Match Report: Birmingham City 0-1 Watford

A better display but another mistake and another 1-0 loss as Blues go level on points with the bottom three.

Another defensive error left Blues on the wrong side of a 1-0 scoreline as Tom Cleverley’s Watford left St.Andrews with all three points.  

Blues were the better side across the encounter but shot themselves in the foot when Emmanuel Aiwu was dispossessed by namesake Dennis for a simple finish.  

Despite a number of chances, including Ethan Laird hitting the bar and Koji Miyoshi being a denied by an excellent reaction stop, the Blues faithful had no goal to celebrate.  

Three changes were made. Cody Drameh continued at left-back with Marc Roberts out while Ivan Sunjic and Juninho Bacuna returned in place of Andre Dozzell and Alex Pritchard, the latter out of the squad altogether.  

The hosts got out of the traps quickly, honing in on Watford’s left-hand side and seeing Jordan James and Miyoshi fail to find the target. 

The game settled down but Blues remained the more threatening, Ethan Laird heading a near post corner against the bar and Bacuna denied by a block after good work down the left.  

Watford started to make inroads but it wasn’t until a sharp counter from a Blues attack that they looked like scoring, Lee Buchanan with a big block from a 3v2 situation. A basketball style couple of minutes followed with Bacuna denied, Tom Dele-Bashiru curling over and Dennis unable to turn home a right wing cross.  

The heavily involved Bacuna blazed over before Aiwu headed a corner on target. And Blues were looking like they’d enter the break level with something to build on.  

Ha.  

Drameh has a throw-in on the left. He looks for options and Buchanan has stepped closer, drawing Dennis towards him and leaving Aiwu free. Drameh throws to Aiwu who waits, and waits, and waits. Dennis doesn’t wait. He’s first to the ball and 1 on 1 with Ruddy in the centre of the goal. He goes high and central, beating Ruddy, who can’t read it.  

Panic quickly set in. Yaser Asprilla reacted quickly to find Dennis free but Ruddy read it this time. Asprilla then hit the side netting after running from a short corner.  

There was worry we would leave brown marks on the proverbial bed when Mattie Pollock almost bundled home a back post corner at the start of the second half. Floodgates opening?  

Instead, we responded. Jay Stansfield and Sunjic did brilliantly but the latter miskicked after bursting through challenges. James and Stansfield then forced a block and a save. Ruddy stood strong at his near post to deny Asprilla before Bacuna curled narrowly wide from the edge of the box.  

A big chance followed just after the hour. Bacuna’s free-kick was delicious and when the ball came back to him, he improvised brilliantly, keeping the ball in with his tummy before finding Aiwu who stabbed towards goal. The block rebounded to Miyoshi who took a touch and fired on target on for Bachmann to react excellently.  

Sunjic fired a half volley wide. Vakoun Bayo came close from a tight angle. Miyoshi tested Bachmann with a low free kick before having another excellent opportunity, James playing him through only for the man from Japan to get his angles wrong and send the ball closer to the corner flag than far post.  

The cavalry arrived from the bench but did little to inspire. Sunjic had an effort blocked and Aiwu couldn’t turn a corner goal wards. Bayo somehow flicked the ball over the bar from about six yards out.  

The final couple of minutes brought more efforts. A 3v2 break ended with a lack of incision and Tyler Roberts trying to beat Bachmann on his left foot. Jutkiewicz had his obligatory header but it lacked power. Paik certainly packed power with a volley from a cleared corner but it narrowly missed the target.  

Game over. Another loss and out of the bottom three on goal difference.  

Lineups 

Blues 

Ruddy; Laird (Hall 83) Aiwu Buchanan Drameh; Miyoshi (Roberts 72) Sunjic (Gardner 83) Paik JJ (Jutkiewicz 72 (Hogan 98)); Bacuna Stansfield. Unused: Etheridge; Sanderson Longelo Dozzell.  

Watford 

Bachmann; Andrews Porteus Pollock Morris; Dele-Bashiru Kayembe; Asprilla (Sierralta 89) Kone (Ince 78) Chakvetadze (Martins 78); Dennis (Bayo 63). Unused: Hamer; Eames Livermore Rajovic Grieves.  

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Tactics 

Much better from Blues against a side lining up with a similar style.  

Blues continued with the 4-4-2 shape with Bacuna just off Stansfield in attack and the 4-2-3-1 style was somewhat simplified with the wingers having license to float inside but Laird tasked with being more aggressive than Drameh down the right. Sunjic and Paik both dropped in to receive possession and draw Watford bodies to them with Bacuna situated near Miyoshi in the centre of the pitch.  

The right-hand side was important early on. Miyoshi floating inside dragged Morris out of possession and allowed Stansfield and Laird to drive into the space down the right, Blues often finding Miyoshi to play back then allowing Sunjic or Paik to make the incisive pass. Or avoiding Miyoshi altogether and playing that ball.  

The other avenue was a pattern Blues played a lot early doors under Mowbray with Drameh or James receiving wide on the left, stepping inside and working the ball out to the right, be that right out wide to Laird or inside so that Bacuna or Miyoshi could get on the half turn and see which option was best.  

Fewer chances were taken in possession too. In the first 15 minutes, Buchanan and Sunjic had license to play first time into the channel if under pressure, ensuring Blues weren’t caught. Well, I guess we weren’t caught in open play.  

Watford’s set up was a simple 4-1-4-1 set up. Kayembe stepped up from midfield to join Asprilla, Kone and Chakvetadze in closing the full-backs and deep midfielders with Dennis having license on whether to step right up onto the centre-backs or sit off. Everything else was largely man-for-man.  

It worked to a point with Blues often forced to make the breakthrough wide but Watford fell down in a couple of areas. Firstly, Morris sticking with Miyoshi opened up the space down the right and Chakvetadze was prone to switching off from Laird’s runs, while Pollock was turned a couple of times by Stansfield.  

Also, the press was aggressive but only up to a point. Whenever Sunjic or Paik dropped off to line up with Aiwu and Buchanan, rather than ahead, Watford didn’t make the extra yards up, instead keeping space. That allowed the midfielders to play forward into feet under less pressure.  

Watford were fairly similar to Blues in possession. Andrews took up an aggressive position down the right with Asprilla drifting inside to join Dennis, Kone and Chakvetadze in a fairly fluid front four, Morris supporting when the opportunity arose but more cautious than Andrews.  

Like Miyoshi for Blues, Asprilla made life difficult for Blues at times with Drameh watchful of the outside run, meaning Blues had to be switched on when the ball came into the centre of the pitch. To their credit, Blues were aggressive in the centre of the pitch and often snuffed danger out. The problem arose when Watford were sharp and space was now available with so many bodies closing the ball. It’s how Bayo got his opportunity second half. 

When building from the back, Watford tended to look towards a triangle to break out through the centre. Morris was often cut out with Pollock making a forward pass that would drop back inside to Dele-Bashiru or Kayembe, who were confident and willing to play forward. Blues were aggressive but it meant players leaving their men to step up, which the Watford midfield pair were confident in dealing with, waiting for a Blues player to step up then passing into the space they vacated.  

Blues were 4-4-2 but there was a twist to normal. Miyoshi was given license to close the left-sided centre-back, Pollock, while cutting off the pass to Morris, which allowed Bacuna and Paik to drop onto the defensive midfielders and Stansfield to watch Porteus. James kept a watchful eye on Andrews. Sunjic watched Kone but was given license to step up if a Blues player was beaten – for example if Paik was drawn to the pass to Morris and left his man to receive the ball centrally, Sunjic would step out. It was co-ordinated far better and aggressively with Bacuna a willing participant in the middle.  

A note from corners. Blues and Watford were zonal here and both had clear ways of avoiding this – near post inswingers and back post outswingers. It worked for Blues, who saw Laird hit the bar and Aiwu nod on target a couple of times. It also worked for Watford, who saw Pollock come close. Neither side could quite find the finish.  

Changes:  

Jutkiewicz and Roberts for James and Miyoshi. Roberts a straight swap. Bacuna moved to the left. Jutkiewicz up top.  

Ince and Martins for Kone and Chakvetadze. Asprilla moved into the centre with Ince wide right.  

And yes, George Hall was a straight swap at right-back.  

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Players 

Nobody had a poor game here, which only adds to the frustration.  

Buchanan was excellent again at centre-half and proven himself more than a capable option, especially with how we are playing. Drameh moved to left-back and was superb, especially driving forward. Laird doesn’t look 100% fit on the right yet he was flying down that flank as if made no difference.  

Aiwu is going to take the brunt of criticism for today. It’s a difficult one. As an aggressor, as a player carrying out the job he has been given, he’s been excellent. He steps out. He’s quick. But it’s clear he has technical deficiencies both with his feet and his head, which is problematic in the second tier of English football.  

Sunjic had a fantastic game. His role felt simplified and he led by example. Paik and Miyoshi were much better, playing with far more intensity which allowed them to win individual duels, keep hold of the ball under pressure and move it quicker.  

James does feel wasted on the left, yet I don’t think he had a poor game here. He showed for the ball. He switched play. He’s doing a job for the team. He’s just not as involved as we would like him to be.  

Bacuna was his erratic self, capable of brilliant individual moments but lacking the quality or decision making with the final pass or finish. And Stansfield had more support, which meant he felt more involved. But being the ‘9’, he’s under more pressure than most when it comes to finishing a chance making it more difficult for him to find half a yard.  

For Watford, Bachmann had a strong game and though Pollock got dragged out a few times, I thought he and Porteus defended their area excellently. Further forward, there was a lot of technical prowess on show, particularly from Kone who I’m pretty sure dropped two nutmegs during the game, but there isn’t too much substance about them. Benefit of the doubt – this was Cleverley’s first game and with job roles changing, it may be a case of understanding what is wanted of them.  

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Conclusions 

I’m calm, and I'm not 100% why.  

There are two prevailing theories in my head.  

The first is that the performance was much better, which gives me belief that this group are up for the fight and ready to scrap it out as well as play. If you’re going to lose at this stage of the season with so much on the line, you at least want to do so by leaving everything out on the pitch.  

The second is that my expectations were so low before the game that anything other than a drab display and expected defeat was going to leave me feeling okay. You can’t be disappointed when you expect nothing.  

I don’t think the management team got the selection wrong. We were comfortable the better team here. Ideally Sunjic shows more composure in the final third but he was excellent in his role on the day and a key reason we got there so often. Buchanan was superb at centre-back and made the decision not to play Sanderson one we should be okay with. Bacuna’s decision making was all over the place yet he provided some physicality and running power alongside Stansfield, which we sorely lacked in previous outings. The selection decisions meant we were on the front foot and playing our game in front of a home crowd.  

I absolutely think the substitutions were wrong. Bringing on Jutkiewicz or Roberts for Paik, Sunjic or James made some sense. Watford tightening up. Move Bacuna wide. Fair game.  

I don’t want to blame the individuals that came on. I don’t think any of them reacted like players being chucked on in weird roles. I just think the balance and flow of the team was affected. Tyler Roberts playing right-wing, for example, when Koji Miyoshi is having great joy drifting inside, pressing high, playing quickly inside on his stronger left-foot. Roberts lacked that fluidity. Gary Gardner again chucked on was curious, especially with Andre Dozzell on the bench. And George Hall immediately looked a fish out of water at right-back. I get why the decision was made – pace running from deep in the final part of the game to replace Laird who had made a number of excellent runs – but it was quite clear he was unsure of his role.  

The goal. The error is from Aiwu for me. We may all play Sunday League and remember the argument of “don’t play across your own area” but we’ve all seen enough top level football to know this happens regularly. Players are technically superior and pitches are less bobbly. It’s normal. The throw-in reaches Aiwu. Aiwu simply takes too long to react, which is dangerous with players as quick as Emmanuel Dennis around. He has to move to the ball. It’s like the Marc Roberts situation against Sunderland. Paik makes the pass – just come to the ball and get it under your control.  

Aiwu isn’t the only reason we failed to win here. We may have had plenty of shots, and Watford deserve credit for a resolute display, but our decision making and quality in the final third needs refining. We have to find a way to score goals at some point. You can’t rely on keeping clean sheets – you have to do your job at the other end too.  

A note on Sanderson, who I feel will be questioned heavily having not come back into the side despite us having one centre-back. Firstly, I suspect there was an element of “lesson learned” after chucking a clearly unfit Marc Roberts back in only for him to fail to perform to the level we needed. Buchanan has more than stepped up while Drameh and Laird are two very good Championship full-backs – they should be trusted.  

Secondly, the captaincy. Eustace lost two former captains, an ambassadorial leader and a long-serving, consistent performer in the summer with the most experienced “new” players being Oliver Burke, Keshi Anderson and Tyler Roberts, one joining on deadline day, two having big injury question marks and all three unlikely to be regulars for differing reasons.  

Eustace had to ensure he had leadership this campaign but that he could also grow leaders for the foreseeable. The following summer was going to see more change at the club. Sanderson has been around twice before, signed permanently, is clearly a confident young man and a big personality behind the scenes. He’s reaching 24, he was given the role of Team Captain, supported on and off the pitch by Ruddy, Long and Jutkiewicz, the latter named Club Captain and given the ambassadorial roles.  

The first managerial change pushed all that out of the window. As fans, we automatically look towards the man wearing the armband but it’s quite clear that the role changed for the young man wearing it. He hasn’t been up to the standard needed since the change (then again, who has?) and perhaps it’s something the club look at in the summer. For now, I hope Sanderson does prove some people wrong, but let’s be careful throwing the “you’re supposed to be captain” line around. He’s still 24 with just over 100 senior appearances under his belt and the attempts to help him grow into a real leader ahead of next season has been quashed by the constant chopping and changing. This isn’t just on him now - there are enough players that will be seen as leaders within the group that need to step up.  

Will today’s overall performance be seen as a positive or negative? I think that depends on what happens after the break. It can’t be a one-off. We have to turn up at QPR. And against Preston. And in those pivotal home matches against Cardiff and Coventry.  

If nothing else, it’s a small shot in the arm. This group are up for the fight. We now need something to fall our way.