Last night was always going to be the greater measure of Cardiff’s current standing in League One and where expectations should be pitched for the remainder of the season. Saturday was a comfortable introduction in front of a reinvigorated crowd, whereas at Port Vale, it was Cardiff’s turn to play the Peterborough role. Ultimately, this was a game between two teams that were three divisions apart last year, but you would never have guessed it, which is very much a cause for concern.
As encouraging as Saturday was, last night was equally as troubling.
There was a leopard being unable to change their spots aspect to the performance, as all the failings that dogged Cardiff last season came flooding back. Once more, they were facing a quicker side, playing at a higher tempo. Whether playing in the second or third tier, you can rely on the fact that Cardiff will be the slower of the two sides. They also still struggle to withstand any pressure at all, as Vale peppered the Cardiff goal and wasted chance after chance.
League One is alien to me and it is not a division I have followed since Cardiff last graced it, but I’m still learning what you can or can’t get away with at this level. The big step up when you reach the Premier League is that you find every mistake is punished and you have to be near perfect to get anything out of a game. That is not necessarily the case in the Championship, but Cardiff’s performance last night would have seen them comfortably beaten and I guess that’s why they’re no longer playing at that level.
Embed from Getty ImagesMaybe in League One, Cardiff are strong enough to play poorly and still accrue points, or maybe last night served as a final warning that if they don’t buck up their ideas, this will remain their new level for the foreseeable future.
The greatest concern last night was the lack of quality on show. When Cardiff managed to work their way up the pitch, bad decisions were made, passes were misplaced and crosses were overhit time and time again. You could see the confidence draining from them and as unjust as it would have been, they remained a single moment of quality away from winning right until the very end, but it was ultimately beyond them.
At the weekend, Cardiff looked after the ball, pressed high and penned Peterborough back in their own half. That is easier to do at home than away, but it was still alarming to see all those qualities so quickly vanish. It felt like they went from having a detailed blueprint to improvising and they collectively froze.
Embed from Getty ImagesOne of Brian Barry-Murphy’s greatest challenges will be turning a team that has been a serial losers in recent years into a team expected to win every week and that is not just a tactical challenge, but also a psychological task. It is clearly a fragile group, which is why I was surprised to see Joe Ralls depart and experience not targeted. This is a squad that is a bit too nice and lacking a few bastards. The squad is stacked with plenty of strength in depth, but needs freshening up with players unburdened by the past and the sheer weight of expectation.
As Barry-Murphy is keen to stress, its still very early days and they’re learning on the job. It feels like the way he wants to play is broadly similar to the way Craig Bellamy has the Welsh national team set up. The problem he has encountered, with a higher calibre of player, is opening up sides in the final third because if you pin teams back, you have to move the ball quickly to open up the low block. League One teams will see Cardiff as a big fish, so will likely sit back and look to absorb pressure and Cardiff’s task will be to prise them open. Barry-Murphy can drill patterns of play in training, but Cardiff have to learn to be patient and take far greater care of the ball. It is a cultural sea change that will need to be understood, embraced and implemented.
It feels like everyone got a bit carried away on Saturday and quickly slapped down, but as is often the case, the truth is somewhere in between. Cardiff are probably exactly where you would expect them to be at this stage in the project. They have shown they can play the way Barry-Murphy wants them to, but remain vulnerable a low in confidence. At their best, they can make a real impression at this level, but at their worst, they’re no better than any other side. Winning breeds confidence and banishes insecurities, but can they win enough to break the cycle?