Compared with Bristol City’s other full debutants this season, Robbie Cundy stands literally head and shoulders above them.
The date fell of his first start was just two months shy of his third anniversary as a Robins player and marked a key first away win since October 2, for Nigel Pearson’s side.
Having toured large parts of the West Country with periods at Oxford, Chesham, Gloucester, Bath City and Exeter, Cundy will feel that it’s not only been long awaited, but perhaps even more earned after long injury delays have made him an unwanted acquaintance with the injury room and club doctors.
When he has been able to be on the pitch, his playing style and appearance looks suited to the role of understudy for Tomas Kalas who missed the game with injury. His determination to attack balls and be aggressive with high starting positions and bustling physicality are similar to that of the Czech.
Against Tony Mowbray’s newly-blunted Blackburn side he was appearing in another instalment of makeshift backlines, Cundy slotted jerkily into the right side of Timm Klose and the returning Rob Atkinson.
As a tall and more no-nonsense than ball-player, all three of City’s defenders would have had good arguments to prefer being the central defender in the back three.
To make things seem more patchwork than before, Pearson’s big surprise wasn’t the absence of Kalas, but moving top scorer Andi Weimann to right wing-back so Alex Scott could play in his best role behind Antoine Semenyo sand Chris Martin.
Many would have a watertight case that the Austrian also performs best in the hole behind his strike partners, but Pearson thought otherwise. The number of players used across the two wing-back spots this season has already risen to nine, but starting with Weimann was a shift that not many saw coming. Not even the Rovers defence as he rose to strike in Paolo Di Canio style at the far post.
Joined by Weimann and not Scott or a more natural wing-back didn’t impact the play of Cundy early on. He immediately demonstrated his powerful aerial ability to knock Sam Gallagher away without displaying any respect even as an afterthought.
With some loud and clear communication he was then able to direct a long ball behind Klose back to his goalkeeper shortly after and displayed no rush of blood when shuffling Reda Khadra out wide and diffusing a promising Blackburn attack on his side.
As Khadra’s speed and trickery continued to ebb away on the side occupied by Cundy and Weimann, being tasked with clamping the winger would have been a hard task for any defender. The German attacker continued to be the threat but by doubling up on him, Cundy managed to escape unscathed enough to impress in the early period of the game.
Bentley’s save from a tight angle did come after Cundy’s man evaded the nervous tackles inside the box, but the centre-back did a good job in deflecting his surge to a tight angle.
At 24, he’s not the youngster that some of his teammates are which makes his inclusion even more important. As Klose acted as the leading figure of authority in his own quiet way and Bentley screamed in the openly captain way that goalkeepers do, Cundy had a role to play as facilitator to the defence’s communication and organisation.
As Atkinson expands his experience in the Championship throughout a stop-start first season at this level, Cundy’s relative accumulation of EFL games is low but his age provides valuable knowhow.
This became clear as he constantly barked to Weimann, moving his partner on a puppet-like string into position and confidently expressed his displeasure at the team-wide organisation that couldn’t stop Darragh Lenihan’s crossfield heat-seekers.
Another of the common themes for Cundy’s game was both similar and different to Kalas’ involvement. Whereas the former captain sits deeper in his position and powers forward to win headers, battle for the ball or clear away, Cundy’s positional sense was noticeably higher.
Due to City being unable to hold the ball for large portions in the Rovers half, Cundy couldn’t use his advanced patrol to start attacks or sustain them, but his eagerness to win the ball ahead of his opponent was just as clear.
Just before half-time saw him answer the biggest question of the opening spell when confronting Harry Pickering in a duel on the halfway line. With the ball bouncing up in front of him and between the two players, Pickering’s momentary hesitation was all that Cundy needed to speed in and stab the ball away with the studs of his outstretched boot.
Any prevailing issues with an otherwise solid start to life came as Blackburn broke between City’s midfield and opened up a cavern of space for Sam Gallagher to run into in the space to the right of Klose as Cundy’s positioning was marginally too attacking.
He also couldn’t solve Pearson’s set-piece fragility as Lenihan roamed freely in the City penalty area at a corner, Cundy was stuck behind Klose and couldn’t get near the ball or the man, luckily Bentley was behind him to block.
Against the Blackburn captain, Cundy demonstrated his qualities to compete in battle when under pressure, his early header when pushed by Lenihan gained a free kick in his own area but the backwards leap to stop the initial came before he heard the whistle and demonstrated his ever-growing impressive start.
As Blackburn’s siege started he came under increasing strain and was part of a creaking defence that couldn’t stop Jan Paul Van Hecke from running off his blindside, only to be denied by Bentley. Cundy had turned to face the play and allowed the defender to run off him, had he not shut down the pass there might have been an easier shot on the edge of the box.
This dilemma was a quickfire instinctive choice that occurred more as the game went on, confronted with a tough decision to engage the ball player or leave his post unguarded with Weimann falling behind as cover.
These were the minute margins that could have gone against City had Ben Brereton Diaz been fit or the home side showed more killer instinct, as it was though, Cundy’s effective use of his own body and his sharp reactions to remain standing in the tackle were enough to shutout Rovers.
The battle in the background continued to be between Cundy and Khadra as Blackburn pushed for a winning goal, the City defender held his own but couldn’t stem the flow of attacks as the team creaked and all but crumbled, only hanging onto parity down to Bentley’s brilliance.
Amidst the chaotic final 20 minutes it should be pointed out that Cundy halted Joe Rothwell’s dangerous run into the box but timely slipped in a long leg and tucked the ball from the midfielder before he could force an effort on goal.
Although calm and composed might not be the word to describe any of the second-half, his clearances were with assertion and did alleviate some pressure for small intervals that allowed for a breather. After 11 months without playing 90 minutes, and this being his first ever at this level, those brief rests were key to regrouping and allowing Cundy to organise himself alongside an increasingly frantic Klose.
The 24-year-old appeared to have more time than other defenders on the pitch as Klose and Atkinson scrambled around their own box in a mass of bodies, he allowed himself more room to defend, even against Khadra who did have the better of him in a one-on-one situation.
Although he wasn’t entirely comfortable on the ball, nobody was, especially in the second half. His decision-making was alert and he reacted well to balls being played around him, not panicking into challenges.
Ultimately, for a team that hadn’t kept a clean sheet in 12 matches and without one away from home in 23, Cundy’s debut couldn’t have gotten much better results-wise. The smoothness and link with his team will come in time and will also bed in when the side controls possession better as a unit.
It’s probably too soon to call him a lucky charm, but if Kalas is to remain injured then Cundy has proven himself an able replacement.
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