Match Report: Middlesbrough 1-0 Birmingham City
Report as Wayne Rooney's first game in charge of Birmingham City ended in defeat at the Riverside.
Wayne Rooney’s Birmingham City tenure started with defeat at the hands of former team-mate Michael Carrick.
This was an open affair with both sides set up to focus on what they do rather than the opposition. It was the hosts that had the extra quality and that finally told with a minute to go when Morgan Rogers prodded home.
Rooney made two changes from the side that beat West Bromwich Albion before the international break. Scott Hogan returned to the starting XI while Gary Gardner made his first league start since the end of February. Juninho Bacuna, a late returner from international duty, and Koji Miyoshi dropped out.
Blues were opened up a couple of times early on but had the first meaningful effort, a swift move through the thirds ending with Gardner forcing a low stop.
Chances were few and far between despite the open nature of the game. When they did come, it was the hosts and Josh Coburn involved in them, the young striker heading a free-kick wide, setting Isaiah Jones away only to see the offside flag raised and later scuffing wide after a smart move.
Blues’ sloppiness was perhaps best summed up in injury time, John Ruddy forced to sweep up, beat two players then clean out Jones 35 yards from goal.
Shots were flying at the start of the second half. Jay Stansfield had the first before Ruddy was forced to deny Hayden Hackney, Paddy McNair, Matt Crooks, Lukas Engel. Cody Drameh couldn’t make the most of a sweeping Emmanuel Longelo pass and the left-back had an effort of his own after linking up with Stansfield. Boro immediately went down the other end with Coburn forcing a low stop.
Slowly, the excitement fizzled as the game settled. Ruddy was forced into another palm stinger by Jones and the keeper had to deny an unsuspecting Jordan James from putting into his own net.
Rooney’s side couldn’t hold on. A ball forward wasn’t dealt with and there was a lack of intensity from the Blues midfield to track Boro runners. Rogers collected the loose ball and though his pass to Crooks was overhit, he received the return to prod home at the near post.
Blues huffed and puffed but offered little as the game fizzled out, instead owing further thanks to their keeper for keeping the score down.
A bad first day at the office.
Lineups
Blues
Ruddy; Drameh Sanderson Long Longelo; Gardner (Bacuna 61) Bielik Sunjic (James 83); Stansfield (Jutkiewicz 83) Hogan (Miyoshi 70) Dembele (Burke 61). Unused: Etheridge; Roberts Aiwu Donovan.
Boro
Dieng; Smith (Forss 81) Fry McNair Engel; Barlaser (Howson 76) Hackney; Jones Crooks Greenwood (Rogers 76); Coburn (Lath 66). Unused: Gloveer; Dijksteel Van Den Berg Bangura Silvera.
Tactics
It was all change for Blues.
Rather than the 4-2-3-1 that has been used in every game this season, Rooney moved the team to a narrow 4-3-3.
In possession was the biggest change. It was more of a 2-3-5 in build up. Long and Sanderson alongside each other. Bielik at the base of the midfield with Sunjic (right) and Gardner (left) either side of him. The full-backs would step forward with the front three close together.
Boro’s attempt to combat this saw Coburn press the centre-backs alone. Crooks sat on Bielik with Greenwood and Jones responsible for Gardner and Sunjic. The full-backs marked Blues’ full-backs leaving them 4v3 defensively against Blues’ forward line. They wanted to force the ball inside and Blues into difficult positions.
When Blues’ approach worked, it worked well. It required Gardner, Sunjic and Bielik to brave and when they did beat their marker, it dragged the Boro midfield forward, opening the space for the front five to get on the ball, particularly the full-backs. Bielik in particular drove forward well. There were times when one crossfield pass almost had Blues in on goal with five attackers up against four Boro defenders.
When it didn’t work, it was troublesome. Blues were poor in possession and gave the ball away needlessly too often. With the full-backs high up the pitch, it was on the defensive quintet to deal the transition but they often weren’t set positionally or lacked the athleticism to cover the ground, allowing Boro to spring into action.
Boro built from more of an asymmetrical shape. There was variation but most commonly, Smith would tuck in from the right, Hackney would pull out into a half left space and Barlaser would sit in front of the centre-backs. Jones would tend to stay high and wide on the right, Engel would be wide on the left by slightly deeper. Greenwood stepped inside to join Crooks with they and Coburn looking to outnumber Blues’ midfield.
Blues had real issues in the first half hour dealing with this. The front three would sit in a narrow shape but in a straight line while their midfielders stayed deep, making it easy for the ball to be slipped into midfield or out wide and for Boro to move forward.
In turn, they would have Engel free on the left, who was being closed by Sunjic. And as soon as Sunjic stepped out, the space would open in the centre for Hackney, Greenwood and Crooks to link up, forcing Longelo to step inside and leaving Jones free out wide. Drameh stuck with Greenwood which meant space would also open up in the channel. Coburn was allowed to drop off freely under no pressure because Sanderson and Long had no additional support – if one stepped up, the other was alone.
A curious note was that even if Engel, Smith or one of the deep-lying midfielders stepped forward, the front three would only go so far, as if they were tasked with “cheating” positionally – Jay Stansfield would not normally stop if it meant making the tackle for the team.
A change was made on half hour that showed more structure. Hogan and a winger would do an actual marking job on Barlaser and Hackney leaving the other winger to close on their side. Boro responded by tucking Hackney back inside to be marked, allowing Engel to show deeper and Smith wider. Once the ball moved wide and a forward was out of position, it meant they were 5v2 and the out was easier to find. The Blues midfield would only step up at that point and would find themselves caught between the defence and attacking lines, making it easy for Boro to find a player in space.
Furthermore, with Bielik often the man to step forward highest and the full-backs watching Greenwood and Jones it opened up a lot of space in the channels to exploit, leading to Sunjic and Gardner making a lot of 30-40 yard runs to defend an area they didn’t want to be in. The press was all wrong.
Players
John Ruddy is the man that comes out with most credit. It wasn’t a perfect day given he picked up a yellow card and had to shank a few out of play. However, he made a whopping ten saves on the day and needs more protection from his backline.
Drameh was solid as usual – he never seems to lose a 1v1 duel. Longelo showed excellent quality with the ball and looked our best outlet. Bielik and Gardner showed moments in possession.
For Boro, it was the first time I had seen Lukas Engel live and I like the look of him. A clean striker of the ball and a decent delivery.
Hayden Hackney is a really talented young footballer and will go far. Josh Coburn lacked ruthlessness but led the line well and was assured with the ball.
Conclusions
It’s never easy to draw conclusions from the first game of somebody’s tenure.
I confess to being very frustrated watching the game live. It felt like the players didn’t know their jobs and that the system and shape did more to expose the weaknesses of players than enhance their strengths. Even things such as Dembele constantly being forced to run into cul-de-sacs because of where he was receiving the ball and the options around him. It felt like Boro would score at any moment and it was no surprise when we finally succumbed.
We conceded 17 shots, second highest of the season. We had five shots of our own, lowest. We mustered 0.24xG, lowest. We conceded 0.98xG in open play, highest. John Ruddy made ten saves. Thanks for those, @blues_breakdown
There’s no point making comparisons. The change has been made and Rooney is going to get a fair crack of the whip, so we have to concentrate on what he will deliver.
There’s little denying that Garry Cook has heightened the pressure on the gig. Firstly, the timing of the appointment. Secondly, the comments about making the change to play “no fear” football and a “winning mentality”. It’s those comments that stick in the minds of most fans.
Clarity has been provided and the job for Rooney is to establish principles now that continue and evolve long-term with recruitment designed to fit that. That means immediately defining his preferred style of play rather than doing what suits those available to him. Whoever doesn’t cut it is gone. Always a bold approach to take mid-season.
There was definitely a bravery in the approach today despite the lack of quality often seen. We have to be mindful that Rooney has been employed to make changes to the team stylistically and with that will come teething issues. Only after so many games can we truly judge whether the pain of the early weeks will be worth it.
Where we truly fell short was off the ball. We were reactive & didn’t press as a team, as Rooney said his team would. One thing that does stick in the mind are interviews from Roy Hodgson on the Overlap when discussing his early days taking back over as Crystal Palace manager and Neal Ardley when taking over as York City manager. They both spoke of how they trained patterns of play first rather than defensive and organisational shape as it’s important to ensure their team can attack the opposition. The rest of it, you have to trust your players to carry out through hard work and reading of the game. I suspect Rooney has followed a similar approach.
I did like Rooney’s post-match interview. The high standards being spoken about mean that Rooney has the backing to be more honest about what he is seeing. He came out and immediately claimed the team need to be better. He’s also spoken about how he couldn’t start Jordan James or Juninho Bacuna due to international call ups, so perhaps they will provide more quality.
I think it’s important that Rooney sticks to his guns. There’s no point going through with all this if he’s going to start chopping and changing at the first sign of trouble. Equally, I think he will have to show enough flexibility to make tweaks when things aren’t working, even if that’s switching a 4-3-3 for a 4-2-3-1 to give us a better press, for example.
This is going to be a tough period. As fans, we want to turn up and enjoy what we’re seeing but these teething issues mean there will be a lot of frustration amongst the fanbase in the coming weeks. It’s imperative that we get January recruitment right to give Rooney a better chance of success under the mandate he’s been given.
For now, we move on to Hull City. It doesn’t get easier.