When asked about Buluts team's style of play and exactly what it is he is trying to implement, Bulut entered a six-minute explanation in an attempt to furnish fans with a better idea of what the plan of attack, literally, actually is.
EROL BULUT:
"I am preferring the system of 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3. But when we are building up, we make a back three, sometimes it is with a number six or with a full-back, depending on the opponent," he said.
"We want to use the wingers to create chances down the side, because the centre is always a close place. So it's difficult to go through the centre sometimes. So you have to use the half space on the wings to create a two against one or a three against two in behind he defence to create chances.
"Sometimes we want to use the strikers or wingers in behind, but you have to see what type of players you have to go in behind. In this we have KG (Karlan Grant) like this, Josh Bowler likes the ball at his feet to go one against one. Kion (Etete) likes to make the runs, but also he asks to have the ball short.
"But mostly, it's to use the sides and come with crosses in behind the defence."
When it was put to him that his wingers, typically a right-footer on the left and a left-footer on the right, tend to favour cutting inside to heavily congested traffic, thus leaving the only option as shooting from distance, he replied: "Who is coming then when the wingers come inside? The full-backs are coming to overlap and hit crosses, so we have more players then inside the box.
"Let's say our left-back is overlapping the winger, you have the winger inside, the striker inside, the opposite winger inside and plus the number 10, so we have four players minimum inside the box. You should have.
"Then we can go to the other point. If you transfer the ball in front, you have to try to keep it also. If we lose the ball too quickly up front, sometimes we try to go too quickly up front and make individual movements and we lose it, because the midfield and full-back cannot support. So we have to keep the ball with the wingers and the striker in front, so we can go to a set play. This is a small issue we have. This is why we don't have so many players in the box."
It's probably fair to say that Jamilu Collins, who has had to be run into the ground this season following an entire year out with an ACL injury, is not bombing on past his winger enough to really trouble the opposition, as he has done in the past. Perry Ng, arguably Cardiff's best player this season, is not that marauding-type right-back, either, so creating that width has been a struggle, it seems.
The Bluebirds rank 20th for the number of attempted crosses they've put into the penalty area this season. They are also in the bottom half (14th) for the number of crosses attempted into the penalty area not included set pieces. So if that is their main attacking weapon, it's not being utilised nearly consistently enough to score goals.
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