why Cardiff C need their £10m loan man to produce the goods

Why it's time for Wilfried Zaha to justify the hype and fire Cardiff City - Paul Abbandonato's verdict
Wednesday Apr 02, 2014

BY PAUL ABBANDONATO

Head of sport Paul Abbandonato on why Cardiff City need their £10m loan man to produce the goods



The big players, so the old dressing room saying goes, step up to the plate and deliver when the big matches come around.

That being the case, it’s time for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to let Manchester United star Wilfried Zaha off the leash... and for the wing wizard to really start justifying the £10million hype and become Cardiff City’s Premier League talisman.

No time like the present. Zaha’s old club Crystal Palace come to town this weekend when he will be afforded a rapturous ovation from the visiting Eagles fans.

It was at Palace, of course, where Zaha forged his reputation, became an England international and clinched his dream record-breaking move to Old Trafford.

But on Saturday, Zaha’s silky skills need to fire the Bluebirds and put a huge spoke in Palace’s own attempts to avoid relegation back down to the Championship.

If Solskjaer is truthful, he will probably accept that his team selection and five men at the back tactics for the game at West Brom were incorrect.

The Bluebirds boss would argue, I guess, he was looking to keep things tight away from home for 60 minutes and utilise Cardiff’s superior bench power to win the game in the closing half hour.

The theory was blown out of the water when ramshackle defending cost the Bluebirds two goals right at the start, forcing Solskjaer to take off a defender and send on Zaha after just 36 minutes.


Zaha didn’t make as much of an impact as Mats Moeller Daehli, the other early Soslkjaer substitute, but it was his one-two with Jordon Mutch and run down the right which set up the Norwegian teenager’s last gasp equaliser.

Solskjaer has better players at his disposal than either West Brom or Palace. He has to get his team selection this weekend spot on and I’d be tempted to pick Zaha and Daehli from the start to offer creativity and width against a Tony Pulis team who are going to come here for a point, park the proverbial bus, be disciplined, organised and thus hard to break down.

With Frazier Campbell and Craig Bellamy also in the mix, I’m convinced there is enough firepower there or Cardiff to take three points from an absolute must-win encounter... however difficult Pulis makes thing for them and whatever fillip Palace received from their shock win over Chelsea.

It would mean Jordon Mutch, Cardiff goal scorer and midfield powerhouse supreme, having to play a more disciplined, deeper role himself next to Gary Medel, but he is more than capable of doing that. Anyway, Mutch has the athleticism and energy levels to go box to box, rather than just focus on the offensive side of his game.


Will Solskjaer go with that bold selection? Well, Daehli certainly put his hand up for a starting berth with his second-half performance at the Hawthorns.

As for Zaha, I guess it boils down to whether Solskjaer has enough trust in his mercurial wing wizard.

Zaha isn’t going to work his socks off defensively, although he was certainly better at that facet of the game against West Brom and Everton.

He is something of a free spirit who sees his role as dribbling past defenders to create and score goals. But tricks are one thing, tangible reward another.

If there is a time for Zaha to really begin delivering for the Bluebirds, and provide the talismanic inspiration which sparks the rest of the team and ensures Solskjaer’s side can complete the great escape, then this is it.

Zaha’s first two matches this season were at Wembley, for new club Manchester United against Wigan, and for England when he helped Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and co overcome Scotland in a friendly international.

He then became a bit-part figure at best under David Moyes, before Solskjaer swooped to rescue Zaha’s dream of playing regular football.

Only, thus far, it hasn’t been regular. Zaha began his Bluebirds career in stunning fashion, coming on for Peter Whittingham as a first-half substitute against Norwich and turning a 0-1 deficit into a 2-1 triumph Cardiff’s way.

If that wasn’t talismanic, I don’t know what is. But since then he has only started three matches - Swansea, Aston Villa and Hull – and been handed a further three more cameo-like appearances as a substitute.

Sporadically, Zaha has had an impact. In half an hour his presence helped turn that Norwich game, he helped ensure Cardiff got a draw at West Brom. Perhaps his best football, given the quality of the opposition, came briefly against Everton and Liverpool.

But Zaha won’t want to be known as a super-sub. He is itching for his chance to start against Palace and the opportunity to prove he is the real deal, worth that £10m price tag, can score goals in the Premier League and perform consistently well at this level.

Zaha’s skills are wonderful to watch. He is easy on the eye, has fans on the edge of their seat in hope and expectation whenever the ball lands at his feet.

But he doesn’t need to beat three men every single time. And certainly not in his own half. Pass and move at pace, with the occasional dribbling element of surprise, would suit the Bluebirds’ cause better.

I certainly don’t doubt Zaha’s ability. When he really needed to deliver last year, in the crunch and pressurised environment of a play-off semi-final against arch-rivals Brighton, he scored two brilliant goals to fire Crystal Palace to Wembley.

Zaha lifted the rest of the team, rallied them around him, gave them hope, drive and belief. Without Wilfried Zaha, Crystal Palace would not be a Premier League team today.

With Wiflried Zaha at his best, Cardiff City have a much better chance of still being a Premier League team themselves this time next year.

There are 10 million reasons why he needs to become the talisman Cardiff require in the six matches left of this horribly tense relegation struggle.

Not just Zaha who has to start produces the goods, but every City player who plays on that pitch and Ole now needs to get his tactics spot on from now till May.

If they want to remain Premiership Players then they alone know what to do..

Not just Zaha who has to start produces the goods, but every City player who plays on that pitch and Ole now needs to get his tactics spot on from now till May.

What tactics would you prefer? And which gameplan do you think is best against Palace? Would be nice to hear some thoughts before the match to. Not so easy to criticice then i would believe

I'm a little worried that Zaha may not try too hard, against his beloved Palace. I hope Nooney is fit.

I'm a little worried that Zaha may not try too hard, against his beloved Palace. I hope Nooney is fit.

Do you think ledley will not try hard against his beloved Cardiff? start Zaha and let him show what they are missing

I can write that in a simpler form:

Cardiff need Zaha to produce the goods because they're in deep shit.

Why do they need to write so much for such an obvious point?

I hope that Zaha is on the bench. Palace are a hard working team and we need to at least match it and Zaha doesn't Come into that category. We haven't got to go all guns blazing as a 1 0 win will suffice. Would rather a combination of campbell jones and Bellamy to be honest.

I hope that Zaha is on the bench. Palace are a hard working team and we need to at least match it and Zaha doesn't Come into that category. We haven't got to go all guns blazing as a 1 0 win will suffice. Would rather a combination of campbell jones and Bellamy to be honest.

You could be right

Not just Zaha who has to start produces the goods, but every City player who plays on that pitch and Ole now needs to get his tactics spot on from now till May.

What tactics would you prefer? And which gameplan do you think is best against Palace? Would be nice to hear some thoughts before the match to. Not so easy to criticice then i would believe

Still waiting for that pre match insight