Cardiff City head to Everton on Saturday looking to turn on the style following their win over Brighton.

Neil Warnock — and many Bluebirds before him, to be honest — have been known for route one fooball.

But times are changing. Callum Paterson's goal against Brighton was evidence of that.

A flowing 16-pass move from Warnock's Cardiff? Surely not?

Yes. This was a goal for the ages, and Match of the Day viewers up and down the land saw it for themselves.

In a season that has been littered with superlative team goals, the Bluebirds produced a contender to rival the brilliant efforts of Aaron Ramsey for Arsenal a fortnight earlier.

Yet Warnock was at pains to indicate it was not a one-off. Cardiff's footballing style has been slowly evolving throughout this Premier League season, thanks to tactical changes, new individuals and more sophisticated instructions.

What the pundits said about Cardiff's 16-pass goal as it drew Arsenal and Barcelona comparisons

So just how far has Cardiff's football progressed from last season in the Championship and can it keep the Bluebirds in the top flight?

From route one to that 16-pass goal

For years Cardiff have been labelled a route one team, pre-Warnock and since his appointment. Paterson's Brighton goal was more a thing of beauty and, with due respect, not exactly what we've come to expect from Warnock's Bluebirds.

The stark differences to last season's approach begin with the distribution from Neil Etheridge. Instead of just lumping the ball upfield, he rolls it out to the feet of right-back Bruno Manga.

Sol Bamba and Gunnarsson are involved as Cardiff pass the ball around at the back and wait patiently for an opening. Bamba is always eager to play out, but in the Championship was discouraged from doing so by Warnock who said he didn't want the Ivorian to play like "Beckenbauer".

(Image: Cardiff City FC Bluebirds Player, YouTube)

Cardiff can still be direct. Warnock primarily wants fast, attacking and direct wing play. But Josh Murphy has more to his game than just hard running, as he shows when picking up the ball from Manga on the right against Brighton.

There's no way he can dance beyond the three Seagulls' defenders he's faced with, so finds Joe Ralls in a pocket of space. That pocket is key — it shows Cardiff are playing between the lines.

Ralls keeps the tempo ticking, working it wide to Bamba, to Greg Cunningham, to Kadeem Harris, who darts inside and feeds Ralls.

(Image: Cardiff City FC Bluebirds Player, YouTube) (Image: Cardiff City FC Bluebirds Player, YouTube) (Image: Cardiff City FC Bluebirds Player, YouTube)

His pass finds Victor Camarasa, on to Harris, then Paterson scores following a deflection off Gaetan Bong, the only Brighton player to touch the ball in this 16-pass move.

(Image: Cardiff City FC Bluebirds Player, YouTube)

The shift away from set pieces

Cardiff are displaying a new-found eagerness to keep the ball on the floor and play more patiently.

Set-pieces are no more king.

Last season, the Bluebirds scored 21 goals from set pieces (excluding penalties). No team in the Championship managed more.

But those dead ball situations have only yielded two goals for the Bluebirds from 12 Premier League games this term.

As a percentage, it means they're scoring 18 per cent of their goals from set pieces, compared to 36 per cent last season.

The possession stats across the two seasons are illuminating too.

Despite being promotion into a significantly better division, Cardiff are passing the ball more.

They played an average of 278.8 passes per match in the Championship last term, the fewest of all 24 teams. Now they're playing 281 passes per match and averaging a greater share of possession.

"You've even got teams in the Championship now who are becoming possession-based, like Fulham and Wolves last season, but the Premier League already is that way and has been for a while," said former Cardiff striker Nathan Blake on the team's evolution.

"If you lose the ball, you're up against a side who can keep possession for five minutes and run the legs off you. Teams are better with the ball, they're more clever, everything is heightened. Attention to detail too, these teams do their homework and leave no stone unturned.

"So Cardiff have to start getting more possession because they're up against top international defenders who can get the ball, keep it and play. Cardiff's game had to have transition and fans are going to have to go with it — because that goal against Brighton is the result."

Of course Cardiff did keep the ball on the deck last season, as the video below from the 3-1 home win over Leeds shows.

It was a flowing passing move started by Junior Hoilett playing a one-two and finished off by Kenneth Zohore from close range.

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However they were also heavily reliant on set pieces.

Take Zohore's goal at Brentford for example.

It comes from a Manga free-kick launched towards a group of players, nodded on twice before Zohore scrambles it home. Four touches from the halfway line and it's in the back of the net.

(Image: Cardiff City FC Bluebirds Player, YouTube) (Image: Cardiff City FC Bluebirds Player, YouTube)

Or take the first goal from another crucial away win last season, against Nottingham Forest.

It was from similar a diagonal free kick, hit by Ralls, headed once by Morrison and then into the net by Hoilett.

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Would those goals have been scored this season?

Perhaps not. Not the way this Cardiff team are now playing, not to mention the way Premier League sides can defend from corners and free-kicks.

Victor's passing range taking Cardiff to new levels

A tactical analysis of Cardiff's Premier League season so far cannot be complete without a special mention for one player.

Victor Camarasa is taking the Bluebirds to new levels.

We've already highlighted his smart touches in Paterson's goal against Brighton.

And even when Cardiff had their backs to the wall in the Fulham game, Camarasa was still creating.

What's noticeable here is that the Spaniard possesses the energy levels to race up the pitch, in the 87th minute, forced Tim Ream into a mistake and carry the ball forward.

In fact, Cardiff have lots of bodies forward, all desperate to score the next goal which will kill off the game.

(Image: Cardiff City FC Bluebirds Player, YouTube)

It gets a little messy, with Camarasa and Loic Damour both seeing shots blocked, but when it breaks back to the on-loan Real Betis man he has the vision to pick out a superb cross which is prodded home by Harris.

(Image: Cardiff City FC Bluebirds Player, YouTube)

Of course, the evolution of Cardiff's football this season doesn't just come down to one player — although there's no doubt Camarasa, Murphy and Harry Arter have all been integral since arriving at the club.

In part it comes down to necessity. They have been forced to play more progressive and dynamic football.

But it also comes down to that burning desire from the Bluebirds to do themselves justice in the Premier League. They have been faced with a simple ultimatum: improve or be relegated.

We always knew they could play.

Whether it will be enough to stay in the top flight remains to be seen. But they've more of a chance of doing that by evolving their game like this, than by sticking to route one.

The next part of the evolution needed

It would be foolish to suggest Cardiff are a complete side.

They still have steps to take to become an established Premier League force, especially in terms of playing style.

In Joe Bennett they have a full-back capable of marauding forward and offering an option on the overlap, but we've not seen it very often this season or indeed last.

Bruno Manga is a centre-back playing out wide and isn't so comfortable overlapping, hence the will from supporters for Warnock to target an attacking right-back in January.

Bennett and Manga have one assist each this season, but compare that to some of their peers (Benjamin Mendy, six assists, Hector Bellerin five, Jose Holebas, four) and it's clear the full backs can add an extra dimension to Premier League attacks.

If Warnock can do that and fine-tune the football elsewhere on the pitch, Cardiff City might just prove people wrong and survive.