The manager has put the Bluebirds’s poor run of form down to a lack of confidence in front of goal
AFTER back-to-back losses which have seen Cardiff City drift eight points off a play-off spot, it could be time for Erol Bulut to try something new at Norwich this weekend.
In his press conference on Thursday afternoon, the Bluebirds manager put Cardiff’s latest slump in-form down to a failure to convert opportunities.
“We are missing a lot of chances,” he said.
“Against Preston, we missed many chances and they had three chances and scored two goals. Kion (Etete) missed a chance from six yards to make it 1-1 against West Brom on Tuesday. In the final third, we have to be more confident.”
Cardiff’s strike-force of Kion Etete, Famara Diedhou and Yakou Meite have three goals between them in 62 appearances so far this term. Kieffer Moore, who Bulut admits Cardiff “tried” to sign, has three in as many appearances at his new club, Ipswich Town.
With Karlan Grant back in contention this weekend after being unavailable against his parent club on Tuesday evening, perhaps the time has come for Bulut to play the former Huddersfield man up top.
Bulut has been reluctant to deploy Grant as the No 9 for the Bluebirds so far this season despite him having success in that position at previous clubs. In the 2019/20 season, Grant netted 19 championship goals in 43 appearances for Huddersfield playing both on the left-wing and up-front.
The Cardiff manager fears he will have to “change the whole attack” in order to play Grant in a more central position, however.
“He’s (Karlan Grant) scored many goals up front and off the left from running in behind the defence in his career,” said Bulut.
“We used him in the No 10 position against Sheffield Wednesday and he did well. But if we play KG up front we will lose all of the balls in the air.”
Against West Bromwich Albion, Cardiff decided to play more direct with Yakou Meite and Famara Diedhou up top with the aim of getting more crosses into the box. As Bulut said, Karlan Grant is not particularly strong in the air so would not suit this style of play.
However, with Aaron Ramsey now “feeling good” having completed 45 minutes against Preston North End and almost half an hour at the Hawthorns, an attack with the Welshman in the No 10 role and Karlan Grant up front could bolster a struggling Bluebirds attack.
Bulut noted one of Grant’s strengths is his pace and ability to run in behind. With a fiery Aaron Ramsey opening up the opposition defence, and Grant making the sort of runs which at one point earned him a reported £15 million move to West Brom, the pair could be the answer to Cardiff’s attacking woes.
