There was a moment in the game against Burton Albion last night, a rare moment, when Cardiff broke the lines. Callum Robinson, who was not long on the pitch, dropped deep to receive possession and fired a straight ball through the heart of the opposition defence. Yousef Salech was inches from getting on the end of it and if he had, he likely would have opened the scoring.
I would argue that it was a pass that only Robinson could make and against teams dedicated to playing in a low block, so most of the teams they will encounter at this level, it’s the difference between winning and drawing, or somehow losing, as Cardiff succumbed to a second consecutive home defeat. Robinson is Cardiff’s most important player, but far too often, he has a watching brief from the sidelines.
This has not hurt Cardiff, who have made an impressive start to the new campaign, but as teams adjust to their new way of playing and counter it, Robinson will only become more important. It’s a problem that won’t go away and finding a way to accommodate Robinson, Salech and ideally Rubin Colwill feels like a conundrum in need of a designated think tank.
Embed from Getty ImagesFashioning a cohesive whole should always be the goal, but managing to do so with the inclusion of all your key players is the ideal. In games like the Burton encounter, with so little defending required, it feels like attacking concessions could have been made. At one point in the first half, Cardiff took a short goal kick and gently dribbled the ball to the half-way before they encountered a Burton player.
Opening up a low block is not easy, but the trick is to move the ball quickly in order to open up space, but Cardiff were far too ponderous and predictable in their attacks. They miss Alex Robertson, they missed Robinson and despite the claims of some in opposition to Craig Bellamy not selecting Rubin Colwill, he remains hot or cold, with this not being one of his more prosperous performances.
It was a frustrating night all told and the substitutions largely added to their difficulties, as midfielders were sacrificed for more attackers, but creativity suffered without passers on the pitch. It highlighted how tricky the balancing act is, as Burton scored from their only clear-cut chance and pocketed the three points.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe reason why Robinson has been so invaluable, and presumably why he was rewarded with a new deal at the tail end of last season, is because he is not just the main source of goals, but often also leads the way in chances created too. In his first season, he quickly notched up seven goals and six assists in all competitions, before being sidelined for most of the second half of the campaign. Last year he scored 12 and only played 24 league games, but therein lies the problem.
Robinson has rarely been able to play two games a week and now he’s in his thirties, that is likely to remain an enduring problem. It is a situation that will always have to be managed, but surely when he’s fit and able, he should be out there. He’s too influential, consistent and effective to sit games out. Even if it means leaving Salech out, so be it. There will be plenty of games for him to fill in anyway.
At this level, it feels perverted to have players of this quality on the bench, but if they can’t all be utilised together, a hierarchy needs to be formed, with Robinson at its peak. He’s still the only one capable of truly knitting together the midfield and attack, so it’s surely time to liberate him.