About that game plan…
Rooney emphasized at his pre-game press conference the value of remaining in the game. He was certain that his men could win a close match and that Cardiff wouldn’t have the talent to completely destroy Blues.
They achieved this by staying steady, making intelligent passes at a reasonable percentage, and launching one effective counterattack. “We were practicing moving from one side of the pitch to the other; Lee Buchanan had a good opportunity as a result, and Bacca scored the goal,” Rooney said.
“In the first half, we tried to play more in the opposition’s half and at times we were a little too composed. We had three excellent attacking players tonight, but I was extremely happy with how they set up and how calm Bacca was when he scored the goal.
What about their levels of concentration? Under Rooney, Blues did not fold under the first hint of difficulty for the first time. They played the entire game in Cardiff’s half, embracing the pressure. It was regulated, measured, and, ideally, forward-looking.
Dembele embraced an unwanted switch
In the past 48 hours, Rooney has embraced Siriki Dembele more than any other player. There was a moment between the two during the post-match festivities in Cardiff and at the conclusion of yesterday’s training session.
Perhaps Dembele initially needed to be persuaded of his change of heart. The former Peterborough and Bournemouth winger dislikes playing on the right and isn’t used to it.
Still, that was all in the plan. Dembele caused havoc anytime he received the ball and supplied the defence-splitting pass to Bacuna for the goal.
After the game, Rooney said, “I know he’s not the biggest fan of playing off the right.” He likes to play down the middle or off to the left, but tonight it was a part of the strategy that I thought was best to win this game. You can see how Dembs contributed to the first goal’s creation.
Balance at the back – and a word on Aiwu
The arrival of Dion Sanderson and his subsequent return to form led to a significant defense upgrade. When the skipper faced one of his previous loan teams, he performed to the heights he had before Rooney.
Marc Roberts was a seasoned, no-nonsense partner for Sanderson. With Roberts by his side, he could focus on his own game rather than that of Emile Aiwu.
To be fair, Aiwu was at his best for the Blues when he filled in as an extra right-back. In the first half, Karlan Grant faced a desperate challenge that might have prevented a goal. Aiwu joyfully pumped his fist in the air and celebrated as though he had scored a goal.
Aiwu was praised by Rooney as “fantastic.” “We played Bacuna there in our previous game, and due to the injuries to Ethan Laird and Cody Drameh, we made a slight change with Manu to strengthen our lineup. Reintroducing Ivan (Sunjic) into the midfield also benefited us from that perspective.
Jordan James, a player for Wales, performed brilliantly in Cardiff. The 19-year-old has been receiving great praise from his nation for some time, and he is currently reiterating his brilliant play at the club level.
Recently, James has shown great success playing a deep-lying playmaker role for Rooney; nevertheless, the manager changed his strategy against Cardiff. James was expected to play a little bit higher forward than the defensively inclined tandem of Ivan Sunjic and Krystian Bielik in a three-man midfield.
Though Rooney thinks James can be just as effective—if not more so—at the number eight position, where he played at Cardiff, the Blues academy graduate prefers to play deeper. This time, Rooney was correct as James contributed significantly to Bacuna’s winning goal and continued to probe dangerously.
