Cardiff 3 – 0 Barnsley

By Red Army
November 6 2020

A reality check for Barnsley as the reds suffered their first defeat under the new gaffer and came crashing back to Earth with a bang as Cardiff ran out as emphatic 3 – 0 winners.

It was a game where the reds just couldn’t get going and with some poor defending added to the mix, it was just one of those days.

 

I felt Helic was at fault for the first and in giving the penalty away for the second. He has either looked solid or been awful and made errors, no in between. I would contemplate giving him a rest and bringing Halme in to the back three for the next game.

 

Up front I felt we were bullied by the physical Cardiff defenders and this area of the pitch still worries me most, especially when Woodrow doesn’t play.

 

The manager clearly favours a 3-4-3 system but with only Woodrow actually worth picking out of all of the forward options and having an abundance of choice in central midfield, I would like to see him change it slightly and play three in central midfield and two up top – Woodrow and then just pull a name out of a hat for his partner.

 

I’d like to see us try to move some of these forward players on in January and bring in more quality if it means the squad being much smaller because of it.

 

A do though just see Cardiff as a bump in the road and I still feel that we have enough quality in this squad to stay away from a relegation battle this season.

 

Our opponents on Saturday may feel the same but they have had a difficult start to the season and hopefully their confidence is low and we can take full advantage of that.

 

Team news rumours are that Woodrow and Brittain will be fit but Williams and Palmer are still out. That being the case my team for Saturday would be:

 

GK       Walton

CB        Sollbauer

CB        Halme

CB        Andersen

RWB     Brittain

LWB     Odour  

CM       James

CM       Mowatt

CM       Styles

ST        Woodrow

ST        Toby Tyke

 

I do think the manager will stick the three forwards though and possibly rest James and move Styles in to midfield with Mowatt.

 

I can see why Odour didn’t start the other night but I think he played well when he came on and should start at left wing back.

 

It was interesting that Halme came on in midfield and Kane remained on the bench but as the game was gone I think the manager was just wanting to have a look at some players he hadn’t used yet.

 

However I think it would have been a good time for Kane to get some minutes under his belt and build some much needed match fitness. He has cost a lot of money by all accounts and looks to be way down the pecking order at the minute and I personally can’t see him making a dent on the current first choice midfield.

 

I think we will bounce back and beat Derby. I’m going 2 – 1 to the super reds. Let’s have everyone’s score predictions and thoughts on what the starting line-up should be.

 

COYR