Cardiff fans have had a lot to complain about in recent years, but now they’re top of the league, with a good manager in place and a talented young squad, the waters are relatively calm, for the time being at least. The one thing that still generates outrage though is the international prospects of Rubin Colwill.
Currently in the form of his life, Colwill may be the standout player in League One. Gliding past opponents, he has added work rate and pressing to his game, which is testament to the coaching of Brian Barry-Murphy. The team has been built around him and with captain Callum Chambers out of the team, he is also the on-field leader.
Yet, Craig Bellamy has been largely underwhelmed to this point. Since taking charge of the national side, he has had a transformative effect and is effusive in his praise for all of his players. Bar one. Colwill is the only one that gets the stick and not the carrot. Bellamy hasn’t seen enough from him and wants more. You can tell that he bristles when asked about another Colwill omission, preferring to cover the players he has picked.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe context here is that Bellamy knows Colwill all too well. He coached him at Cardiff during the very early stages of his development. Using his contacts within the game, Bellamy once arranged a junior friendly against West Ham and a 16-year-old Colwill scored a hat-trick, drawing admiring glances, but it was made clear that he was going nowhere. The years that followed saw Colwill struggle with growing pains and a succession of niggles, but he’s fully formed now and waiting on his former mentor to throw him a bone.
Colwill’s international career has largely mirrored his club career to this point. He made his debut four years ago and a year after that he featured at the World Cup, but he’s only been in and out ever since and has yet to reach double figures in appearances. The reality is that he has also drifted in and out of fashion with Cardiff fans during this time too.
The problem has always been the weight of expectation. Colwill was the chosen one and he was supposed to be truly dominant by now. With his attributes, he should be notching up 10 goals and 10 assists every year, but he has yet to get anywhere near that. The argument used to be that he wasn’t playing enough and when he finally was, it has now become that he is not effective enough.
Embed from Getty ImagesColwill’s fitness levels have never been a concern, but his application often has. He has that languid, one-pace style that acts as a sponge for criticism, but this season he has been perpetual motion, pressing high and disrupting opponents. Why it has taken until this stage of his career to get him playing that way is another matter. He has also previously been consistently inconsistent, but that has also improved under Barry-Murphy.
The remaining attribute that needs upgrading is his decision making. Colwill sometimes has a why take two touches when you can take 10 approach to possession that slows down attacks and wastes opportunities. Less is often more and that will probably prove key to raising his stats, improving his end-product and turbo-charging Cardiff’s fortunes.
The reality is that if Colwill was the full package, not only would he be a regular in the Wales squad, he would also have left Cardiff long ago. We should admire him for what he is rather than what he isn’t and I personally would find space for him in the Welsh squad. I don’t think its as outrageous as some that he misses out though.
Embed from Getty ImagesWhile he may offer something different, he remains a relatively luxury player of sorts and that is not Bellamy’s cup of tea. The system is king and the bar is also very high. It’s a top-heavy group containing the likes of Harry Wilson, David Brooks, Dan James and Brennan Johnson. Even the players that get in ahead of Colwill that draw scorn from Cardiff supporters, like Mark Harris and Liam Cullen, are quicker and more versatile.
Colwill may only be 23, but his age puts him in a bracket with players that are already well established at this level like Neco Williams, Ethan Ampadu and Johnson. There is now an emerging group looking to make a name for themselves containing the likes of Lewis Koumas, Ronan Kpakio, Dylan Lawlor and his brother Joel.
Three years his junior, with only around half a century of senior games to his name, the reality is that Joel is far more of a prototype Bellamy player than Rubin. He is quicker, more aggressive and also has the benefit of playing a little deeper, where competition is far less intense. Both were originally omitted from the current squad, but were drafted in when withdrawals began to rack up. Rubin has a knock, so was unable to join the squad, but Joel will be hoping to feature against Canada on Tuesday to make his senior debut.
With Cardiff thriving, albeit in League One, I expect both may now become fixtures in future squads, but my expectation is that Joel may end up the favoured Colwill and feature more prominently, which is both an unexpected eventuality and a cruel twist.