Football League World
·13 November 2024
Football League World
·13 November 2024
After a terrible start to the season, our Cardiff fan pundit addresses his main concern for the Bluebirds' January transfer window.
After a disappointing start to the campaign which saw manager Erol Bulut sacked, we spoke to FLW's Cardiff City fan pundit Jack Price to address his main concern for the club in the upcoming January transfer window.
The Bluebirds have only amassed 15 points from their opening 15 fixtures, and have recorded a worryingly low total of 14 goals.
Sat in 22nd place and at risk of being relegated to League One, Jack called upon the club to sign a striker in the January transfer window to provide competition for the injury-prone Callum Robinson and bolster the side's attack.
Speaking to FLW, Cardiff City fan pundit Jack Price expressed his worries over the number 9 role at the club. He said:
"Looking ahead to the next window, one concern I have is, are we going to sign a striker or not? It's so important and I think whether we do so or not is going to make or break our season.
"(Callum) Robinson has five goals in 12 appearances, but the problem with Robinson is that he just cannot stay fit for an extended period of time. He missed the second half of his first year with the club through injury, a lot of last season and Riza revealed recently that he is currently struggling with an achilles problem."
Having found the net only 14 times in the league this season, Robinson has contributed to 35.7% of the total goals scored by the club. His injury woes are a huge problem for Cardiff, as without the Irish forward, the Bluebirds just cannot find the net.
As can be seen above, Cardiff are the second-lowest scorers out of the teams at the foot of the table. T
he club's other forwards have really struggled to score this season, with Anwar El Ghazi and Ollie Tanner registering one goal each, and Wilfried Kanga and Yakou Meite still yet to bag.
The statistics really reinforce Jack's point that Cardiff find themselves in desperate need of a striker. Should Omer Riza be given the Cardiff job permanently, this really ought to be his first port of call.
"Robinson is an integral player when fit, but we need reinforcements because he is not going to play the remaining 30 games whatsoever. In Robinson's absence we've been trying an experiment by playing a strikerless formation where two of wingers come inside and occupy that false 9 role, but it's not working.
It is clear that without the Irish forward, Cardiff are going to struggle, especially when considering the amount of injuries the team have had in recent weeks. Isaak Davies has been ruled out until the new year after undergoing a hamstring surgery, and Kion Etete has been playing for the Under-21s to regain match fitness after his own hamstring worries.
When referencing the club's injury setbacks, Jack also stated: "You've got to wonder, who is our recognised number 9, we don't really have one.
"We are developing really well as a team but you can tell in the final third without Robinson we don't have a striker who can link play and make combinations with the likes of (Ruben) Colwill and Ollie Tanner."
Cardiff have a lot of potential to push on this season and cement their position in the Championship for another year, but if injuries persist it is going to be a real struggle.
Signing a striker in January will be pivotal to their survival hopes, as they must find a frontman who can see out the side's remaining games and nail down a place in the starting lineup.
Failing this, Cardiff fans will have some real worries going forward.
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