Cardiff City: Time To Consider Drastic Tactics !

Cardiff City moved swiftly to land former fans favourite Michael Chopra on a 2 month loan deal, paying big money in loan fee and wages for the Sunderland hotshot. However, the injuries to McCormack and Bothroyd are both improving nicely with neither as serious as first feared.


The improvement in striking options will give Dave Jones a welcome problem to ponder as he considers a formation change to accomodate more of his most dangerous players after a frustrating season where we have found it difficult to break opposition sides down.


Here are the most likely options:


1) 4-4-2 DJ does it again!

Jones has stuck to his beloved 4-4-2 since his arrival with only the mercurial Jason Koumas or Aaron Ramsey ever used outside this system. Ross McCormack could do a good job out wide for Cardiff though he may be slightly wasted. Don’t forget his impressive goal against Birmingham City from exactly this position while Chopra and Bothroyd would cause problems in a traditional front 2 partnership.



2) 4-3-3 Top heavy Bluebirds.

In this system, Bothroyd would operate as the target man with McCormack on the left and Chopra on the right. The pace and height would work well and the two fastmen could provide width when needed without losing presence in the box. This would necessitate a change in midfield but a trio of Ledley, McPhail and Rae would (I think) be well balanced and effective.



3) 3-4-1-2 Change the back to change the front!

A back three of Johnson, Purse and Gyepes would allow McNaughton to operate as a wing back with Ledley or Kennedy on the other flank. McPhail and Rae could continue in the middle with McCormack offered the freedom to roam behind the front two. He likes to drop deep to receive possession and has a good shot on him.



Of course, DJ may decide to keep one of the three on the bench but the ever-improving Eddie Johnson and Paul Parry in attack also have their merits. I feel we are too rigid in our 4-4-2 and fail to adapt as well as other sides, it would also be good to have our best players playing rather than on the bench. In any of these systems, it seems that Paul Parry or Peter Whittingham is the one to miss out though neither is a natural right winger and both could adapt to fit other roles within any of the proposed formations.


Let us know your thoughts….