Match Report: Birmingham City 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday

Jordan James winner secured a first win for Wayne Rooney as Birmingham City manager.

Jordan James’ late goal was enough to secure a first victory for Wayne Rooney as Birmingham City manager.

George Byers gave the visitors a well deserved opener late in the first half only for Juninho Bacuna to equalise before the whistle.

Blues were better second half and earned the win thanks a goal started, continued and finished by their teenage Welsh star.

Rooney made three changes to the XI that were defeated by Sunderland before the international break, Lee Buchanan returning from injury while Krystian Bielik and Siriki Dembele were given opportunities to reclaim their spots.

Cody Drameh was unfortunate to lose his spot, James was benched in light of an emotional international break and Ivan Sunjic was the other man to drop out. Romelle Donovan stepped into the squad in place of Emmanuel Longelo.

Despite Blues having every stand open for the first time in over three and a half years, it was the visitors enjoying their football, playing on the front foot and forcing Blues errors while dominating every battle.

Neither side created much, however, with Mallik Wilks nicking possession from John Ruddy before finding the side netting and Bacuna sending a cleared corner back towards goal. More on that, later.

Josh Windass thought he had a penalty shout only to be correctly booked for diving. Barry Bannan shot at Ruddy and he made the most of Ethan Laird being dispossessed to find Windass with a wonderful cross only to see the side footed effort go wide.

Windass did play a pivotal role in the first, his free-kick rattling the post and falling kindly for Byers who nodded home into an empty net.

So, Bacuna saw a decent effort deflected wide after a corner was cleared to the edge of the box early in the game. He went one better in first half injury time, half volleying a strike beyond a wrong-footed Cameron Dawson.

Blues started the second half better and had the early chances. Bacuna found Koji Miyoshi who in turn found Jay Stansfield, his strike blocked by Bambo Diaby. Lee Buchanan curled over after good work from Laird and Dembele half volleyed wide.

Blues ran out of steam a little, giving the visitors opportunities they failed to take, Bannan firing over from distance and Johnson failing strike cleanly.

The game needed a spark and it came via substitute James. He took deep possession and beat his man before playing forward. Stansfield and Laird linked up down the right and the former’s cut back found James free to strike. The initial shot was saved but he wouldn’t be denied with second attempt, rounding Dawson to finish.

Blues saw the game out comfortably, wasting time where possible and even giving 16-year-old Romelle Donovan more game time.

Lineups

Blues

Ruddy; Laird (Roberts 87) Sanderson Aiwu Buchanan (Drameh 78); Miyoshi (Donovan 88) Bacuna (JJ) Bielik Dembele; Stansfield Burke (Jutkiewicz 64). Unused: Etheridge; Gardner Sunjic Hogan

Sheff Wed

Dawson; Iorfa Ihiekwe Diaby Famewo; Byers (Cadamateri 83) Vaulks Bannan; Musaba (Gassama 64) Windass (Fletcher 83) Wilks (Johnson 64). Unused: Vasquez; Charles Palmer Bernard James

Tactics

This was 4-2-3-1 vs 4-2-3-1 but actioned in different ways.

The first note from a Blues perspective was that Emmanuel Aiwu and Dion Sanderson switched side in the centre of defence. It was perhaps done in acknowledgement of a slight change in how Blues progressed from the back.

Lee Buchanan was back. And with Ethan Laird and Siriki Dembele also returning, the team returned the 3-2-5 adopted at the start of the season, Buchanan receiving the ball in a deeper but wide position looking to find Dembele, who often sat on the touchline in possession and Laird high and wide on the other flank.

The plan seemed to be an attempt to bait Sheffield Wednesday into pressing and play through or round them in the first half but it didn’t play out like that, Aiwu and Sanderson reticent to take ownership and looking to Ruddy as the spare man quite often. The outball was almost always Laird, who was found by Ruddy and Bacuna on several occasions.

From there, Blues’ attacks broke down. Laird was forced infield by whoever his marker was and into midfield traffic.

That’s because the visitors got their tactics spot on. It was 4-1-4-1 out of possession, Byers stepping up alongside Bannan to press Blues. Wingers vs full-backs. Central midfielders up against each other. And Windass covering the rest.

The reason Laird was free was due to Aiwu consistently going back to Ruddy and Wednesday closing down that pass. A player would close down, cutting off the centre-back option with Wilks also stepping up. Laird would then receive possession but Famewo was force him inside where Vaulks was often waiting.

This was exploited more in the second half with a slight change that allowed Miyoshi to roam infield and Stansfield stepping into the right-channel vacated by Famewo. It’s where the chance early in the half came from and also the winner.

There was a bravery to the Wednesday approach and they were nearly caught out a couple of times, Diaby and Ihiekwe left 2v2 with Burke and Stansfield but often getting the better of the duels or being thankful for poor passes.

Wednesday were happy with the ball first half and everything was done with purpose. They would look to move from outside to in and back out as much as possible to get Blues out of shape, Byers and Vaulks running off their men to receive the ball from Famewo then searching for Wilks, who would find Bannan or Musaba and go again. It was simple but fluid and often caught Blues out.

The issue for Blues here was that the midfield weren’t aggressive enough closing down, which allowed Wednesday to step off and play unchallenged, something that was rectified to a point in the second half.

One other notable aspect of their play was Dawson being more than happy to smash the ball down the throats of the Blues centre-halves if Vaulks wasn’t available to play, allowing Windass, Byers and Bannan to play for seconds.

In the second half, after Blues’ early spell, Wednesday started making more inroads down the right with Bacuna stepping up more and Bielik being pulled across, allowing Bannan more space centrally. He couldn’t find the ball to Johnson or Windass more often than not.

Players

First half, nobody, really.

Second half, Laird came into his own with driving runs down the right. Stansfield had more influence too by getting involved down that channel. Buchanan was steady on return. Bacuna kept the ball better than he has done at times. And JJ has to be mentioned for his classy goal.

For Wednesday, Bannan typically ran a lot of their good play. I thought Famewo had a decent game at left-back, particularly as an outlet, while Bambo Diaby was dominant in his battles.

Conclusions

I guess the overarching feeling is that we picked up three points for the first time under Wayne Rooney. It’s a start.

This wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t great. First half we were simply out-fought all over the pitch and took the easy way out too often. We gave away responsibility too willingly under pressure and our key decisions or executions in the final third were poor. We didn’t play with intelligence or zip, perhaps owing to confidence and getting used to more tweaks in shape.

It was therefore pleasing to see changes made in the second half. Often subtle. For example, Stansfield and Miyoshi dovetailing in a way we’ve seen them do before to good effect. Bacuna stepping higher out of possession. Jutkiewicz entering the pitch and giving us some fight against their defensive giants. James coming on to give Bielik support in midfield with Bacuna tiring.

I have to express my delight for JJ again. He’s received the odd bit of flak but seems to be growing into his body and looks more confident, perhaps boosted by the faith shown in him internationally. His goal was brilliant and hopefully we see more of it.

I like that Rooney is pretty relaxed with players being available. Laird has been eased back in, often being brought off as he gets fit again and the same goes for Buchanan, who was withdrawn early today. He spoke of JJ being dropped because of a taxing week emotionally on the international stage and we’re seeing Hall being eased back. It’s not easy for managers to do this and shows that he truly feels he has time to get this right, allowing him to manage the group accordingly.

There’s no point getting too high. It’s a first win, which is important, but it’s also against bottom of the division at home. The challenge has to be building on it now with a tricky trip to Blackburn Rovers in midweek followed by a home match with Rotherham. Four points from those would give all involved a lift.