For all of Cardiff City's stylish, technical and patient attacking play, there is one thing still missing: Goals.
It is the hardest thing in football, of course, getting the ball in the back of the net, and so it is proving for Steve Morison's new-look Bluebirds.
At time of writing, only Preston North End (two) have scored fewer Championship goals than Cardiff City (four) this season, with the Bluebirds having found the back of the net only once in their last five games.
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It's a brand-new squad and one which is carrying out many aspects of the game well, but at the top end of the pitch there appears to be a sticking point and it is one which is costing them points.
Over the last five games, Cardiff's good performances are earning them draws and their poorer displays are seeing them get beaten. That must change, but there has been enough positivity in the early-season performances to give supporters confidence that will click into gear as this new philosophy becomes second nature and these players become better acquainted on the pitch.
The encouraging thing is that City are, in fact, getting into threatening positions. Their new wingers are seeing lots of the ball and it is probably not a coincidence that Cardiff have struggled more in the last two games without Callum O'Dowda, one of the better performers so far this season.
The Bluebirds have taken 93 shots so far, the 14th most in the Championship, but have registered only 20 on target, which puts them joint-bottom on that metric, alongside Coventry City, who have played three fewer games. The Bluebirds have a conversion rate of 0.04, only Preston (0.02) have a worse shots-per-goal ratio.
All that is quite bitty to digest, but it does help paint a picture that a) Cardiff are not fashioning clear enough chances to easily hit the target and b) the quality of their efforts needs improving.
Their goals have come by virtue of two long-range strikes from Romaine Sawyers, an unlikely Callum O'Dowda header against Reading, which even surprised the player himself after the game as he is not known for his towering headers, and Jaden Philogene's goal against Birmingham City.
Let's take a deeper dive into that last one. That win over Birmingham was the Bluebirds' best attacking performance of the season by a country mile. Live on Sky Sports, it had fans and pundits alike purring over City's swagger and style as they unleashed a barrage of attacks on the Blues' goal.
It could easily have been four or five, but City had to settle for just the single goal and what a goal it was. A splendid team effort which saw Ryan Wintle hit a laser-like pass in behind for O'Dowda, who had made a beautifully-timed run, before he hit a brilliant cross to Aston Villa loanee Bidace, who tapped home from point-blank range.
And, of course, we aren't stupid. It's not as simple as, 'Oh, just do that every game.' Teams adapt, try to work you out and stop you playing that way, that's part and parcel of the game.
But on so many occasions in that match, Cardiff had bodies in the box. Sawyers burst into the area a number of times and should have had two himself. Max Watters almost benefited from one rebounded Sawyers shot, but his volley was blocked well, plus he had a gilt-edged one-v-one chance with the goalkeeper which he botched, a miss which started to heap pressure on his shoulders, in truth. Mark Harris later had a couple of targets to aim for in the box before lofting a cross to Kion Etete, who missed an open goal with his headed effort at the back post.
There was so much to admire from an attacking standpoint in that City performance and their boldness and courage to get men into the box was a real hallmark of their play. It's something which appears to have been lacking in recent fixtures.
Too often Watters has been the sole target in the opposition box in recent games, typically against two, sometimes three, giant centre backs. It means City often go for the low, hard cross, but Watters is yet to get on the end of one and always appears a couple of yards off the pace, something which visibly angers those in the City dugout, which many fans who have attended games have noticed.
But still, Watters up against two or three defenders is unlikely to yield consistent results and he needs help. You can think back to O'Dowda's wicked cross against Bristol City that had no one on the end of it, Mahlon Romeo sent a vicious ball into the Millwall area at the weekend, too, with no blue shirt there to tap home.
City's best chance at The Den? When Niels Nkounkou did excellently to get enough space for a low cross, which he sent to the back post, and he found Sheyi Ojo, who, against all odds, got an outstretched foot on the ball before watching it cannon back off the post.
Taking the defender's eye away from that sole striker helped to fashion that chance and it's not something we have seen enough from Cardiff since that Birmingham game. Sawyers has not burst into the box with enough regularity, the opposite winger or full-back is not there enough when crosses are sent in, either, but they have shown that when they do get bodies forward in numbers they can cause problems.
Because Watters, who admittedly has not converted some of the chances he should have, has needed more help and the fear is all that pressure which was on his shoulders will now likely drop on to the shoulders of new signing Callum Robinson, who will likely lead the City forward line from this weekend on.
Watters has had his chances, some of them have been glaring. The two against Birmingham City and the poor one-v-one miss against Bristol City spring to mind in particular.
But in eight games he has had only eight shots, which places him at 91st in that particular metric across the Championship. Five of his shots have been on target, shooting him up to 41st in that ranking.
The player who tops both of those tables is none other than Watters' opposite number in the South Wales derby, Swansea City's Joel Piroe, who has unleashed 30 shots, with 14 of those on target. Importantly, he has three goals. On those numbers, Swansea appear to be getting their striker into better positions in order to enjoy better chances.
There is little scope to be a Watters apologist at this stage, of course, he should have done better and needs to take these chances when they fall his way. But Cardiff could be helping him, or likely Robinson from here onwards, more than they have done in recent weeks.
With Cardiff having not signed a 'target man', so to speak, they need to get more players around their lone striker in attacking areas to maximise their chances of creating meaningful openings. Wingers or that attacking midfielder need to get into the box more often to latch on to these low crosses, just as they did against Birmingham, which should be their attacking blueprint.
Or perhaps Rubin Colwill, when fully fit, could operate as a second striker if he is selected instead of Sawyers, just to offer another buffer and give the opposition centre-backs something to worry about.
It is at that end of the pitch where they need to start clicking into gear. It's not like seasons gone by when Cardiff's centre backs would chip in with 10 goals, that looks incredibly unlikely due to how impotent they are from attacking set pieces owing to their lack of height.
Plus their central midfielders are hardly prolific goalscorers, historically, Andy Rinomhota and Ryan Wintle in particular. However, it has been a welcome bonus that Sawyers has started the season well in that regard. Plus, they will need more from Joe Ralls moving forward in terms of goalscoring, as well as their wingers.
All told, it's been encouraging to watch right up until the business end of the pitch. That can perhaps be expected given the transition which has taken place, but one hopes that in the coming weeks and months they aid their striker, whoever it might be, and that, in turn, can bump up that goal tally.
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