulker added an exclamation point to his start when he scored in the second minute on a corner kick from Wilfried Zaha, who had won the corner off the opening kick by making a nuisance of himself along the touch line.

From there Cardiff played a predominantly slow, deliberate style of possession football, creating the occasional chance while leaving themselves covered at the back. Though Stoke managed a few shots, Ruben Blanco proved equal to them, parrying them with strong hands and remarkable agility.

Stoke turned on the pressure late in the second half, but Blanco and his defenders held them off, and were able to spring substitute Craig Bellamy on the counter attack to grab the decisive goal in the 86th minute.

A few minutes later, Cardiff made their only defensive mistake of the match. Glen Whelan got behind Turner to take a header on goal, but Blanco was able to save. However, Fabio was not quick enough on the rebound and Whelan outjumped him to score a conciliation goal for the home side.

Shepherd was full of praise for his defenders after the match, and reserved special praise for Ruben Blanco. "His first BPL appearance," Shepherd said, "and he should have had a clean sheet. If Fabio knew how to jump and clear the ball at the same time, we would have had a clean sheet. I'd say that's a pretty good debut."

Shepherd may have a tough decision when Cardiff travel to London to face Crystal Palace at the weekend: Stick with the hot hand of Ruben Blanco, or the veteran leadership of Marshall? Though with the way today's match went, it may not be a tough decision at all.

Dec 3, 2013 - Stoke City vs Cardiff City
TEAM	1	2	SCORE
Stoke City (4-1-9)	0	1	1
Cardiff City (4-4-6)	1	1	2

Team Stats Comparison
Stoke City		Cardiff City
1	Goals	2
8	Shots	8
4	Shots on Target	4
51%	Possession	49%
1	Fouls	1
0	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	0
0	Injuries	0
50%	Shot Accuracy	50%
88%	Passing Percentage	79%

[djc7677]

I've received international job offers from both Ireland and Scotland. Either of these could be fun, and not a small challenge. Plus, I have both Irish and Scottish in my family lineage. Not sure which to take, if either.

So what do you think? Ireland? Scotland? Wait for something better? Or don't bother with international management at all and focus on keeping Cardiff afloat?

[AdamJones113]

Go Scotland. Show the English that the Scots are good enough to be independent.