Wales under-21s manager Matty Jones has commended Rubin Colwill for addressing the defensive side of his game and believes the Cardiff City attacker has become a far better player for it.
Colwill has come under scrutiny from club boss Erol Bulut this season for neglecting some aspects of his game, predominantly his work out of possession, which saw his game time greatly reduced at the beginning of the campaign.
However, Colwill now believes his club manager trusts him and even his boss at the national team level has seen a rise in the level of his performances. The Bluebirds playmaker has been praised for his attitude when dropping down to under-21s level with Wales, after playing against England at the World Cup a year ago, and has been one of the standout performers and seems to be enjoying playing under Jones.
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And Jones himself has taken pleasure from seeing Colwill flourish over the last few months, which has manifested itself in him scoring four goals and producing three assists in his last five games for Wales under-21s. He also netted a sublime goal against Bristol City in the Severnside derby for Cardiff — he has three goals and two assists in 13 Bluebirds games this term — which appeared to really signal that he was back to his peak level of performance.
Now, as he gears up for Wales under-21s' Euro qualifier double header against Iceland and Denmark in the coming days, manager Jones believes both Wales and Cardiff fans are seeing the best of Colwill and it's all down to the work the player himself has put in over the last few months.
"Rubin has had the luxury from younger age groups where he has always dominated offensively," Jones said. "His attacking mindset is phenomenal as a player. But, as we know, the higher levels you go, every moment and every detail in every scenario is being scrutinised. So to be successful at the top you have to improve and develop those sides of your game as well.
"My place has been to help Rubin and show him that detail, explain to him as a development-minded coach, to go through those visuals with him. I think that's helped him and allowed him to express himself in our environment and allowed him to flourish in his performances.
"What we've seen off the back of that is that he's gone back to Cardiff and shown that level of confidence in his training, which has not gone unnoticed. It is the trust senior managers need from players, that they can rely on them for the full 90 minutes. It's so pleasing to see how that is growing for Rubin.
"Rob (Page) has challenged all of our players, getting senior experiences and having a career for yourself (at club level) before your international career. Ultimately that's a ruthless way of thinking about it, but it's normal, because you have to get things right at your club first. It's pleasing for us all that we've seen that momentum change with Rubin, he is taking more interest in areas of his game he had neglected previously.
"And Cardiff are repaying him for that. He's not just coming on for five, 10 minutes at the end of games now. He is playing for 30, 35 minutes and we continue to see that grow."
