After a pair of identikit 2-0 defeats, Cardiff have now recorded a return of 17 points in 17 games, failing to find the net in 10 of the last 18. It’s not pretty and neither are recent performances.
Suffice to say, it’s a chore at the moment and Erol Bulut’s comments after the game didn’t exactly inspire confidence that marked improvement is expected. “We’ve made it this far with everybody, including the fans,” he stated, “so for the last 15 games, we have to go through them, even if they are hard.”
Football as an endurance test is something we’ve all become accustomed to in recent years, but hoped we had seen the back of. Here we are again though and the signs do not look particularly good.
Embed from Getty ImagesIf you take the West Brom game as an example, the hosts are an upwardly mobile, well-drilled side. They have clear patterns of play, an aggressive press and a decent chance of making the play-offs as a result. Cardiff have none of that. In fact, at one point late in the game, Perry Ng became so disillusioned with the time and space afforded to West Brom’s attackers on his largely vacant flank, despite his best efforts, that he ended up kind of rooted to the spot by the sheer weight of his disillusionment, leaving his opposite numbers free to mount yet another attack.
You would think that such rotten form would force you to fall back on the basics. Round pegs in round holes, a good shape and a simple plan, but Cardiff were instead playing free-form jazz. They tried on several different hats over the course of 90 minutes and none of them fit. I had no idea what they were playing at, but they looked like they didn’t either.
I know fluid football is all the rage and some of the more cutting-edge Premier League sides, like Brighton and Manchester City, play in a way that is designed to confound their opponents, but there is a difference between shapeless and clueless. When Cardiff mix it up, it just feels like a mass of players making it up on the spot.
Embed from Getty ImagesI don’t understand why Cardiff are now experimenting with three centre backs a couple of weeks after losing Jonathan Panzo, a rarely used left-sided centre back built to thrive in such a shape. Jamilu Collins really struggled in that role and flirted with a red card all night. I don’t understand why Cardiff now have Aaron Ramsey, Callum Robinson, David Turnbull and Rubin Colwill all competing for the same spot. I don’t understand why their best striker remains on the left flank, or why there is a revolving door policy for goalkeepers. It just feels like Cardiff are their own toughest opponent at times.
The problem they now have is that people are losing patience and losing interest. I have never seen the Cardiff City Stadium is empty as it was when the final whistle blew on Saturday, and I can’t say I blame those that left early. That was despite the very eagerly anticipated return of Ramsey.
Cardiff did well to bring in six players during such a difficult transfer window, but none of the arrivals look set to move the needle in any significant way. Cardiff needed star dust, but why would Kieffer Moore or David Brooks opt for Cardiff over Ipswich or Southampton just now?
Embed from Getty ImagesCardiff are now 14th and it feels like that’s where they’ve sat for quite some time now. They’re still somehow closer to the top six than the bottom three, but the ground beneath them is starting to give way and if they’re not careful, they’ll end up sliding back towards familiar, dangerous territory.
Plenty have been championing Bulut’s cause for a new contract, but the last three months will have done little for his long-term prospects at the club. Armed with six new players and the returning Ramsey, he has plenty of variables to perm from and his goal now is simply to return to the fine form from early in his tenure because at the moment, they don’t look like they know what we’re doing.