Match Report: Birmingham City 0-1 Cardiff City
From talk of our incredible future to the immediate concerns surrounding relegation growing stronger. Blues are now 23rd.
A crazy week for Birmingham City took a turn for the worst as Josh Bowler’s second half strike left Blues another step closer to League One football next season.
After the announcement of purchased land, a 2-3 billion city project, new stadium and acknowledgement that we were in a good place financially to push forward next season, spirits were high.
However, for all the positives off the pitch, Blues had dropped to 23rd in the league and needed victory on Wednesday night against a Cardiff City side with nothing to play for but pride.
Despite starting both halves with a bit of zip and tempo, the response to going behind was toothless, ensuring boos rung out around St.Andrews at the final whistle as the side failed to match the ambition and aggression of their owners.
Gary Rowett followed through with Tom Wagner’s declaration that the team would be unchanged. Andre Dozzell did return to the squad in place of Siriki Dembele, whose cameo against Leicester City did little to endear him to his new boss.
Blues did start bright, at least. Juninho Bacuna had an effort deflect over, Koji Miyoshi hit the post from the resulting corner and Ethan Horvath just about stopped Jay Stansfield rounding him.
Yakou Meite tested the handling of John Ruddy at the other end but Blues were soon back on the front foot with Bacuna again denied by a block and later forcing Horvath into a low stop.
Blues failed to keep up the early tempo and soon began making errors as Cardiff sat in and waited for their moment. Dimitrious Goutas bounced the ball over the bar from a corner and Ruddy was then forced to deny Meite after good work from Karlan Grant.
Jordan James came close with an effort from distance, curling just wide of the post from 20 yards. Centre-backs Nat Phillips and Goutas were wayward with headed and long distance efforts.
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first, Blues largely on top but struggling to create a real moment. Miyoshi broke via a Stansfield pass but only had James for company in the box. Lee Buchanan bounced an effort into the ground that was going wide before Horvath claimed.
Then came the moment we dreaded. Having had a warning sign a moment earlier, Buchanan made a poor decision to go long and Paik Seung-Ho miscontrolled the loose ball, allowing substitute Rubin Colwill and Josh Bowler to break down the right for the second time in a matters of seconds. Bowler found Colwill who returned the favour first-time for a low finish past Ruddy.
Blues’ best attempt in response was James and Bacuna working the ball to Stansfield whose snapshot was deflected wide. Grant forced a stop from Ruddy and later had another deflect over the bar as Cardiff looked to punish Blues on the break.
Despite having plenty of the ball, the best Blues could manage was a cross that Scott Hogan flicked to Cody Drameh at the back post and John Ruddy nearly connecting with a corner in injury time.
Yet again, Blues found a way to lose a game and lacked the ability to fight back.
Lineups
Blues: Ruddy; Laird Aiwu Sanderson Buchanan (Drameh 70); Bielik (Hogan 79); Miyoshi (Anderson 70) Paik JJ (Pritchard 70) Bacuna (Gardner 86); Stansfield. Unused: Etheridge; Sunjic Dozzell Roberts.
Cardiff: Horvath; Ng Goutas Phillips Collins; Siopis Ralls (Turnbull 81); Bowler (Ashford 72) Ramsey (Colwill 46) Grant; Meite (Diedhiou 72). Unused: Turner; Sawyers Colwill Tanner.
Tactics
This was 4-2-3-1 vs 4-1-4-1 with Blues sticking the same approach they have recently.
In terms of playing, the idea appeared to be an attempt to create a 3-1-5-1 type of thing with Miyoshi drifting, Laird providing width, Bielik in front of the centre-backs and Laird and Stansfield leading the line. And it worked well at times, Sanderson able to switch play to the right-hand side where we had a spare man, or hammer the ball into Bielik to turn out and play. Miyoshi caused issues. We generally got into the final third and broke the initial attempts to stop us.
Where we struggled was the final third. Laird didn’t really commit his man and often stepped back inside and played safe. Aiwu did the same. It put a big onus on Sanderson and Bielik to get us moving. And in the final third, we would gain control but wouldn’t do enough to move people out of position, often playing safe or forcing it. There was very rarely the kind of one-touch, slick football that we saw for the Cardiff goal.
We tried to isolate Stansfield against Goutas early doors and it looked to be an avenue but with Stansfield being slight, we had to make it perfect and that didn’t really happen.
Cardiff were happy with what they were. They sat in a 4-4-2 shape. They were happy to let the centre-backs and Bielik have the ball in front of them. They tried to cut off the centre, which often forced Blues to play wider, or outside the central danger zones. It was fairly basic stuff but effective because they were aggressive and didn’t lose many of the key duels.
In possession, they were quick to transition out wide. They generally moved towards a sort of asymmetric 4-2-3-1 / 3-2-4-1 with Bowler and Collins providing the width, Grant stepping inside to support or dovetail with Meite and Ramsey slightly towards the right, allowing him to support Ng and Bowler in build up, a role Colwill took on second half.
Blues looked to step high onto Cardiff. That meant James and Paik stepping onto Siopis and Ralls, Miyoshi onto Goutas and Bacuna vs Ng. Bielik was in position to pounce on any loose balls, sticking with Ramsey/Colwill until the opportunity arose. That left Blues 4v3 at the back, a situation they were happy with.
Blues simply lacked energy and drive, so the intensity of the press meant Cardiff were able to play and escape down that flank with Ramsey and Colwill able to escape the attention of Bielik and receive, or Bowler could step inside and look to move into space, something he received strong attention for from Bielik and Sanderson.
Blues chopped and changed with the subs, eventually moving to 4-4-2 but it only left us loose in the centre of the pitch and still unable to find a way to unlock the door.
Players
It almost feels pointless judging individual performances at this point. It’s not about individuals. But, here goes, from the back.
Laird. Looked up for it but doesn’t look fit. It was as if he was scared to motor in the first half and chose the safe option too often. Aiwu was okay but looked nervous and didn’t really want the ball. Sanderson was fine, his switches out to the right an important part of our play and he continued demanding the ball. Buchanan was fine, though the attempted clearance that led to the goal is a black mark.
Bielik was sloppy at points but generally played his role well. He was quick to back up the front five on seconds and ensure we kept Cardiff penned in at times. The bigger issue is that he found himself isolated in transition with James and Paik asked to push forward. That’s not on any individual in particular and just a causality of the system itself. Paik was fine and looked after the ball. James had some positive moments but he looks leggy.
While on the subject, I can’t get past him having a little touch on the face, going down in a heap while Cardiff break then getting right back up to remonstrate with the ref as soon as play stops. That has to fucking stop now. Get back up and fight for cause.
Miyoshi was probably the best player on the pitch in a Blues shirt. Looked at it from the word go, his touch was fine and he was definitely our best chance of making something happen. But he needs runners around him. Bacuna had one of his more indifferent days. Stansfield, I just feel sorry for him. Tough day with his back to goal, but it’s not the role he’s most comfortable doing.
Of the subs, I thought Hogan worked his socks off. Pritchard wanted to get on the ball but like Miyoshi, couldn’t do an awful lot with what was around him. Anderson looked rusty.
For Cardiff, Ralls was solid in the middle and the centre-backs rightly dominated their more diminutive opposition. Rubin Colwill had a sizeable impact. I’m envious of Karlan Grant and Yakou Meite and Famara Diedhiou – how I would love such power in our forward line.
Conclusions
I’ve been fairly confident through all this. I felt Mowbray would guide us to safety quite comfortably. I felt that performances were okay under Venus and our luck would turn. I felt the appointment of Rowett would give us just enough.
That was a body blow tonight. One that drops us to our knees and questioning whether we put our gloves up as the referee counts to 7, then 8, then 9.
It’s not just the defeat. It’s not even the performance – we've played worse than that this season. Rowett has actually done his job in creating a platform that allows us to move into the final third without having to thump the ball 70 yards upwards and forwards.
It’s how toothless we are in the final third. How we lack pace. We lack power. We lack height. We lack a threat from set-pieces. We lack players willing to bust a gut to get into the six yard box.
Our last three goals have been a moment of Juninho Bacuna magic and mistakes that given Jay Stansfield goals. The fourth was eight matches ago when Alex Pritchard crossed for the head of Lukas Jutkiewicz.
It was interesting seeing Rowett reference our inability to score. How we don’t look like scoring from a set-piece. How we lack height and size. How players aren’t continually running in behind, or lacking that zip in 1v1 situations.
And he’s right. Yet that last line is hard to swallow when he has decided against using Tyler Roberts and left Siriki Dembele, George Hall and Romelle Donovan out of the squad completely. That’s your quickest player and most willing runner, two 1v1 wingers that can be explosive in the final third and somebody that can open doors because he’s more physical and possesses quick feet in the centre of the pitch. They all have weaknesses that can be exploited but they’re also the players you need to produce something different. That’s not to say Alex Pritchard, Keshi Anderson and Scott Hogan can’t produce, just that those players offer that zip and sharpness that can unlock teams.
The performances have been okay in general but we need something else and Rowett has to find that come Saturday. It could be starting Scott Hogan or Tyler Roberts and taking the pressure off Jay Stansfield. That could be moving Juninho Bacuna back into the middle of the pitch and giving somebody else a run out wide. If we’re going to survive, we have to find a way of scoring goals.
What will be will be. Like many, I’m resigned to our fate now. I don’t expect anything.
All I can do is acknowledge that whatever happens, we’re in good hands and that we’ll get to where we want to get to eventually.
And who better to tell us that than the oracle that is Dan Ivery:
https://almajir.net/2024/04/10/open-house-reflections-fea/