In truth, it was a brave and battling performance from Cardiff City and Solsjaer and the players can hold their heads up high! Its impossible to win every game in the Premier League and the one point was not going to save Cardiff anyway. Instead, with the recent performances, the team can expect to start picking up shock victories, even in away games. For the next 8 games, Solksjaer has nothing to lose now but to: 1. continue to pick battlers and players who are willing to put their bodies on the line and play each game as if it was a cup game, for shock results abound in cup games, even against the top 6, 2. tweak his game plan slightly by playing an intense high pressing game when the opponent has the ball high up in their own area of the field and park the bus when the ball passes Cardiffs half way line; then counter attack at speed when Cardiff has the ball, 3. alleviate the relegation pressure that his team feels by telling them to play with gay abandon by pretending that they are already relegated and show the opponents that they are much better than the opponents think. Many relegated teams start producing shock results as they begin playing with gay abandon, 4. discourage his team players from talking up their own game, even fighting talk, but instead to respond in interviews that theyd let their football do the talking; it is trite sports psychology that when you talk up your own game, your form will dip for the actual game. That has happened to every Cardiff player who has talked up their game. 5. talk up the opponents game for when you do that, instead of motivating them, you are raising their own expectations and increasing their own pressure to meet the expectations. If you talk up, say, Suarezs, Sturridges and Sterlings game, just watch them struggle when it comes to the actual game. It is well established in sports psychology that only the rarest of rare breed of exceptional athletes such as Tiger Woods in his prime were immune from this. Today, even Tiger Woods slumps when the media talks up his game! Ive been doing that to golf opponents for decades, talking about their game in superlative terms to others, in their presence or with the opponent within earshot, before the game and then enjoy watching them meltdown when the game starts...it happens every time no matter how good they actually are! Mourinho understands this, which is why hes constantly seeking to talk up his opponents games, 6. pick Zaha and Noone to play on the right and left wing respectively and throw them on in the second half and watch them rip apart the knackered opposing defenders; Zaha in fact did that, but was denied a stonewall penalty in the Everton game when he came on. Noone was such a waste having to be taken off as he was played out of position! 7. pick Marshall, Caulker, Medel and Mutch as they are actually the spine of the team and and should be the first names on the teamsheet for every game.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 06:57:26 +0000
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