Cardiff City In 'Different Formation' Shock

Cardiff City fans are could be in for a shock under new manager Malky Mackay after he spoke of his plans for a number of tactical formations when the Bluebirds begin the new season in just two weeks time.

Under Dave Jones, City played with a rigid 4-4-2 system and over Jones` entire 6 year tenure, only a handful of times did he opt for alternative line-ups, occasionally with Jason Koumas behind a lone striker, and more recently when Bothroyd played in an advanced role with a midfield trio in the centre.

This is not a dig at Dave Jones, he was comfortable with his preferred formation, and brought players in to fit that style. There were of course times when the ability to change would have been useful, but on the whole 4-4-2 was used in 95% of games and served us very well indeed. On occasions, we were over-run in midfield and extra bodies may have helped, especially with the lack of physical presence provided by the likes of Whittingham and McPhail.

Malky Mackay is a much younger manager and has a fresh way of doing things. Training is very different now, and he has confirmed his intent to build his squad with a number of alternative formations available. He told WalesOnline:

"Last season, at Watford, we played 4-4-2 and then, on occasions, 4-4-1-1."

"At various times it was 4-3-3 with maybe two players sitting with one in front or one sitting with two in front."

Mackay has already indicated he is looking to employ a defensive-minded midfielder to sit in front of the back four - a position we had been lacking since the injury and retirement of Riccardo Scimeca. Aron Gunnarsson and loanee Filip Kiss are both naturally suited to that role while Peter Whittingham looks set to be given more freedom to get forward and provide the creativity and service for the strikers.

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