Ollie Tanner's goal drought reflects Cardiff's wider attacking problem
Ollie Tanner has played 557 minutes across Cardiff City's first seven Championship matches without scoring. One assist is a thin return for a winger featuring so regularly, and his struggles are part of an attack that is failing to deliver. After another blank at Bolton, Cardiff are still waiting for a league win.
Cardiff attackers after seven league matches
- Ollie Tanner
- 0 goals, 1 assist
- Chris Willock
- 0 goals, 1 assist
- Jack Moylan
- 1 goal, 0 assists
- Yousef Salech
- 1 goal, 0 assists
- Cian Ashford
- 2 goals, 1 assist
The return has to improve
Tanner has taken 14 shots, six on target, without finding a goal. His three key passes at Bolton show that he was involved in creating chances, but a single afternoon's creativity cannot settle the question of his form. Over seven appearances, Cardiff need more decisive contributions from him.
The problem extends across the frontline. Chris Willock is also without a league goal, while Yousef Salech and Jack Moylan have one apiece. Cian Ashford's two goals and one assist in 311 minutes offer a stronger return and deserve weight in the selection discussion. The attacking players have not all produced the same results.
Selection is drawing questions
Some posters in the r/Championship post-match discussion questioned Tanner's place ahead of Ashford and the decision to leave him on when Willock came off. Others defended his crossing. Those individual reactions show the selection being challenged, rather than a single verdict from Cardiff supporters.
Cardiff had 59% possession and 17 shots in Saturday's 1-0 defeat. Across the Stoke and Bolton matches combined, 44 shots and 17 on target have produced one goal and one point. That is a poor reward for so much attacking activity, and another large shot total will do little to ease the frustration without goals.
Bazunu earned his clean sheet
Gavin Bazunu deserves substantial credit for his 10 saves at Bolton, including Callum Robinson's late chance from Tanner's cross. It was an outstanding goalkeeping performance. Cardiff's wider scoring problem, however, was already there before Saturday. Brian Barry-Murphy has a week before Charlton visit on 19 September to decide whether his current attacking choices can change that return. Tanner's place should be part of that assessment.