Unheralded and unfussy, but Gunnar is vital to the Cardiff cause
BLUEBIRDS COLUMNIST SCOTT JOHNSON
SOMETIMES you don’t know what you’ve been missing until it finally arrives.
When Cardiff City signed Sol Bamba, they were already blessed with a wealth of quality centre-backs. Yet within the space of his first 90 minutes, he had taken ownership of the Cardiff defence and they were transformed by the force of his personality.
According to some sections of Cardiff supporters, Aron Gunnarsson was done. His best days were behind him and he was now little more than a liability. His patchy performances last season were proof of that and he would never again be what he once was.
The fact that he was thrown in at the deep end immediately after recovering from long-term injury was not a consideration and all context was ignored.
So how do you explain his performance last Saturday?
Ignoring the chance to rehash ‘The Iceman Cometh’ headlines, let’s just say that rumours of Gunnarsson’s demise were very much exaggerated.
Filling in for the suspended Joe Ralls, Gunnarsson not only slotted in seamlessly, but he brought with him a much needed sense of calm. I’m a big fan of Ralls, but he cannot do what Gunnarsson can. No-one else at the club can either.
He sat in front of the back four and just went about his business, breaking up attacks and offering protection without a fuss.
In that role, Gunnarsson is a specialist. He may no longer get up and down like he used to, but Cardiff don’t need that from him anymore. They need his expertise and discipline. Ralls, Harry Arter and Victor Camarasa offer plenty, but none of them are destroyers like Gunnarsson.
Ralls has a fight on his hands to get back in the team now because the blend of the midfield three on Saturday offered far better balance. Maybe Arter and Ralls are a bit too similar, while Camarasa is essential to add a little finesse.
At times, Ralls has looked a little overawed by the Premier League and been a bit frantic in his play, typified by the rash challenge at Wembley that has cost him his place. Gunnarsson, on the other hand, has seen it all before and that was abundantly clear for anyone watching.
Gunnarsson missed about two months before Christmas and the first three months of the new year last season. Ironically, it was Ralls that benefitted from his absence and ensured that Cardiff continued to thrive. Warnock is a confirmed Ralls fan, but he now faces a real fight to regain his place.
Like the rest of us, Warnock was also wowed by Gunnarsson’s performance against Fulham, stating he was “superb.”
Gunnarsson will be keen to make up for lost time and although Cardiff had a season to remember last term, it was not one of the Iceman’s better campaigns.
With his contract running down, it felt like Gunnarsson was keeping his options open with a World Cup on the horizon. The ‘will he/won’t he’ narrative hung over him all year and Warnock moved to clarify the situation at one stage.
“We’ve spoken numerous times with Gunnars,” he revealed. “I have been asking him now since pre-season to commit himself, but I understand Gunnars’ point of view really. He has been in the Championship for 10 years and it’s hard on your body.
“To play 46 games, plus your cup games, plus internationals all over the world, he feels he doesn’t want to play in the Championship next year.
“I can understand that and I don’t blame him. But he said ‘I would love to get us up,’ and then it’s a different ball game.”
Gunnarsson pretty much limped to the World Cup in the end, Iceland’s first time at the tournament, in what proved to be an underwhelming showing in light of their heroic run to the quarter-finals of the European Championships.
If Gunnarsson was hoping for a dream move to an exotic European league, it did not materialise, but their loss was very much Cardiff’s gain. Although he did only agree to another year, so the whole process is set to repeat again this season as his contract expires with those of Jazz Richards and Bruno Ecuele Manga.
That, however, is a concern for another day and Gunnarsson’s Cardiff fate is sure to be tied up with whether or not Premier League status is retained. The chances of that have significantly improved now that he has returned to fitness.
Next up is a daunting trip to Anfield to face a resurgent Liverpool and it will be fascinating to see how a buoyant Cardiff will fare. Once they get that out of the way, they face a run of kinder games in the lead-up to Christmas. Leicester, Brighton, Wolves and Southampton at home, plus Everton, West Ham and Watford away should go a long way towards proving whether or not they belong at the top level.
Chances are that, barring injuries and suspensions, the team that started against Fulham may well get the nod for the foreseeable future.
With Ralls injured and suspended and Arter on the verge of a ban, Gunnarsson’s return from the wilderness to prove the doubters wrong could not have been timed any better.