Slow and negative: The need for speed is clear
WHEN I first heard Cardiff City wanted to bring in Erol Bulut as their new manager, I found the news to be hugely exciting.
After years of Russell Slade, Neil Harris, Mick McCarthy and Steve Morison, finally the Bluebirds were appointing a progressive young manager with pedigree who looked as if he was going places.
Bulut had done well in Turkey. You don’t get the chance to manage Fenerbahce, a giant club bossed by World Cup and European Championship winners, unless you have something meaningful about you.
What I considered to be Cardiff’s best summer transfer window – Ramsey, Goutas, Siopis, Grant, Bowler, Panzo – merely heightened the fresh enthusiasm surrounding Wales’ capital city club.
It was further underlined by excellent early-season performances, including against the better teams in the division as Cardiff played frontfoot, positive – even swashbuckling at times – football.
By the end of October Bulut’s Bluebirds sat towards the top of the table and fans loved their new manager.
With January strengthening to come, things could only get better. So we thought. Suddenly, complete and utter implosion. Cardiff have lost 11 of the subsequent 18 matches and, even more alarming has been the consistently woeful level of performances. Slow, ponderous, negative, uncreative back-foot football. From being a side playing at such a high tempo, Bulut’s Bluebirds have morphed into one who have mainly only looked capable of scoring from set-pieces.
Invariably, in the wake of the 4-1 hammering at Norwich – which so easily could have been eight or nine – fans say they have had enough. The clamour for Bulut to go has begun.
But – and there has to be a big BUT – here, a large part of me feels Bulut simply has to be a much better manager than he has shown since November and that he can still take this club upwards.
In order for that to happen, though, first Bulut needs to accept that a complete reset is required.
The negative set-up since November is letting down the many people who have supported Bulut’s appointment from day one. That includes chairman Mehmet Dalman and Bluebirds owner Vincent Tan, who wants more offence-minded football.
Cardiff undoubtedly have the personnel in their squad to be far more adventurous in outlook.
So instead of setting up so negatively, with two defensive midfielders at home, and often with 10 men sitting deep behind the ball, how about a more positive line-up and approach from the off?
How about setting free Karlan Grant, Josh Bowler and Yakou Meite, asking them to play a good 20 yards higher up the pitch so they can run at defenders one-on-one?
How about stopping this slowslow, pass the ball around at the back, into midfield, then ponderously back again to the defence or goalkeeper style, and replacing it with a much quicker tempo?
The front players have no chance at the moment because by the time the ball reaches them, opposition defences have been allowed to reset. Good players are being made to look ordinary by tracking back defensively too much and not getting a speedy service.
The one shining light amid the dire recent displays has been the reemergence of Rubin Colwill (circled, right), an enormous young talent who many feel the team should be built around. He was running the show in the 1-0 win at Watford before Bulut chose to substitute him. Cardiff immediately fell apart and were fortunate to hold on to their hard-earned lead.
Inexplicably, for the next game at home to Preston, Bulut left him out. Why at home to Preston were two defensive midfielders required at the expense of a creative talent like Colwill in such prime form?
It’s down to Bulut to sort this. Starting with Blackburn at home tonight.
He has more than enough options in his squad to make this Cardiff team a much greater force. The sum of the parts need to start matching up.
Maybe a more adventurous midfield diamond is the way to go – Manou Siopis at the base, Colwill at the tip, with David Turnbull and
Aaron Ramsey – when fit – or Joey Colwill in the middle. Siopis looked a wonderful player when he first arrived, I’m convinced he can return to those levels with forward-looking players around him who have the vision to shift the ball more quickly.
Grant is a huge talent, but he needs to be released further up the pitch.
There is also an argument for putting Joe Ralls at left-back, use his experience to help tighten up that area next to new man Nat Phillips.
Cardiff’s side lack pace compared to other teams, but they are made to look even slower by the ponderous nature of the football.
These problems are fixable and I want Bulut to be the man to fix them. Cardiff strengthened in January and they have Ramsey, Callum O’Dowda and Callum Robinson on the brink of returning.
The default setting needs to be one of adventure, rather than caution.
Norwich needs to be a watershed moment. Tonight, against Blackburn, is the perfect time to start turning it around once more.
Let’s start seeing the Cardiff we so enjoyed watching in August, September and October again.
Is that really too much to ask?