Cardiff City flop was made to train with youth team and makes bizarre claim

Cardiff City flop was made to train with youth team and makes bizarre claim

Cardiff City’s failure Guido Burgstaller has talked candidly about his brief and challenging time with the team, pointing to communication problems and cultural barriers as the main causes of his Championship woes.

In a recent SportWitness interview, the 36-year-old Austrian talked about what he called one of the most challenging times in his professional career.

During Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s managerial tenure, Burgstaller moved from Rapid Vienna to Cardiff in the summer of 2014, however he only stayed in south Wales for six months.

“I realized how difficult the football industry can be when I played in Cardiff,” Burgstaller remarked.

“I didn’t fully comprehend the language and just played five games. There is a considerable dialect of English spoken in Wales, therefore it is not pure English.

“I was assigned to the third training group (youth team) and had absolutely no access to the team.”

The forward continued by saying that although being difficult, the experience helped him grow as a person. “I learned a lot as a person from that difficult period,” he continued.

After Cardiff was relegated from the Premier League, Burgstaller was brought in with the intention of strengthening their attacking options.

Solskjaer was working to reassemble a team that could compete for promotion at the time. Burgstaller, on the other hand, did not contribute, scoring just one goal in five games across all competitions.

His tenure at the club ended after the January 2015 transfer window. His career would pick up steam after he was sold to FC Nürnberg in Germany.

During his time at Cardiff, the team had a largely international and English-speaking lineup, with only two players — Declan John and Danny Gabbidon — being Welsh.

The majority of the senior squad was English, with teammates from Spain, Norway, and other parts of Europe. Burgstaller cited challenges understanding accents and integrating with teammates as major obstacles, but his claim will raise some eyebrows. Sign up for our daily Cardiff City newsletter here.

Burgstaller enjoyed better luck in Germany after leaving Cardiff. He was a vital member of both teams during his successful stints with FC Nürnberg and FC Schalke 04, respectively.

He went back to Rapid Vienna, the club where he first gained notoriety, in 2022.

Even though he is nearing the end of his career, he continues to play consistently. He has continued to be a key member of the Austrian team, scoring eight goals in 30 games this season for Rapid.

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