Cardiff City Dilemma: Plan A or Plan B ?!?

Cardiff City manager Dave Jones will probably know how he intends to cope with the disappointing and debilitating absence of Jay Bothroyd for Sundays clash with bitter rivals Swansea City. Bothroyd is suspended and leaves a gaping hole that City have previously failed to plug. This season, however, we do have more serious credentials to adapt. Essentially Dave Jones appears to have two possible formations available to him:


4-4-2

4-1-2-2-1


Plan A sees Andy Keogh, a striker, come in alongside Chopra as a direct replacement for Bothroyd. This move sees the back 9 kept in place, and after 5 victories on the bounce – why not? Keogh is no Bothroyd, but does offer quality in attack. We would have to adapt but he remains a potent attacking threat and could provide chances for Chopra.

Plan B sees us match the Jacks in their fluid formation with a central midfield trio that often sees them enjoy plenty of possession in the middle third. Jones would deploy Chopra as a lone striker, allowing the pace and flair of Bellamy and Burke to be released from the defensive duties and push higher up – they are sure to be key players in this derby clash. Clearly, Chopra is no target man so would be asked to chase the ball in his terrier-like fashion, whilst also playing off the shoulder of Monk / Williams looking for the space in behind. That would allow for the likes of Whittingham and A.N.Other to probe from midfield and look to set Chopra free (McPhail / Koumas ?!?)

Personally- I`m opting for plan B as our best chance of success. I`d like to see Bellamy peg Rangel back and the pace of he, Chopra and Burke would be a real asset if we can keep the ball on the floor. Without Pratley, Swansea will be missing a hugely influential player and the midfield battle becomes more even. Olofinjana provides all the presence you could want, Whitts has guile and class while Jones has the luxury of selecting the third midfielder to perform the job he thinks best.

We`ll have to want until ~12.30 on Sunday to find out.