‘A Long Way To Go’ – Checking In On Cardiff City
- Leicester City host Cardiff City on Saturday afternoon
- The Sky Bet Championship match has a 3pm BST kick-off
- Cardiff have one point so far this season
- More players need to come in, says Glen Williams
After starting their 2023/24 Sky Bet Championship campaign with two wins, over Coventry City and Huddersfield Town respectively, the Foxes head home this weekend for the visit of Cardiff City.
With only one point to their name so far this season, after holding Leeds United to a draw on the opening day, Wales Online journalist Williams believes there is improvement within the Cardiff squad, but more must be done to avoid a repeat of last year.
“Going into the season, it was really positive,” the reporter told us. “Especially after last season and narrowly avoiding the drop after the points deduction for Reading.
“But those first two results, I believe, were completely justified. Anything more than a draw at Leeds United would’ve been a bit of a scandal because they were all over us in the second half.
“QPR executed their game plan brilliantly last weekend, so I think the results are fair and that bubble of optimism might have burst a little bit, but there’s still a long way to go."
The Bluebirds have brought in several new faces, including the return of Welsh international Aaron Ramsey, who Williams believes could make the difference, but admits more players in defensive positions are needed.
He continued: “Twelve months ago, we signed 17 players, so we had a brand new squad which unfortunately did badly last term, but this summer they’ve said they’re focusing on quality over quantity.
“That has been the case with marquee signing Ramsey, who has been head and shoulders better than anyone else in the first two games. His first touch can take two players out of a game which you don’t see too often at this level so that’s encouraging.
“That playmaker is the position that Cardiff have missed since coming down from the Premier League. Karlan Grant, is also a good signing and is someone who can play out on a wing and score 15-plus goals a season.
“Josh Bowler has been brilliant at Blackpool, and even though his move to Nottingham Forest didn’t work out for him, he had a brilliant debut at Leeds.
“But more need to come in – the midfield has been an issue for a while, and that needs to be addressed, as well as at centre-back where we’re a bit light also. We’ve had a good transfer window so far but it needs to be stressed that more needs to be done.”
No Cardiff player managed more than 10 goals during last season’s campaign, which led to finishing 21st, and the reporter states that this is something they have been keen to add.
He goes on to mention the impact that the new Turkish manager, Erol Bulut, has had in Wales while admitting the club are still getting to grips with the new style of play that he is trying to implement.
“In front of goal, they were really poor last season." Williams explained. "I think they were the second lowest scorers last season in the Championship, and you’re never going to get far if that’s the case.
“New manager Bulut addressed that in his first press conference, saying that we need to score more goals. If you include the Carabao Cup match, Cardiff have scored five goals in their first three games, and it took them a month to do that last campaign. He has addressed that issue, but we’re still a bit sloppy in defence, which might be a concern and needs new additions.
“He’s got a good pedigree, coming from Fenerbahçe, you can’t underestimate that. I’m still undecided to what the system and style of play is.
“When you talk to the players, they mention being more dominant in possession, but we haven’t quite seen that yet. We did better with that at QPR but couldn’t keep the ball out of our net, and at Leeds we relinquished 70 per cent possession.
“It’s been a mix so far, but difficult to decipher how this team is going to play consistently, and we’re still waiting to see how that plays out."